lively

Project Overview

Lively Wallpaper is an animated desktop wallpaper app for Windows, built with WinUI 3 and the Windows App SDK. It can place videos, GIFs, web pages, and even small apps or games made with Unity and Godot directly on your desktop as wallpapers, and any wallpaper can also be used as a screensaver. The software is completely free and open source, and its interface follows the Fluent design of Windows 11 as a native, efficient application.

Turn your desktop into a living canvas where videos, web pages, and games become wallpapers.

Key Features

• Many wallpaper types: videos, GIFs, web pages, apps, and games, with web wallpapers that respond to clicks
• Screensaver mode: any wallpaper can serve as a screensaver, with multi-monitor support
• Command-line control: operate wallpapers from the command line and pair them with Python, AutoHotkey, or other scripts
• Lively API: developer interfaces that read hardware status, audio spectrum, and music information for wallpapers that react to music or performance
• Machine learning wallpapers: use machine learning inference to create dynamic wallpapers
• Drag and drop: drop a media file or web page into the window to set it as wallpaper
• Shadertoy support: use a Shadertoy URL directly as a wallpaper
• Performance control: wallpaper pauses when fullscreen apps or games run, using almost no CPU or GPU
• Playback rules: pause or resume automatically based on the foreground program, battery power, or a remote desktop session

Target Audience

• Windows users who want a better-looking desktop
• Fans of animated wallpapers and screensavers
• Developers building interactive wallpapers
• Users with multiple monitors who want automatic control per scenario

Quick Start

1. Download and install from the Microsoft Store or from Releases
2. Open Lively and pick from the built-in library, or click add to choose a local file
3. Drag a video, GIF, or web page into the window to set it as wallpaper right away
4. Enable the screensaver and assign wallpapers to each monitor
5. Set conditions like pause on fullscreen games or pause on battery under playback rules
6. For automation, drive the player with command-line arguments or scripts

Core Advantages

• Completely free and open source: no paywall, with all features unlocked
• Native and efficient: a native Windows app that steps aside during fullscreen games without hurting feel
• Easy to start: drag and drop to change wallpapers with no complex setup
• Highly extensible: command-line arguments and the API let wallpapers connect to scripts and external data
• Modern interface: WinUI 3 with Fluent design, consistent with Windows 11

System Requirements

Item	Requirement
OS	Windows 10 1809 or later, Windows 11 (Microsoft Store build); the installer build needs Windows 10 1903 or later
Architecture	x86_64
License	GPL-3.0

Notes

• App and game wallpapers use noticeably more resources, so enable auto-pause on fullscreen for long sessions
• Video wallpapers need a GPU with hardware decoding to play smoothly
• There is no official affiliation with Unity, Godot, or Shadertoy; those names are mentioned for description only