4 best wallpaper downloaders for Linux
Finding a suitable wallpaper for your Linux desktop can be challenging. There are just so many choices! If you’re sick of digging through Google images, and other wallpaper websites for that perfect picture, check out our list of the 4 best wallpaper downloaders for Linux!
1. Fondo
Fondo is a wallpaper downloading application for Linux. The app is primarily distributed as a Flatpak and can search Unsplash.com for beautiful images to use as backgrounds on the desktop.
The Fondo application is excellent for downloading wallpapers, as it provides high-resolution images in a variety of categories, including nature, technology, architecture, animals, and much more.
Notable features
- Users can sort through high-quality images based on resolution.
- Wallpapers are categorized by artist, which makes it easy to find more of the same images from the same person.
- Fondo automatically sets the wallpaper, so there is no need to dig through settings after downloading your favorite image.
- The Fondo application supports “dark mode” which makes browsing wallpapers at night time much easier on the eyes.
Download – Fondo
The easiest way to install the Fondo wallpaper is through the Flathub store as a Flatpak. The reason? Flatpak is supported on almost all modern Linux operating systems right now; getting apps through it is incredibly easy.
To install the Fondo Flatpak, you must enable Flatpak support on your Linux operating system. To do that, head over to our guide on how to enable Flatpak. Then, once it’s set up, open up a terminal window and enter the commands below.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo flatpak install flathub com.github.calo001.fondo
Don’t want to use the terminal to install Fondo? Click the blue “Install” button on this page here! It will bring up Gnome Software or KDE Discover and take care of the hard work for you!
2. Wonderwall
Wonderwall is a desktop wallpaper manager for Linux. With it, users can browse thousands of available images to use as wallpapers. The app is distributed as a Snap package or an Ubuntu DEB package.
The Wonderwall app is very powerful. It has excellent searching features, including things like image categories, the ability to search by color, and even support for image filtering based on resolution.
Notable features
- Wonderwall sorts wallpapers based on categories but also has a robust searching feature that even allows users to find pictures based on color alone.
- Wonderwall lets users filter search results to match specific screen resolutions.
- The built-in cropping/scaling feature makes wallpapers fit better on your desktop.
Download – Wonderwall
Wonderwall is primarily distributed to Linux users via the Snap package app store Snapcraft. To install the program on your Linux PC, you must first enable Snap support. Unsure about how to set up Snaps? Follow our guide here to learn how.
Once you’ve got Snap package support enabled on your Linux PC, Wonderwall is very easy to install. Open up a terminal window and enter the command below.
sudo snap install wonderwall
Need help figuring out how Wonderwall works on your Linux PC? Check out our in-depth tutorial, all about how to use it!
3. WallpaperDownloader
WallpaperDownloader is a Linux application that lets users automatically download various images to use as wallpapers on the Linux desktop based on user-defined keyword searches.
With WallpaperDownloader, the user doesn’t look through categories of images. Instead, the user inputs a keyword (or keywords), and the downloader will provide various high-quality images for said keywords.
WallpaperDownloader has a lot to offer for Linux users that know what they want out of their wallpapers. It provides a ton of features and options (image source options, wallpaper resolution choices, dual-monitor support) that make it one of the best wallpaper downloaders for Linux!
Notable features
- WallpaperDownloader can serve up endless wallpapers based on user-specified keywords.
- Has robust support for dual-monitor Linux setups.
- Lets users store downloaded wallpapers for use in the future, rather than erasing them after picking a new image.
Download – WallpaperDownloader
WallpaperDownloader is available to all Linux users via a Snap package. So, to install it, you must have the Snap runtime up and running on your system. To enable the Snap runtime, follow this guide here.
Once you’ve gotten the Snap runtime up and running on your Linux PC, open up a terminal window and enter the following command to get WallpaperDownloader working.
sudo snap install wallpaperdownloader
Alternatively, visit the Snap app store here and install it that way.
4. Variety Wallpaper Changer
Variety Wallpaper Changer is an app for Linux that can be configured to sort through different wallpaper images that users provide, or through various internet sources.
Variety Wallpaper Changer isn’t a “wallpaper downloader” tool like the other programs on this list. Its primary focus is offering Linux users powerful ways to change the wallpaper on the desktop. However, its support for online sources means that users can use it as a downloader, and as far as wallpaper downloaders go, Variety is great!
Notable features
- Not only can it provide excellent wallpapers from various online sources, but it also allows users to add their own as well.
- It can be programmed to cycle through wallpapers in a slide-show fashion automatically.
- Variety’s wallpaper changing features are highly customizable and offer up various effects, transitions, etc.
- The sources from which Variety downloads wallpapers can be customized by the user.
Download – Variety Wallpaper Changer
Variety Wallpaper Changer is the one Linux application on this list that is not on Flathub, or the Snap store. Instead, you’ll only find it in traditional software repositories.
As of now, Variety supports all modern Linux distributions (Ubuntu, Debian, Arch Linux, Fedora, etc.). To install it, head over to Pkgs.org, and click on the operating system from the list to get the app working. Or, follow our guide on Variety Wallpaper Changer for a more in-depth set of instructions.
Conclusion
In this list, we talked about some of the best wallpaper downloader apps on Linux. What is your favorite way to get the perfect wallpaper for your Linux PC? Let us know in the comments down below!
