Have you been looking for a GNOME wallpaper slideshow extension? If so, you can stop.
In the comments to our recent post on the way GNOME handles wallpapers a number of readers asked whether GNOME had an image slideshow feature built in, without the need for third-party apps and the like.
The answer is yes, GNOME does. Sort of.
See, you can group a bunch of wallpapers together, hand-craft an .xml file to control how often the images should change, and then pop all of these files in the relevant directory somewhere on the filesystem so GNOME can see it.
But it’s a lot of effort.
Desk Changer is a Wallpaper Slideshow Extension for GNOME
Desk Changer is an open-source wallpaper slideshow extension for GNOME Shell that does what it says on the tin — and it has multiple profile support.
In many ways Desk Changer feels like a super-charged alternative to Back Slide, another popular GNOME slideshow extension.
It has a healthy set of options, including:
- Add multiple images/folders
- Create and switch between multiple profiles
- Set how often they change (in secs)
- Shuffle (random) or Loop (alphabetical) modes
- Back/forward and play/pause controls
The app ships with a daemon written in Python that will run independently of the extension. Not ideal, but this can be disabled in a couple of clicks straight from the main applet UI.
Desk Changer has a few neat features of its own too, like showing a preview of the next wallpaper in the extension menu; the ability to set a condensed image of the next wallpaper as the top bar icon; and a switch to integrate the app with the main system menu (if you don’t fancy it having its own icon on the launcher).
A nifty little extra for the GNOME desktop. Fans of wallpaper changer apps like Variety and Wallch should definitely try it out.
Desk Changer is a free, open-source extension available to install on GNOME 3.8 or later via the GNOME Extensions website: