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How to Add Live Wallpapers to Android Smartphones and Tablets

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We all love customizing our smartphone or Android tablet so it differs from the next, just look at the Moto X full of customization features and colors. One quick and simple way to make your device unique is a wallpaper, and what’s even better with Android is live wallpapers.

Live Wallpapers are something we’ve enjoyed on Android for years, having a moving or animated wallpaper that users can often customize and even interact with. There’s thousands and thousands of live wallpapers available from the Google Play Store, but for the beginner that would like to know how to add them to their device, we have the few simple steps in an easy to understand how to guide below.

Screen Shot 2013-11-26 at 12.37.20 PM

Just like adding a wallpaper of the kids or your furry kids (puppy) these are extremely quick and easy to add, not to mention all the options from the Play Store means you’ll be able to get a new one for whatever season, holiday, or even your favorite sports team. Here’s how to get started.

Instructions

Adding a live wallpaper to your Android smartphone or tablet isn’t the same on every device, simply because some manufacturers like Samsung and HTC add an overlay to the interface. However, the two main ways to add live wallpapers will work for almost any device, or be nearly the same in a way that the instructions below will quickly get you up and running with a new interactive wallpaper.

Start by holding on the homescreen and once a popup menu appears select Wallpaper. From that selection you’ll have regular wallpapers, gallery images, or live wallpapers. Go ahead and select Live Wallpapers. The next window will show you the few that come pre-installed on your device. Most have one or two, but not all. Go ahead and select the Wallpaper of choice, or head to the Play Store and grab a new one.

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Users will get a preview of the wallpaper before actually adding it to their respective device, and many wallpaper options from the Play Store will have an area for settings allowing for customization, color changes, and other tweaks to customize the live wallpaper even more. Go ahead and select Set Wallpaper and enjoy.

Regular Instructions

Since many manufacturers change what long-pressing the homescreen does, not to mention replacement launchers on Android, below is a second and regular set of instructions for almost all Android smartphone and tablet users to add a wallpaper and live wallpaper to their device. All devices should have similar options in settings to select a live wallpaper.

Head into Settings and select Display > Wallpaper > Live Wallpaper and again you’ll get the same list of live wallpapers that are currently installed on your device. You can add as many as you’d like from the Play Store as mentioned above, or just use something simple like the few that come stock on the Nexus 4 and 5, or the Galaxy S4. Here’s a visual image of the instructions.

Screen Shot 2013-11-26 at 12.14.28 PM

From here you’ll follow the same steps outlined above to select the live wallpaper of choice, change the options and settings if available then select “Set Wallpaper” to apply it to your device. It’s that easy and you now have a completely different look and feel to your screen. Any live wallpaper from KittehFace Software (as shown in screenshot above) is a good bet as they have some of the best live wallpapers available for Android.

I must say Pixel Rain is still probably one of my favorite live wallpapers for Android ever, but that is a list for another day. For those getting ready to dive into the holiday season with friends and family, direct them here for questions regarding their new mobile device, as we have plenty of How to Guides for both Android and iOS.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. aahfeekiee

    11/30/2013 at 7:01 am

    My favourite live wallpapers:

    1. XPeria S Live Wallpaper
    2. Nexus 4 Dot (upgradeable)
    3. Mood ICS (upgradeable)
    4. Paperland Pro (crazy battery drain)
    5. Light Grid Pro (also a battery warphole)
    6. 3D Image Live Wallpaper
    7. Nexus Revamped (set to iridescent, Down direction and size and speed proportional)
    8. Pixel Rain

    If you decide to make a list of your favourites please look at these ones.

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