These are the best wallpaper apps for Android for your homescreen and lockscreen wallpaper needs

The background or wallpaper on your phone’s homescreen or lockscreen plays a substantial part in the device’s personalization. For those who like having a theme, a curated library of wallpapers is essential. This article lists eleven background apps that you should check out. If you want something more than just an aesthetic change, we also have an article that lists some of the best Android apps you should use to increase or improve your device’s usability. The list includes recommended apps for podcasts, device automation, and productivity, to name a few.

Before picking a wallpaper, you must understand its sizing and whether it will scale to your display. You can do this by reading its resolution, expressed with two numbers. For example, 1080 x 2412 is the resolution of a 1080p display used on the OnePlus 10T. The first number indicates the width, while the second refers to height.

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If you’re looking for a smartphone wallpaper to use on your Android phone, you’ll want a higher second number and a lower first; this prevents your smartphone from zooming into an image and making it look grainy. If you use a tablet, pick a wallpaper based on what orientation you use your device in, a higher first number if landscape mode is your go-to, or a higher second value if it’s portrait.

Without further ado, let’s present to you the best wallpaper apps for Android.

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Abstruct

Abstruct features collections made by Hampus Olsson, an artist known for the stock wallpapers used by OnePlus. As you may have inferred from the name of the app, a lot of the art found within it is abstract. The collection offers over 450 wallpapers and is updated by the creator when they release new artwork.

If you’ve been a fan of OnePlus’ stock wallpapers or you like the ones from the Paranoid Android ROM, this application is a great source to acquire them in high-resolution formats. Users can apply them directly from within the application or save them to their gallery for other uses.

Do note that at this point, out of the eight available collections, four are locked behind a paywall that requires the Pro Pack.

AmoledPix

AmoledPix showcases over 10,000 artworks for users to apply as wallpapers. Its primary focus is on providing options that feature deep blacks across a variety of categories which include Anime, Architecture, Quotes, or Cars, to name a few. Upon selecting an image, users can also choose to tap on the colors tagged to find wallpapers with a similar aesthetic.

The app offers a premium version via a subscription or a one-time purchase model. Paying the fee will remove ads and allow access to more collections.

Backdrops

Backdrops, one of the most popular background applications, features collections that showcase photography or vector art. Its catalog is updated daily by digital artists and its community.

The Pro version provides users with the ability to apply wallpapers from a Backdrops notification and save wallpapers from the Explore page — otherwise limited to Community and Free Collections. It will also remove ads from the application.

SwirlWalls

If you’re looking for something beyond static and live wallpapers, you might want to check out SwirlWalls. Developed by Chris Lacy, SwirlWalls is a fresh take on live wallpapers, offering beautiful spiral live wallpapers to take your home screen personalization game to the next level. The app puts a spiral wallpaper on your home screen, which naturally animates as you interact with your home screen, lockscreen, or perform gesture navigation swipes. It has over 200 custom wallpapers, and each wallpaper can be customized using remixes and styles. All wallpapers fully support dark mode as well and can automatically switch between dark and light mode depending on your system settings.

SwirlWalls automatically matches the refresh rate of your smartphone, so those with higher refresh rate screens can experience even smoother animations. The app is compatible with all launchers, including the stock Pixel Launcher and Samsung One UI Home, as well as other third-party launchers. SwirlWalls is free to download, but you’ll need to pay for the Prime version to unlock additional features and benefits.

Sphaera

Sphaera is an application that generates wallpapers based on locations around the world. Users can pick any spot and then customize the generated image with the available style choices. The application claims to work well with custom launchers and that its generated art will fit any high-resolution display.

With a one-time purchase model, this application features no ads and has unlimited downloads.

Stokie

Stokie features a wallpaper collection that contains stock wallpapers provided on devices by their manufacturers. It develops upon these by allowing you to select an image and customize attributes like its brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, level of blur, and RGB makeup.

Hence, allowing you to maintain the aesthetic of the wallpaper while making it your own. If stock wallpapers are not your go-to, or perhaps you’re looking for something simpler, the application also allows the creation of gradient-style wallpapers.

It’s free to download but offers an in-app purchase to remove ads, access additional features, and receive priority support from customer care.

Tapet

Tapet is an application similar to Stokie and Sphaera, in the sense that it allows users to generate wallpapers by controlling specific parameters. It does not offer a collection but instead uses mathematical functions to create patterns. The application uses a swipe-based system to show users various options which they can choose to save to their device.

An in-app purchase will provide access to patterns that may otherwise not be available, an option to create a color palette, and the ability to apply Tapet’s generated art to the lock screen as a Live Wallpaper.

Unusual Wallpapers

Unusual Wallpapers features a collection of over 900 vector-based artworks. New wallpapers are added every Wednesday and Sunday, so there’s always something new and fun to check out. All wallpapers are of high resolution, and there are many different categories to explore.

It charges a one-time fee and offers an ad-free experience with unlimited downloads.

WallCandy

WallCandy is another application that caters to users with a device that has an AMOLED panel. It has a catalog of over 5,000 artworks classified as wallpapers that are ideal for your lock screen or perhaps the notched display on your smartphone. Like most other applications on this list, it offers a feature to change wallpapers automatically.

It’s free to download and offers no additional purchases. It does include ads that, in my experience, did not appear frequently.

Wallpapers by Google

Wallpapers by Google is a standard recommendation on most background application lists. Even in 2021, this app showcases some of the best landscape, cityscape, or seascape wallpapers. Its daily rotation feature will download images when connected to WiFi and switch between them each day.

The application is free to use and features no ads.

Walpy

Walpy is an application that uses Unsplash to source its images but goes a step further than Resplash, another application that uses the same source, by providing users with the ability to edit an image’s blur level, brightness, saturation, vignette, and color. While the application is free to download, its listing mentions the presence of in-app purchases, although we could not find any at the time of writing.

For those unaware of Unsplash, it’s a website known for its free catalog of high-quality wallpapers, also available in 8K resolution.

While these are traditional applications, if you are looking for versions that offer dynamic options, you can also check out Muzie Live Wallpaper. If you liked this list or have some great alternatives, you think we may have missed out on, let us know below in the comments.