I hoard Android wallpapers. These 8 apps have the best

29 Sep 2024, 23:31 by Chris Thomas · Android Police

The internet is packed with high-res pictures that can be used as your phone's wallpaper, but a dedicated app makes it easy to change things with a couple of swipes. A few stand out with varied, constantly updated selections, and others offer automation at intervals, when dark mode activates, or every time your favorite Android camera phone or go-to tablet locks. Don't forget live wallpapers, which add a dynamic appearance and are fun at parties. Here are the wallpapers you'll find on my phone.

8 Browse extensive original and community contributions with Backdrops

Source: Backdrops Dev LLC

Backdrops is my favorite straightforward wallpaper browser. It isn't crowded with features. Instead, it has a simple interface and a vast selection. Its seemingly endless main library comes with community contributions that go on forever. There's a Wall of the Day next to other frequently refreshed leaders and a few free, curated collections.

The Pro version provides access to high-end collections from talented designers, and heavily themed Premium collections exist. But the free tier offers so many that you may not need to upgrade. You can also download wallpapers for later use (instead of switching only when you're online) at the cost of watching a short ad. This is one of the rare times you'll have to do so.

7 Muzei delivers art, context, focus, and custom galleries

Source: Roman Nurik and Ian Lake

Muzei is the best art-based automated wallpaper. By default, you can select a series of famous and obscure pieces which cycle throughout the day. Sticking with curated sources gives you context and details when you double-tap or use a three-finger gesture (although not every OEM UI supports every gesture). You can set the auto-advancement interval from 15 minutes to three days (or never).

Muzei's biggest value comes from custom image support. Craft a folder of your favorite backgrounds, point the app to it, and watch your slideshow at your chosen speed. It also dovetails well with Tasker, letting you program triggers for automatic switching. It even lets you specify dynamic blur, dim, and gray settings to focus on what's happening on the screen.

6 Doodle's parallax animation takes Google Material You to the next level

Source: Patrick Zedler

Even phone and tablet users who are apprehensive about distracting live wallpaper movement will like Doodle. It's my favorite active background app for that reason, plus one other: It doesn't have many designs. In Doodle's case, that's a positive.

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The few arrangements and colors it offers borrow from the Google Pixel 4's backdrops and the Pixel 6's introduction of Material You. There's also a set of three designs by Anna Kövecses, who contributed to Google's most iconic colors and shapes, in addition to a vast portfolio of public-facing art projects for various governments, organizations, and causes.

It stands out thanks to its in-depth control over a multi-layered parallax effect. Other parallax wallpapers have simple vertex maps and don't move much. Doodle lets you customize how far, quickly, and smoothly shapes move. Beware, though, it draws considerable power when looking its best.

5 The r/AmoledBackgrounds subreddit makes the most of high-end displays

Source: Reddit

The point of this exercise is to avoid needing to DIY a phone background. Still, this collection of user-created imagery deserves special mention. Almost exclusively for phones, the wallpapers collected here are primarily black, with bright, unforgettable highlights, surrounded by more black.

That isn't a joke. The subreddit's rules require submissions to be "at least 50% true black (#000000)," and the moderators do check. Only 49% true black? Straight to jail. 51% #000100? Believe it or not, straight to jail. Well, straight to [removed], but you get the picture. Because it's Reddit, you get the picture for free. Thanks for the OLED, kind strangers.

4 Few have the eye-popping variety of Zedge

Source: Zedge

This one's all about eye-catching variety. It's popular because most of the designs really pop, and the massive database is easy to search. You can start with a keyword, the most popular, the newest, or various categories, and then move on to choose from ringtones and notification sounds. You can transform some into parallax animations, and there's even an AI generator.

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You'll find a ton of options, usually centered around bold themes, including a wealth of high-contrast shots perfect for OLED screens. The tradeoff with Zedge is that its significant resources don't come cheap. It has more ads than most (albeit to support more choices than most), and you may want to spend a few bucks to get the most out of it. I haven't used it a ton, but it's one of the most popular for a reason.

3 Pix adds a calm demeanor to the busiest desktops

Source: PashaPuma Design

In stark contrast to Zedge, Pix ensures you always have something soothing waiting on your home screen. There's a plethora of nature, rounded shapes, big angles, and fluid-inspired designs, mostly in relatively muted tones. If you spend time in hectic environments, a Pix wallpaper can keep things visually balanced as you fret over messages and alarms.

It's especially worthwhile for big fans of popular phone lineups like the Samsung Galaxy and the iconic Google Pixel 4a. There are collections of reimagined Material You themes, Google and Google-like impressions, and popular media franchises, including Star Wars. This one's mainly for phones, as most images are in portrait orientation.

2 Magic Fluids fully renders high-res graphics at a moment's notice

Source: Mad Scientist

Magic Fluids is a sci-fi finger painting app masquerading as a live wallpaper. There's a gigantic selection of colors, effects, speeds, fade-outs, and other ways you can customize it. You can also choose from over 80 presets to get the feel. It will take you a while to learn, so it isn't for everybody.

Magic Fluids is what I mean by wallpaper that's great for parties. It's too distracting for my regular use, although you can tone down the presets. It's also the most resource-intensive option. If your device struggles for battery and processing power, be careful. Try out the free Magic Fluids Lite first, and if you love it, spend $5 on the full version.

1 Resplash gathers a ton of quality, real-world imagery in one place

This one's built around the image repository Unsplash, which resembles a stock photo service as much as a wallpaper source. It has a different variety than the rest. There's also a great selection in various aspect ratios, making it ideal for changing the background on a Chromebook, tablet, or foldable.

The interface is as clean as an app can be. The content is mostly pictures, compared to the various types of digital art that others house. If you don't want to waste seconds scrolling past cartoons or potentially AI-derived images, Resplash is perfect. A Pro version lets you customize the Auto mode selection and more exclusive features are in the works.

So many wallpapers, I don't know what to do

There are more wallpaper apps and image repositories. You may have a hard time getting to the end of the favorites I listed (I never have). As you work through them, avoid predatory pricing and unnecessary subscription models. And don't be afraid to try your hand at digital art or photography. Check out our tips for taking better photos with your Android phone. You might be able to make some great backgrounds on your own.