7 Best Ubuntu Dynamic Wallpaper Apps

Unlike macOS and Windows 10, Ubuntu doesn't support live wallpapers. While you can always download an app from the store and set up a slideshow of Ubuntu native wallpapers or your own images, the problem is that there's an end to all those images and they get boring after a point!

What you need is an app that can download wallpapers from sources like Google Earth, Bing, Unsplash, desktoppr, etc., and set them as the wallpaper dynamically. So, without further ado, here's a list of the best dynamic wallpaper apps for Ubuntu.

1. Bing Wallpaper Changer

Bing Daily Wallpaper is a GNOME extension that pulls wallpaper from Bing and updates it daily. Unlike other Bing Daily wallpaper apps, this one doesn't feature the Bing watermark on the wallpapers. One of its great features is that you can choose to switch locations and get wallpaper updates for a different timezone. The extension also deletes previously downloaded wallpapers and even allows you to choose the number of days to retain the wallpapers.

The Bing wallpaper extension works flawlessly but it isn't of any use if you don't use the GNOME desktop environment.

bing_daily_wallpaper

2. Google Earth Wallpapers

Google Earth Live wallpaper is another GNOME extension that sources wallpaper images from 5 different locations: Google Maps, Google Earth, GNOME Maps, OpenStreetMaps, and BingMaps. Unfortunately, you can only select one amongst the various sources. The app allows you to set a custom refresh interval that is missing in quite a few apps in this list.

The wallpapers are high definition and the app also shows you the name, link, and coordinates of the location. Moreover, the app automatically deletes the previous wallpaper. It would have been handy if there was an option to customize the storage of previous wallpapers.

google_earth_wallpaper

3. NASA APOD Wallpaper

NASA APOD updates your wallpaper daily based on the NASA Astronomy Picture of the day. It also provides a brief explanation of the wallpaper, which it picks up from the same NASA website along with the wallpaper. The extension's settings menu provides a couple of additional options to view previously downloaded wallpapers and pin them. Apart from this, there's no option to archive or auto-delete previous wallpapers. Hence, you would have to manually clear the wallpaper folder.

nasa_apod_wallpaper

4. Komorebi 2

Komorebi 2 is a sequel to the extremely popular open-source wallpaper app Komorebi and it runs on any desktop environment. The unique thing about Komorebi wallpapers is that they are interactive. You can drag around the clock or fiddle around with the wallpaper surface. For instance, you can hover your mouse over the window of an airplane wallpaper and the plane's wings will change direction. Komorebi also lets you create your video wallpapers by uploading an MP4 of a movable scene.

To set up a random image slideshow, select UnSplash from the wallpaper list.

komorebi2

5. Mac OS Mojave Wallpaper

Here's a small XML file that replicates the macOS Mojave's dynamic wallpaper. However, the setup is quite tedious and would test your patience. You can find the instructions on how to set it up in the original article.

macOS_mojave_wallpaper

6. Process Wallpaper

Process-wallpaper is a tiny Python script that sets the desktop wallpaper of a word cloud of the most resource-hungry processes running on your local system. It picks up the resource-hungry processes and you can schedule the script in a cron job to convert it into a live wallpaper app. The Python script also has a couple of prerequisites like Python3, GSetting, etc., depending on your Linux distro.

Process-wallpaper

7. Variety

Variety can combine multiple internet sources and set up random wallpapers. It has a list of wallpaper sources like Unsplash, Flickr, desktoppr, bing, etc. You can also add your own online sources like Pexels, Pixabay, or your own Google Drive link. Moreover, it lets you set up a custom refresh interval and the download folder storage limit.

Out of all the apps in this list, Variety provides a huge amount of customizations like editing the appearance, image size, placement, etc. It also has some hidden tricks, such as quickly changing the wallpaper by hovering over the indicator icon at the top and swiping up on the trackpad.

variety_wallpapers

These were just a few of the selected apps from a whole pool of live and dynamic wallpapers for Ubuntu. Each app has its own unique features and advantages, so choose the one that suits your needs the best. Whether you're a fan of Bing, Google Earth, NASA, or want interactive wallpapers, there's an app for everyone. Give them a try and make your Ubuntu desktop more vibrant and dynamic.