[APP][8.1+] LWP+ - customized Monet colors

Search This thread

zxcv34523A

Member
Sep 3, 2020
7
0
Hello,

First of all, sorry for not getting back to you sooner - for some reason it seems I am not getting email notifications even that they should be enabled correctly.

But I think I found a solution for my problem. As I wrote earlier those settings reverted back to defaults perhaps every two to three days and now LWP+ has been working normally almost a week. So last Friday evening I went through all the installed applications and found that Canvas AOD (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oneplus.canvasresources ) was installed on my phone. That seems to be some built-in crap OnePlus installs on the phones but luckily that one can be uninstalled. After uninstalling the settings haven't reverted back and LWP+ has been working perfectly.

Of course it has been only 6 days but based on how to often the issue happened previously I am quite confident that solved the problem - at least I truly hope so :)
 

AndroidDeveloperLB

Senior Member
Mar 30, 2014
1,972
463
Hello,

First of all, sorry for not getting back to you sooner - for some reason it seems I am not getting email notifications even that they should be enabled correctly.

But I think I found a solution for my problem. As I wrote earlier those settings reverted back to defaults perhaps every two to three days and now LWP+ has been working normally almost a week. So last Friday evening I went through all the installed applications and found that Canvas AOD (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.oneplus.canvasresources ) was installed on my phone. That seems to be some built-in crap OnePlus installs on the phones but luckily that one can be uninstalled. After uninstalling the settings haven't reverted back and LWP+ has been working perfectly.

Of course it has been only 6 days but based on how to often the issue happened previously I am quite confident that solved the problem - at least I truly hope so :)
Can you guess why this app causes it, and why removing it helps?
 

zxcv34523A

Member
Sep 3, 2020
7
0
Sadly I was incorrect. Just now the LWP+ stopped working (or something reverted the settings) and its again Oneplus's default wallpaper.

And I didn't even restart my phone anything like that.
 

AndroidDeveloperLB

Senior Member
Mar 30, 2014
1,972
463
Sadly I was incorrect. Just now the LWP+ stopped working (or something reverted the settings) and its again Oneplus's default wallpaper.

And I didn't even restart my phone anything like that.
Can you see it on a different device, or only on OnePlus?
Searching on Google for "oneplus live wallpaper reverts", I can see various complaints, so I think it's related to the device and not to my app:
  1. https://forums.androidcentral.com/a...back-default-wallpaper-my-galaxy-s9-plus.html
  2. https://community.oneplus.com/thread/1467322
  3. https://community.oneplus.com/thread/526427
  4. https://community.oneplus.com/thread/1514763
  5. https://community.oneplus.com/thread/1364001
  6. https://community.oneplus.com/thread/1467322
  7. https://www.quora.com/Suddenly-my-p...phone-Is-this-a-sign-of-my-phone-being-hacked
Some of them have users claiming they've found something to try. Try what they wrote.
Maybe it's related to the built-in launcher, as some wrote.
 

AndroidDeveloperLB

Senior Member
Mar 30, 2014
1,972
463
A user wrote to me that on his Poco phone (which strangely changed to "Redmi K20 Pro" on the review), setting my app as just home wallpaper solved the issue of wallpaper reset.
I don't know if this is true, but it's worth trying.
 
  • Like
Reactions: zxcv34523A

zxcv34523A

Member
Sep 3, 2020
7
0
A user wrote to me that on his Poco phone (which strangely changed to "Redmi K20 Pro" on the review), setting my app as just home wallpaper solved the issue of wallpaper reset.
I don't know if this is true, but it's worth trying.
Thanks for remembering us!

...but how do you set your app as home wallpaper on OnePlus? I don't think there's feature like that at all.
 

AndroidDeveloperLB

Senior Member
Mar 30, 2014
1,972
463
Thanks for remembering us!

...but how do you set your app as home wallpaper on OnePlus? I don't think there's feature like that at all.
Maybe it has a different name on yours?

On Pixel 6, when you set a wallpaper, it gives you 3 options:
1. Home screen
2. Lock screen
3. Home and lock screen.

After you have one for each, and you try to set a live wallpaper (probably won't happen if you set for both), it gives you 2 options:
1. Home screen
2. Home screen and lock screen.

Perhaps what's on the OS has a bug that will set a wallpaper on its own.
 

AndroidDeveloperLB

Senior Member
Mar 30, 2014
1,972
463
Today I've uploaded a new version on the Play Store, after many people have complained about how complicated the app is, and that "it doesn't work", when I've already explained that in order for the colors to do anything, the device needs to support Dynamic colors.
So, I've added a test inside a tutorial.
People also complained about the weird cropping UX, so I've made it as simple as it could be. Just choose the image and that's it, the same as it was on the first versions of the app.
I also added a way to turn on/off horizontal scrolling. Before it was in the same UX of cropping, which made people confuse that it might be missing.

One thing that worries me now is this:

I've had many issues recently uploading a new version of the app to the Play Store, targeting Android 13.
The reason:
When targeting Android 13, the app won't be able to import the current wallpaper unless it uses the new storage permission of MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE. So, I've prepared my app nicely to handle this change, but when I've uploaded the app, Google rejected it, over and over.
I've tried to send appeals and explain that this is an important feature, but they insist that it should be used only if it's a "core feature" (meaning it can't work without it).

For now, sadly, I'm back to targeting Android 12 and using the old permission that does exactly the same, yet is not rejected by Google.
But by November I will need to find a solution:

This issue was sadly reported only after Android 13 was out, and was found by others.
Please consider starring these so that I will probably be able to let this feature stay, at least on Android 14:
 
Last edited:

AkazaDorian

Member
Feb 24, 2016
6
0
With the latest update seems like I can no longer crop the image on a specific square to be my wallpaper, which was fine on the previous builds. Currently if I import a horizontal image, it will always select the center to crop with no way to change. Is that a design change?
 

AndroidDeveloperLB

Senior Member
Mar 30, 2014
1,972
463
With the latest update seems like I can no longer crop the image on a specific square to be my wallpaper, which was fine on the previous builds. Currently if I import a horizontal image, it will always select the center to crop with no way to change. Is that a design change?
I wrote about this on the comment above:
 

AkazaDorian

Member
Feb 24, 2016
6
0
I wrote about this on the comment above:
Ok I see, sorry for missing that piece. I'm going to crop it with another tool then shouldn't be a huge problem. Thanks for your work!
 

AndroidDeveloperLB

Senior Member
Mar 30, 2014
1,972
463
Due to the issues with Privacy policy team on the Play Store, I've decided to try to add a new core feature : wallpaper backup.
You can use it even if you don't intend to set the app as a live wallpaper app.
 

CraftingShadowDE

New member
Mar 30, 2023
1
0
Germany
I've noticed that there is something messed up in the licences and thanks menu. The embedded link to the French translator's Crowdin profile continies until it reaches Lottie-Android. You can see it in the screenshot I included.
Screenshot_20230330_102941_LWP+.jpg
 

jonlang

Member
Feb 8, 2022
7
0
The app crashes for me every few days. I'm using it with LG60 and its original wallpaper. I used this wallpaper for about half a year before installing LWP+ and ir was rock stable. Ideas?
 

AndroidDeveloperLB

Senior Member
Mar 30, 2014
1,972
463
The app crashes for me every few days. I'm using it with LG60 and its original wallpaper. I used this wallpaper for about half a year before installing LWP+ and ir was rock stable. Ideas?
This issue is mentioned here, and also over the Internet for other live wallpaper apps on LG phones. Example:
link
It has nothing to do with the app, as it happens for all. There is no crash that I can see on the Crashlytics website, let alone for LG60.
Please try to search about it and try the solutions that other users have found. I've also written some here that I've found. You can try them too.
I can't help you with specific devices that I don't have.
 
Last edited:

jonlang

Member
Feb 8, 2022
7
0
It's a static wallpaper, not a live one. It never crashed before. I'm not even sure how a picture set to background can crash at all. It does now with your app.
Any ideas?
 

AndroidDeveloperLB

Senior Member
Mar 30, 2014
1,972
463
It's a static wallpaper, not a live one. It never crashed before. I'm not even sure how a picture set to background can crash at all. It does now with your app.
Any ideas?
My app is a live wallpaper app. In one of its required steps you need to set it as the current live wallpaper app (preferably as both home&lock screen).
As content, it allows you to show a solid color, an image, or an animated GIF/WEBP.
I've explained it in the app, in the app description, and also here on the forum on the FAQ.

Only in the tutorial it has an option to set a wallpaper, but then it's just for testing if your device supports dynamic colors (useful for Android 12 and above).
 

Top Liked Posts

  • There are no posts matching your filters.
  • 9
    Starting from Android 8.1, when you set a wallpaper, the OS might change its colors based on it.
    On Android 12 and above, it got more official as "Monet" feature.

    Sometimes though, what you get might not be what you'd wish to have.

    This is why I've made this tiny live wallpaper app:


    With this app, you can stay with your own wallpaper and still have more control about the colors.

    APK mirror:
    https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/androiddeveloperlb/lwp-live-wallpaper-with-customized-colors/
    ApkPure:
    https://apkpure.com/lwp-live-wallpaper-with-customized-colors/com.lb.lwp_plus

    1638807730630.png


    The app allows you to manually set which colors you'd like to request the OS to use.
    This means, for example, that even if you have a relatively yellow background, you can still (if the OS allows it) choose to have green colors.

    For now the app is very basic, so only features are:

    1. Ability to import your current wallpaper, and have more control of it. Alternatively, you can import a different one, or animation, or just a solid color.
    3. Ability to have a double-tap-to-lock device.
    4. Ability to choose which colors to request from the OS.
    5. Some experimental flags.

    How to use:
    1. Make sure that in "Wallpaper & style" setting screen, it is set to use "Wallpaper colors" and not the manual "Basic colors". Choose the first option there.
    2. In the app, optionally choose content to be shown. You can choose the current wallpaper as an image (as long as the current app isn't set as the default live wallpaper). If you choose an image as content, choose how to crop it for portrait and landscape mode. You can also choose to do it automatically via the toolbar action items. You have to choose it for both portrait and landscape mode. Other types of content work a bit differently.
    3. Optionally choose to double tap on the live wallpaper, to lock the device. If you have a rooted device, you can choose that it will turn off the screen instead.
    4. If you wish, you can (try to) set which color to use for the OS, which on some devices will change the color of the navigation drawer, volume bar, etc... It might change colors on other apps too, such as the launcher. Do note that it might not work this way on all devices, if at all. Read more about this matter below.
    5. Set the app to be the live wallpaper of your device. This is the most important step.
    For the custom colors (or the colors of the wallpaper) to be used by the OS and other apps, turn off the display, to let the OS check out the new colors.

    That's it!

    FAQ

    Q: What's with the different colors? What are they for?
    A: The app only requests the OS to use the colors. The OS is the one to decide what to do with them, if at all. Same goes for other apps in case they check the colors.
    The meaning of each of the 3 colors (primary, secondary, tertiary) you can set depends on the OS alone.
    For me, changing the colors have changed the volume color and the quick-settings tiles colors.
    On different devices, the colors can mean different things. It can change a lot on some devices, change a little on others, or change nothing... The purpose of each color you choose depends on the OS alone, and on the apps that check the colors.
    This is why I can't add description of what each of them do.
    If you think this is a bug on the app, please try any other live wallpaper that tells the OS about which colors it uses, such as Muzei . There, set the background to be completely black, and see if it affects the OS UI.

    Q: How can I know if my device supports dynamic colors?
    A: On Android 12 it is a bit rare to find devices that support them, and only on Android 13 it began to be more widely supported. In order to find if your device supports it, start by changing your wallpaper (normal wallpaper images, not a live wallpaper app) to very clear colors, such as pure red, pure yellow, pure green. Then turn off and on the display/device (to let the OS re-generate the dynamic colors based on the wallpaper). After that, you should notice on various places on the OS that the colors have changed, or at least on apps that support it, such as Gmail.
    If you've noticed the change, it means your device supports dynamic colors.
    If not, either your device doesn't support it, or you need to change something in the settings of the OS to have it enabled.

    Q: I choose some color, but it's not used on the OS and other apps, or the color becomes different. How come?
    A: As I wrote, it all depends on the OS (and other apps), of what they will do with it.
    Android might choose a "Pastel" color based on what you've chosen, which didn't happen in the past. That's why I've reported about it here, hoping they will go back to showing the real colors you've chosen.
    Recently Google also created a website explaining the change to this "Pastel" colors, here.

    Q: It works fine, but after a few hours/days, the OS goes back to the default wallpaper and/or colors. How come?
    A: It seems this issue exists for some OEMs, such as OnePlus and Xiaomi, and that it's not just for my app, but for many live wallpaper apps.
    Try to search about the problem over the Internet for your specific device.
    For example, if you have "Redmi K20 Pro", you can search for "Redmi K20 Pro phone wallpaper back to default", and maybe one of the solutions that works for you will be there, such as setting the wallpaper only to the home screen, or disabling/removing some built-in wallpaper app.

    Q: Why doesn't horizontal-scrolling work for me?
    A: It works only on launchers that support it, and have it enabled for them.
    On Nova launcher, for example, it exists, but you need to enable it there.

    Q: What if I want a different wallpaper for lock screen?
    A: You can still do it. Choose a normal wallpaper photo (using your launcher, not my app) for the lock screen. Then choose my live wallpaper app to be of your home screen.
    According to my tests, the colors of my app should be the ones that define what's being used, and not the photo you chose for the lock screen.
    If you wish to still have your previous live wallpaper, you have some choices:
    1. Request the developer of the live wallpaper to allow customized colors.
    2. Update to Android 9.0, where you can choose the theme.
    3. Record a video of your current live wallpaper in full screen, as sometime in the future (I don't know when) I plan to allow to view videos in addition to images and animations.

    Q: Can I use a different live wallpaper , while using this app?
    Sadly, you can't use 2 live wallpapers at the same time, especially not one that hosts another.
    This app is a live wallpaper, and Android allows to choose only one, and it alone will be shown.
    That being said, it could be nice to have 2 live wallpapers at the same time, one for the lock screen and one for the home screen, just like of normal wallpapers.
    This is why I've put a request for such a thing, here. If you wish for it too, please star it and optionally cast your opinion about it there.

    Q: Is this app consuming any battery ?
    A: If you choose a photo as the content, not at all. All it does is draw the photo. No animation needed, so no CPU is needed after that.
    If you choose animated content, it will take what is needed to show it, but of course only when you can see it. It won't be using any CPU/GPU while the live wallpaper isn't showing.

    Q: I can't download, install, or use the live wallpaper. How come?
    A: You have to have at least Android 8.1, and the OS must allow to use live wallpapers.
    For example, many say that the device called "Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1" can't use any live wallpaper, and it seems this is a known bug on the OS for this device (reported here). I don't know if Asus will fix it.

    Q: Why are there multiple ways to lock the screen? Which should I choose?
    A: If you use a secured lock screen , you should use root or accessibility, because using admin will cause the unlocking request you for the unlocking method you've chosen (password, pattern, ...).
    In all other cases (swipe, no lock screen...), admin and root should be fine.

    Q: Monet was introducted on Android 12. What about previous version?
    A: Originally the app was actually meant for Android 8.1 and above, to try to get dark theme no matter which wallpaper you've chosen. There was even a video of it, here.
    Over time, as dark theme was a part of the OS, the colors that you've chosen barely changed anything, but now on Android 12 they are useful again, as you can see that they might even affect other apps.

    Q: What about the status bar color?
    A: There are already various apps that change the color of the status bar to whatever you wish. Here's one for a black status bar :
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xda.nachonotch
    And one that lets you choose the color:
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.conghuy.colorstatusbar
    And one that lets you choose even a background image:
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.firezenk.ssb

    Q: What about the nav bar?
    A: There are apps for this too. Here are some cool ones:
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.damianpiwowarski.navbarapps
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ace.jun.simplecontrol
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.axndx.navbaranimations
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.perfectapps.muviz

    Articles


    Privacy policy ?
    Written on this post.
    3
    Some bad news about the app:
    While I'm been trying to figure out how to add GIF/WEBP/video support, I got an email from Google that the app was removed because I didn't explain why it requires admin privilege :

    After review, LWP+ - live wallpaper with customized colors, com.lb.lwp_plus, has been removed from Google Play because it violates the deceptive device settings changes policy.

    You must explain to users why you are requesting the 'android.permission.BIND_DEVICE_ADMIN' in your app. Apps must provide accurate disclosure of their functionality and should perform as reasonably expected by the user. Any changes to device settings must be made with the user's knowledge and consent and be easily reversible by the user.

    The app doesn't really require it (it's needed only if you choose you wish to lock the device upon double tap), but I've updated the description anyway, including screenshot to show it.

    I hope the app will get back to the Play Store soon.

    Sorry for the inconvenience .

    EDIT: and it's back. Really appreciate Google for returning it so soon after putting what's needed. :)
    2
    I've just tested on Android P DP2 (public beta), and noticed the app can't handle customized colors.

    This is not because of the app, as it seems that it will occur for any live wallpaper app that claims to have customized colors (except for built in live wallpaper, for some reason).

    I've checked it myself, using all possible ways I can think of to set customized colors. Published about this issue here:
    https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/79404938

    If you wish, please star it to raise attention.

    Sorry for the inconvenience. Hope Google will fix this soon.

    I will try to find a workaround for this, but this is all I've found for now.

    EDIT: just found out that even even one of Google's developer live wallpaper (here) has this issue. This proves it's an OS issue.

    I'm sure Google will fix it.
    2
    I've updated the app in the recent days to use a new mechanism that will hopefully help me to support more types of content to show (such as GIF animation and maybe even video).

    It seems it still has some issues.

    One of them is that if you are on one type of content and switch to the other, it won't show the new content.

    For this, as a workaround, do a force-stop on the app, and start it again.

    I will fix it as soon as I can.

    Sorry for the inconvenience .

    EDIT: ok fixed and published new version.
    2
    Good new guys!

    On Android P, we might not even need this app for dark colors on the OS:
    https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/75233230#comment6

    "We have added support for a Dark theme to be applied to quick settings and launcher under Settings -> Display -> Device Theme. It will be available in a future Android build.
    "

    https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/...-light-theme-toggle-upcoming-android-release/
    https://www.phonearena.com/news/Pixel-Launcher-dark-theme-switch-in-Android-P_id105719