Are you looking for an easy-to-use desktop wallpaper slideshow tool for Ubuntu?
You might be since doesn’t have have an automatic background changing features built-in, and while it’s easy to change wallpaper in Ubuntu I sometimes struggle to decide which picture to use.
Desktop wallpaper changer apps are a great way to keep your desktop looking fresh, show off your personality, and even make you more productive — yes, there are studies looking at this!
Set and forget; these apps can be set-up to automatically cycle through a folder full of images on your computer, or from download wallpapers from online sources, e.g., Wallhaven, Unsplash, Bing, etc.
Now, a lot of Linux wallpaper changer apps exist, with Variety being the best known.
But you don’t need a full-blown app as the Wallpaper Slideshow GNOME extension does everything you need and more!
Point it at a folder full of pictures or select Bing as a wallpaper source, set a slideshow duration (i.e. the amount of time that passes before your desktop background is changed), and that’s it — there’s nothing else you need have to do.
You can set the slideshow duration in hours, minutes, and seconds (though do resist the urge to make the wallpaper change every second because, in my testing, that caused the whole desktop to freeze — also, it’s kind of trippy!
Don’t have many high-quality wallpapers of your own?
Wallpaper Slideshow has Bing integration. If you enable this the extension will download a stack of recent ‘Bing picture of the day’ image to a folder on your computer. Set this folder as the source for the slideshow in the extension settings and, bing-o! — it does its thing.
So whether you pick a folder filled with images you dig, or you trust the canny-eyed curators working at Bing do it for you, this extension allows you to enjoy a constant cycle of interesting images on your desktop so that you always have something nice to look at.
Install Wallpaper Slideshow on Ubuntu
You can install the Wallpaper Slideshow GNOME Shell extension in Ubuntu using a web browser, but honestly? Don’t bother.
Instead, install the Extensions Manager app from Ubuntu Software (or the new App Center in Ubuntu 23.10, but remember to filter for Debian packages while searching) or get it from Flathub.
Once installed, open the Extensions Manager app, click the ‘Browse’ tab, then search for “wallpaper slideshow”. Locate the one made by andrew_z and hit the install button:
Installation is quick, and the extension is ready to use right away (you don’t need to log out).
From the “Installed” tab click the cog icon besides the Wallpaper Slideshow entry. This opens a dialog. Click on the folder icon next to ‘slideshow directory’ and select your stash of wallpapers (or enable Bing downloads), then set a slide duration.
That’s it — enjoy watching your desktop background automatically change without you needing to do a lift a finger.
In all, Wallpaper Slideshow is excellent, easy-to-use wallpaper changer, switcher, shuffler – whatever you want to call it – for Ubuntu 23.04 or later, as well as other Linux distros using GNOME Shell. A must-have for fans of desktop customisation.