Skip to main content

Google's Wallpaper app delivers gorgeous vistas and stunning images to your mobile

It’s a problem with which smartphone home screen wallpaper aficionados are all too familiar: a veritable deluge of wallpapers to choose from, but a dearth of quality ones. Sure, you might stumble upon a ZIP file chock full of quality scribblings every once in a while or a well-curated storefront here and there, but acquiring wallpapers is a generally arduous undertaking. It’s a process, in fact, that can take almost as much time as choosing one.

Well, Google’s here to help. On Thursday, the Mountain View, California-based giant released a new app for Android, Wallpapers, that packs an extraordinary number of illustrations, images, and photography with which to spruce up your mobile.

Recommended Videos

In terms of functionality, Wallpapers is relatively bare bones. It’s in essence a curated portal: open the app and you’re presented with dazzling collections of satellite imagery from Google Earth, a Google collection drawn from its topographical mapping service; landscape photography from partners like 500px; architectural highlights by city, region, country, and continent; a variety of textures and materials; and artwork of a generally abstract nature. Every wallpaper in the collection includes an “explore” tab that provides details on the artist, and, if applicable, the location.

If you’re the indecisive sort, there’s an option to set a live wallpaper that’ll rotate the artwork on your device’s home screen every day. And if you’re lucky enough to have a device running Android 7.0 Nougat or later, you can set different images for both your home screen and lock screen.

google_wallpapers_phone-0
Image used with permission by copyright holder

If all that sounds a little familiar, that’s probably because Google’s Pixel phones ship with a similar set of wallpaper customization tools. In fact, the new Wallpapers seems almost identical in appearance to the Pixels’ artwork picker, down to the Wallpaper app’s “live wallpapers,” or animated artwork of the Earth from outer space, solar phenomenon, and scenic vistas.

That last bit’s a tad unexpected: Google has previously implied that live wallpapers would remain exclusive to its newly-launched Pixel smartphones. “Wallpapers serve as the very first touchpoint for users and help establish a premium experience and build an emotional connection,” Google wrote in a blog post announcing live wallpapers. “For the Pixel, we wanted to design an experience that was both inherent and unique to Google.” But the surprise is a welcome one — in this writer’s opinion, the search giant’s live wallpapers are by far the collection’s most entrancing.

The new Wallpapers app is available for download from the Google Play Store. It’s compatible with Android devices running Android 4.1 and above.

Kyle Wiggers
Kyle Wiggers is a writer, Web designer, and podcaster with an acute interest in all things tech. When not reviewing gadgets…
Tired of downloading terrible apps? This Google Play Store update will help
A person holding an Android phone while on a bike. The display shows the Google Play Store.

The Google Play Store has an estimated 3.3 million apps available, but they most certainly are not all created equal. Some are no longer updated, some don't work the way they're meant to, and others are just plain terrible — but a new update to the Play Store could make finding the diamonds in the rough much easier.

This update is already live for some users, but it's still rolling out to others. When browsing the Play Store, warnings will appear just below the app information and provide a high-level overview of its performance. For example, it might warn that an app is frequently uninstalled, or the app might not get as much engagement compared to others, according to Android Authority.

Read more
A native Android Apple TV app is now in the Google Play store
The Apple TV app on a Samsung Android phone.

It's been five years since the Apple TV app was launched, and we're now getting a version for Android devices -- built from the ground up for native Android integration -- in the Google Play store that will have the same Apple TV+ functionality as the Apple ecosystem version. The new app means users with Android OS 10 or later will finally have the ability to sign up for Apple TV+ on their Android-based phones and tablets to watch shows and movies like Severance, Silo, Killers of the Flower Moon, and CODA. There will be no difference in pricing on Android compared to Apple.

This should enable seamless interactivity across platforms for features such as Continue Watching -- which keeps track of where you are in a show or movie and allows you to pick up from that spot when you return, regardless of the device you watch on. Customer's Watchlist will be kept up to date across devices as well, and since purchases are linked to your Apple account, all the content you own will be accessible on any device with the new updated app. One thing missing at launch, though, will be the ability to cast Apple TV content from your Android device.

Read more
Google Photos will add a hidden watermark to your AI-edited images
About this image data for photos.

Google’s bet on AI is no secret, and it becomes evident the moment you launch any of its software products. The Google Photos app has been one of the earliest recipients of all this AI love. Now, it’s time for some transparency.

Remember Magic Editor, your gateway to AI-powered editing in the Google Photos app? Moving forward, images that have received an AI makeover using the Reimagine tool in Magic Editor will get an invisible watermark.

Read more