Android Live Wallpaper Tutorial Biography
Android has a number of personalization features to help users customize many aspects of their device user experience. One of these features is live wallpaper. Live wallpapers don’t remain as static background images but instead have interactive features. Learn how to create a live wallpaper in this tutorial!
A live wallpaper, on Android, is normally used as a background on the home screen that animates or changes over time in some way. If you have an Android device, you’ve probably seen a couple of the built-in live wallpapers, like the one where leaves appear to fall into rippling water.As a developer, you can create and publish live wallpapers. The process is not particularly difficult. Making a live wallpaper that is fascinating and desirable while not draining the user’s device battery is, however, something of a challenge. In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through the process of creating a live wallpaper that behaves. :)
I am a fairly "newb" Android developer, and I would like one of my first projects to be a live wallpaper, however I am conflicted on whether I should be focusing on Canvas or OpenGL for it. Being new to this I know I should master Canvas first since it is easier to use, but I prefer to learn from real world projects that I have an interest in, even if it's a little backwards at times.
I have used both before in very basic ways, and I understand the general concepts to them, but I am not sure how they transfer over to the realm of live wallpapers. I figure that the full blown speed of OpenGL isn't required on a live wallpaper, since running it at max FPS would just run down the battery more than it necessary, but at the same time I am worried that using Canvas would cause lags and stutters when doing things like changing home screens.
I have been leaning towards using OpenGL ES 2.0, both to keep performance optimal and because my initial ideas for the wallpaper involve a lot of layering that I am not sure Canvas is capable of, but I'd like a more experienced developers opinion on whether or not all of the extra work involved in using OpenGL (especially in relation to live wallpapers, from what I've read) is worth it.
A TechRepublic reader suggested I do a tutorial on creating a live wallpaper. Live wallpaper was a feature added in Android 2.1 that allows the actual background or desktop of the phone to act much like an application. It can animate, make system calls, and interact with the user. A good example of the feature in action is the default Nexus wallpaper that started shipping with the Nexus One. Purporting to be a “peek inside a neural network,” the Nexus live wallpaper (Figure A) animates a series of colorful traces, which change in response to the user touching the display of the phone.t’s up to the developer’s imagination to determine what a given live wallpaper does. The Android documentation for live wallpapers is thorough, and even includes a demonstration.
However, because it is considerably different architecturally from a standard Android application, the Google provided sample code, as well as most of the tutorials provided on the web, are often a bit intimidating at first glance.
My goal in writing this tutorial is not to make a stellar live wallpaper, but rather to strip the required code to the bare minimum, thereby demystifying the process and hopefully jump starting a number of beginning Android programmers who maybe shied away from coding a live wallpaper in the past. Consider what we will be creating in this post and finishing in next week’s post less of a completed application and more of a template for your own live wallpaper projects.
Android has a number of personalization features to help users customize many aspects of their device user experience. One of these features is live wallpaper. Live wallpapers don’t remain as static background images but instead have interactive features. Learn how to create a live wallpaper in this tutorial!
A live wallpaper, on Android, is normally used as a background on the home screen that animates or changes over time in some way. If you have an Android device, you’ve probably seen a couple of the built-in live wallpapers, like the one where leaves appear to fall into rippling water.As a developer, you can create and publish live wallpapers. The process is not particularly difficult. Making a live wallpaper that is fascinating and desirable while not draining the user’s device battery is, however, something of a challenge. In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through the process of creating a live wallpaper that behaves. :)
I am a fairly "newb" Android developer, and I would like one of my first projects to be a live wallpaper, however I am conflicted on whether I should be focusing on Canvas or OpenGL for it. Being new to this I know I should master Canvas first since it is easier to use, but I prefer to learn from real world projects that I have an interest in, even if it's a little backwards at times.
I have used both before in very basic ways, and I understand the general concepts to them, but I am not sure how they transfer over to the realm of live wallpapers. I figure that the full blown speed of OpenGL isn't required on a live wallpaper, since running it at max FPS would just run down the battery more than it necessary, but at the same time I am worried that using Canvas would cause lags and stutters when doing things like changing home screens.
I have been leaning towards using OpenGL ES 2.0, both to keep performance optimal and because my initial ideas for the wallpaper involve a lot of layering that I am not sure Canvas is capable of, but I'd like a more experienced developers opinion on whether or not all of the extra work involved in using OpenGL (especially in relation to live wallpapers, from what I've read) is worth it.
A TechRepublic reader suggested I do a tutorial on creating a live wallpaper. Live wallpaper was a feature added in Android 2.1 that allows the actual background or desktop of the phone to act much like an application. It can animate, make system calls, and interact with the user. A good example of the feature in action is the default Nexus wallpaper that started shipping with the Nexus One. Purporting to be a “peek inside a neural network,” the Nexus live wallpaper (Figure A) animates a series of colorful traces, which change in response to the user touching the display of the phone.t’s up to the developer’s imagination to determine what a given live wallpaper does. The Android documentation for live wallpapers is thorough, and even includes a demonstration.
However, because it is considerably different architecturally from a standard Android application, the Google provided sample code, as well as most of the tutorials provided on the web, are often a bit intimidating at first glance.
My goal in writing this tutorial is not to make a stellar live wallpaper, but rather to strip the required code to the bare minimum, thereby demystifying the process and hopefully jump starting a number of beginning Android programmers who maybe shied away from coding a live wallpaper in the past. Consider what we will be creating in this post and finishing in next week’s post less of a completed application and more of a template for your own live wallpaper projects.
Android Live Wallpaper Tutorial
Android Live Wallpaper Tutorial
Android Live Wallpaper Tutorial
Android Live Wallpaper Tutorial
Android Live Wallpaper Tutorial
Android Live Wallpaper Tutorial
Android Live Wallpaper Tutorial
Android Live Wallpaper Tutorial
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