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Changing the wallpaper or the background is one of the easiest customizations for giving your Android home screen a fresh look. And if you use a dedicated wallpaper app, you can not only find the wallpaper you want by category but also the one that fits your device's resolution and aspect ratio. It's just more convenient to have a dedicated app on your phone instead of searching for images online and going through the steps of manually downloading, cropping, and applying them to your phone.

There are a ton of wallpaper apps on the Google Play Store, so we decided to make it easier for you by highlighting the best ones you can get right now.

Best overall: Backdrops

Backdrops is a great way to get some good wallpapers. One of its greatest features is that its catalog is updated on a daily basis, so you'll find something new to download every time you open the app. The free version is enough to get all the wallpapers you'll ever need, but you can also choose to pay a one-time fee for the Pro version and unlock an ad-free experience, an exclusive Pro collection of wallpapers, and more.

Backdrops will let you either download the wallpaper on your phone or automatically set it right from the app. You can also click on an option to see more details, including its resolution, file size, number of downloads, and more. Backdrops is a fairly simple application that's easy to use and doesn't always force a premium subscription on you to enjoy some fresh wallpapers.

Best for abstract wallpapers: Abstruct

Abstruct features wallpapers made by Hampus Olsson, a digital creator known for the stock wallpapers used by OnePlus. As the same suggests, these are abstract wallpapers, and they're distributed under different categories. You'll get almost all the stock OnePlus wallpapers in this app. You'll also find plenty of other collections made by Olsson, but a majority of them will require you to unlock the Pro version to get. It's a good way to support a creator and download their work, so be sure to check it out if you want some high-quality abstract wallpapers.

Best for black AMOLED wallpapers: Amoledpix

If you have a smartphone with an OLED display, you might want to check out Amoledpix. This wallpaper app has thousands of wallpapers with deep blacks across a variety of categories including anime, architecture, and more. It can also automatically change the wallpaper after a set interval. Alternatively, you can also enable the Double Tap To Change feature to randomize wallpapers with ease.

The free version of the app will let you have all the wallpapers you'll ever need provided you don't mind seeing ads while browsing the collections. Amoledpix has regular wallpapers too, if you don't want to stay dark forever.

Best interactive live wallpaper app: SwirlWalls

If you're looking for something beyond the traditional static and live wallpapers, you might want to check out SwirlWalls. It was developed by Chris Lacy and offers a fresh take on live wallpapers, with beautiful spirals to take your home screen personalization game to the next level. They naturally animate as you interact with your home screen, lockscreen, or perform gesture navigation swipes. There are over 200 custom options, and each one 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 also compatible with all launchers, including the stock Pixel Launcher and Samsung One UI, 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.

Best app for stock wallpapers: STOKiE

STOKiE is the app to download if you want to browse the stock wallpapers shipped with various phones. This particular app is updated with fresh options quite frequently, so you'll find the stock wallpapers from plenty of modern phones. You can already download the stock wallpapers that Samsung ships with its Galaxy A14 5G, so it's pretty reliable if you want to get your hands on options from newer phones. You can also use this app to download the exclusive wallpapers that ship with special edition phones like Realme 10 Pro Coca Cola edition, or you can use it to get your hands on the wallpapers from custom ROMs.

Free app for generating unique wallpapers: Tapet

Tapet is a free app that generates wallpapers by letting you choose the design and colors, and then controlling the parameters. It's a great option to consider if you're tired of browsing specific collections and picking a static preset option. The best thing about Tapet is it uses your device's screen resolution, so you can count on it to deliver a high-quality wallpaper that'll look nice and sharp on your phone's display. Tapet is free to download, but you can also choose to make an in-app purchase to access patterns that may otherwise not be available, along with a couple of other features.

An illustration with phone showing a bunch of map wallpaper in different colors.
Google Play Store

Sphaera is a paid wallpaper app that lets you generate beautiful map wallpapers of a particular location. You can pick from anywhere in the world or browse from a selection of preset locations within the app. It can also generate wallpapers in a bunch of different styles, and you can even get one with a dark background if you have a phone with an OLED display. Sphaera isn't free, but it has unlimited downloads, and it doesn't have any ads either, so you get a good experience overall.

Freshen up your Android home and lock screens with the best wallpaper apps

Those are some of the best wallpaper apps you can download on your Android phone right now. They're all great, but if we were to pick one then we'd go with the Backdrops app. It's very easy to use and features a ton of options across a bunch of categories. It's also updated very frequently, so you're bound to find something new and exciting every time you open the app. It also gives you the option to apply the wallpaper directly without leaving the app, so give it a try.

You can also choose to go with some other option like Tapet or SwirlWalls if you want something unique. Changing the wallpaper of your home screen can only do so much to change the overall look of your Android phone, so don't forget to explore our roundup of the best icon packs, best launchers, and more fully customize your experience. We also have a simple guide to help you get started with Android home screen customization, so get ready to download some apps and start exploring.