Quick Links
Being able to customize your phone in a split second is vital, especially when it’s sitting on a table with a few other smartphones. While Android and iOS are offering better and better ways to change the look of a new phone as soon as you get it, one of the easiest ways to immediately improve the look of aniPhone,Pixel, orGalaxy phoneis still a new wallpaper.
Much like taking your smartphone out of its case, a wallpaper can radically change how you feel about your device. It’s the visual you see every time you unlock your device, so it’s only natural it would have an impact. Case in point, popular tech YouTuber MKBHDrecently released an app called Panels, an expensive, otherwise ad-filled wallpaper app that not only puts high-resolution downloads behind a $50 per year subscription, but at launch also asked to track your location. You don’t have to agree to fees like that to get stylish wallpapers on your phone, though. If you’re willing to stomach some ads, you can still get great, high-quality backgrounds without having to spend an arm and a leg for images you won’t actually use.
Here are some of the best apps I’ve found for getting free wallpapers for your smartphone, tablet, or computer.
The hidden gems in iOS 18 that help you customize your home screen
The iOS 18 public beta is now available, and it’s offering brand new ways to customize your home screen.
1Zedge Wallpapers & Ringtones
Once you sort through the AI fluff, there are several solid options
Zedge Wallpapers & Ringtones
Zedge Wallpapers & Ringtones includes a wide variety of backgrounds and ringtones that you can download for free, along with a AI image generator you can use to create a background based on one of your own photos.
Zedge offers not only wallpapers but also ringtones to customize your phone with. The app is available for iOS and Android, and uses a credit system to limit how many wallpapers you download. A new background typically starts around 10 credits, and you earn more by watching 30-second ads. It’s annoying, but Zedge’s real advantage is the wide variety of wallpapers it offers, including some that are animated, if your operating system supports it.
The ads can be annoying – though you can remove them with a paid subscription – and you’ll have to filter through some clearly AI-generated art that floats to the top of certain search terms (it doesn’t help that the Zedge app has a built-in AI image generator), but if you can look past them, you’ll have an excellent selection of images to choose from, ranging from landscapes to popular characters from pop culture.
How to make a custom ringtone on Android and iPhone
If you’re sick of the default sounds, why not add a little personality to your phone with a custom ringtone?
It’s like a Flickr for high-contrast wallpapers
Unsplash is a Flickr-esque collection of excellent, free-to-use photos that make great backgrounds for a smartphone or tablet. If you want to upload your own photos, you can do it from the app too.
If you’re interested in photography in particular, Unsplash offers a library of high-quality (and often, very high-contrast) photos that look great on a bright smartphone or tablet screen. While not every image Unsplash hosts makes for an excellent background, now that both iOS and Android – as ofiOS 18– offer you fine-tuned control over where app icons are placed on your wallpaper, you should be able to make everything work.
What’s key to Unsplash’s appeal is how it’s an open library of photos.
Please note that what you’ll find in the wallpaper section of Unsplash is more curated and slower to update than some other apps, and that it isn’t available on Android (though you can still download images directly from the Unsplash website).
How I take stunning wildlife photography with my phone (and 3 gadgets that help)
Smartphones can snap great photos, but animals and birds require their own set of skills and tools.
A nice selection with 4K downloads and Apple Watch support
The Walli app has a huge number of wallpapers available to download in a variety of resolutions, along with custom Apple Watch versions too.
What makes Walli stand out in my book is its support for theApple Watch. Many of the wallpapers on the app have custom Apple Watch versions specifically designed to work with the photo watch face. It’s a nice plus if you want to customize more than just your phone.
How to add and use widgets on Apple Watch
Widgets in watchOS 10 are a real game changer. Learn how to get the most out of them.
4Backdrops
A crop of colorful illustrations with a few photos
Backdrops has an excellent selection of colorful illustrations and photos that make for great backgrounds for a smartphone or tablet.
You don’t have to rely on Backdrops' curatorial eye if you don’t want to – the app lets you search through images using broad categories like “abstract” or “food,” along with individual tags and specific colors. If you only want to see wallpapers that will match your bright blue “Ultramarine"iPhone 16, you can do that pretty easily.
These incredible illustrations were created using only Microsoft Paint
This talented artist has managed to craft all sorts of magnificent artworks using just a steady hand, an eye for detail and Microsoft Paint.
The ultimate tool for crowdsourcing unique images
Reddit is best known as a social app, but there are multiple dedicated threads with instructional information, and even wallpapers you can use for your devices.
While it’s probably best known as the home for some of the most inane, hyper-specific conversations on the internet, Reddit is a surprisingly great source for unique wallpapers, whether it’s for your desktop computer,Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6, or anM4 iPad Pro. There are more general wallpaper subreddits liker/wallpaperandr/wallpaperswith thousands and, in some cases, millions of members sourcing backgrounds and wallpapers. There are even more specialized subreddits liker/iphonewallpapersif you’re looking for something for a specific device.
You should verify where a wallpaper comes from on Reddit to make sure you’re not taking an image without someone’s permission.
Now, your taste might not be the same as a random redditor – the most popular wallpaper threads weren’t always mine – but they’re communities, meaning if you don’t see what you like, there’s a good chance someone has asked what you’re looking for before, or someone will be willing to help if you ask politely in a thread of your own.
How to use Reddit’s new Discover tab to find communities
Reddit has launched a new navigational tool called the Discover tab, and it also happens to be Reddit’s first major new feature in years.
You don’t have to pay a subscription to redecorate your device
No matter how good a YouTube video makes it look, not everyone is going to be able or willing to pay a monthly fee to get high resolution wallpapers for their phone, regardless of the YouTuber associated with them. These apps should get you a head start on finding alternative options for free, provided you’re willing to watch some ads.
There are articles offering more inspiration and guidance on how to customize everything fromyour iPhoneto theGoogle Chrome browser, but in the meantime, try downloading a few wallpapers and play with how you want your smartphone to look.
