No disrespect to Microsoft’s splashy Windows 11 wallpapers, however there’s a greater option to make your Windows desktop really feel extra inspiring.

It’s referred to as Lively Wallpaper by rockdanister, and it’s a free app that transforms your Windows desktop with dwell, dynamic backgrounds. Lively is an open supply mission and runner-up for 2022’s Microsoft Store App Awards, and it’s shortly turn out to be considered one of my favourite apps since putting in it final yr.

While Lively Wallpaper isn’t the one dwell wallpaper app for Windows, it’s one of the best free choice I’ve discovered, and it has one particularly neat trick: You can flip any web site right into a dwell desktop background, elevating the standard wallpaper from an aesthetic enhancement into a useful gizmo.

How to arrange Lively Wallpaper

First, you’ll have to determine which model of Lively Wallpaper to put in. Most of us ought to simply seize the Microsoft Store app, however you may also download Lively directly from the developer’s web site.

While the 2 variations are principally the identical, some web site wallpapers could not show correctly with no plugin that solely works with the direct obtain. (More on that shortly.)

Once you’ve put in the app, double-click the Lively Wallpaper icon from the system tray. The app comes with a dozen dwell wallpapers out of the field, and clicking anybody will set it as your energetic wallpaper.

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You also can strive right-clicking on a wallpaper and searching for a Customize choice. Some wallpapers, such because the built-in “Triangles & Light,” allow you to regulate shade, lighting, and different particulars via this menu, and a few may even reply to system audio.

For of us with a number of displays, Lively helps you to set completely different backgrounds for every show. Click the Active Wallpapers button on the high, then be sure that Selected display solely is highlighted to keep away from any undesirable wallpaper stretching. You also needs to verify off Always decide display when selecting wallpaper, which brings up a monitor selector everytime you decide a brand new background.

Turn web sites into wallpapers

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Dynamic wallpapers and looping movies are neat, however Lively’s true potential comes from turning web sites into desktop backgrounds. This transforms the app from a supply of fairly surroundings into an infinite supply of amusement or productiveness.

To add a web site in Lively, simply click on the Add Wallpaper button on the high, paste your web site into the URL area, then click on the arrow button.

Pretty a lot any web site with dwell, updating info or visuals could make an incredible background in Lively Wallpaper. Here are some concepts:

Jared Newman / Foundry

By default, web site backgrounds will reply to mouse enter, however not keyboard controls. To allow the keyboard or disable mouse enter, head to Settings (⚙) > Wallpaper. Note that enabling the keyboard will even cover your desktop icons.

You may additionally need to disable audio on no matter web site you’ve chosen. Look for the audio slider below Settings > General.

Find extra dwell wallpapers

If you need to discover the dynamic wallpaper idea additional, there are just a few locations you may look.

Lively Wallpaper’s DeviantArt gallery, for example, features a assortment of animated and interactive dwell wallpapers. (You’ll want a DeviantArt account to obtain the information.) You also can skim via the Lively Wallpaper subreddit for concepts, or verify the mission’s GitHub discussion page.

Jared Newman / Foundry

The app additionally helps setting movies as wallpapers. Sites like Pexels and Pixabay provide looping movies that work nicely as desktop backgrounds, and for those who select Customize in Lively, you may regulate the playback pace, colours, and saturation.

To add a brand new wallpaper in Lively, simply click on the Add Wallpaper button on the high. You can then choose a file or use drag and drop.

You can retailer these wallpapers anyplace, however Lively does provide its personal listing, which you’ll search for below Settings > General > Wallpaper Directory. Any wallpaper information on this listing might be deleted whenever you take away them from the app, and you may change the listing to maneuver all of the wallpapers in it.

A couple of caveats

Lively Wallpaper remains to be below energetic growth and has seen a gradual stream of enhancements during the last yr, but it surely’s nonetheless not with out some tough edges. Some issues to pay attention to:

• Laptop customers could need to disable dwell wallpapers when on battery energy. This choice is obtainable below Settings > Performance.
• The WebView2 plugin (required for Window Swap, above) appears to have some issues. Web wallpapers could disappear throughout full-screen functions and fail to load till you take away and re-add them in Lively, and a few dynamic wallpapers could fail to work in any respect.
• Lively Wallpaper is technically able to working EXE information as wallpapers, which may pair nicely with visualizer apps akin to Plane9 or ProjectM, however to this point I’ve but to get both app to work correctly.

Also price noting: My favourite web site to make use of with Lively Wallpaper is Window Swap, which reveals webcam footage looking from folks’s home windows world wide. It pairs particularly nicely with a number of monitor setups, as you’ll get glimpses of world surroundings every time your additional screens aren’t in use.

But getting Window Swap to work has been an ordeal. It requires a separate WebView2 plugin, which in flip doesn’t work with the Microsoft Store model of the app. This plugin additionally appears to forestall a few of Lively’s dynamic wallpapers from working correctly, and taking part in video games in full-screen mode typically causes wallpapers to vanish fully.

For me, although, it’s been completely price it. Lively Wallpaper is a superb useful resource for anybody who desires to boost their desktop wallpaper, and with web-based backgrounds, you’re solely restricted by what you may dream up.

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