If you have an iPhone or iPod touch and want to spruce up the interface, there are a few different backgrounds included by default, but nothing too exciting. If you want to find ever changing cool custom wallpapers, using the free Grallery app makes the process simple and fun.
If you go into Settings then Wallpaper you’ll see there are a few different wallpaper designs included by default…but you might want something more.
1. Download and install the Grallery app through the App Store through iTunes or directly from your device.
2. Then tap on the Grallery icon on the home screen to launch it.
3. You’ll get a message giving you some information about what Grallery is…tap on Enter.
4. Now you can scroll through and check out thumbnails of user generated content that is available…all the images are free to use.
5. Tap on one of the image thumbnails to get a larger view of it. If you want to download it, tap on the down arrow icon which will add it to your camera roll.
6. Tap on the Information icon to get details about the artist or designer, the idea behind the image, and links to find more of their work.
7. Tap on the Send icon to bring up another menu bar that allows you to share the wallpaper via Twitter, Facebook, or email.
8. Tap on an image again to get rid of the menus and iAd so you can see it in all it’s glory.
9. To change your wallpaper or lock screen tap on the Photos icon.
10. From the Camera Roll tap on one of the images you downloaded…
11. This brings up a menu where you can add the image as a wallpaper.
12. Then you can move it around and scale it if you want to…then tap the Set button.
13. A menu comes up and you can set it as your Lock Screen, Home Screen, or both.
14. Here’s an example of setting it as a home screen background.
15. Here’s an example of a different image set as the Lock Screen background.
16. Like most apps available for iPhone & iPod Touch, you can run it on an iPad. However, the images aren’t optimized for the iPad screen resolution, so the wallpapers will look terrible – grainy and pixelated.
If you’re looking to customize your iPhone or iPod Touch wallpaper with cool user generated content, Grallery is a fun app to use. Hopefully, they’ll come out with a version optimized for the iPad in the future, but for now you can get some cool wallpapers on your small Apple devices. Keep in mind that they are constantly updating the available images so make sure to check it periodically.
If you’re an artist or designer and want to create wallpapers to share, check out their other free app for iPad called Granimator.