react-native-wallpaper-engine

Apply every kind of Android wallpaper — static, paired (double/matching), video, day/night, parallax, and ripple — plus a client-side autochanger, all from one small native module. Works in any React Native app, Expo or bare.

Features

• Static wallpapers (static/double/matching) via WallpaperManager, with real cover-crop against the device's actual screen size.
• Live wallpapers (video, daynight, parallax, ripple) via a bundled WallpaperService — no native code to write.
• Local or remote paths everywhere. Pass a file:// path or a direct http(s):// URL; the module downloads remote assets itself and reports real progress.
• Interactive in-app preview (WallpaperEnginePreviewView) for parallax/ripple, reusing the exact same renderers the applied wallpaper uses.
• Day/night helper (resolveDayNightSlot) so an in-app preview never diverges from the applied daynight wallpaper's current slot.
• Autochanger: periodic rotation of static wallpapers via WorkManager, with native events and a state query to resync your UI.

Platform support

Android only. Off Android, every export is still safe to call: actions throw an UNSUPPORTED_ERROR, queries return a safe default, and subscribe/WallpaperEnginePreviewView are no-ops — so cross-platform code can call everything unconditionally.

Requirements

React Native 0.71+. Works in both Expo (managed or prebuild) and bare React Native CLI.

Installation

npm install react-native-wallpaper-engine

This module has native Android code, so it doesn't work in Expo Go — run a prebuild after installing:

npx expo prebuild

(bare RN CLI autolinks it automatically, no extra step). Android permissions (SET_WALLPAPER/SET_WALLPAPER_HINTS) are merged into your app automatically.

INTERNET is also required for remote assets — not declared here since virtually every RN app already has it.

The label/description shown in Android's live wallpaper picker ("Live Wallpaper") can be overridden by declaring live_wallpaper_label/live_wallpaper_description in your own app's strings.xml — app resources take precedence over the library's defaults.

Quick start

import { setStaticWallpaper } from 'react-native-wallpaper-engine';

await setStaticWallpaper('https://example.com/photo.jpg', 'both');

Usage

Static wallpapers (static / double / matching)

import { setStaticWallpaper } from 'react-native-wallpaper-engine';

// A single image for both home and lock screen:
await setStaticWallpaper(imagePath, 'both');

// A pair (double/matching) — call once per side:
await setStaticWallpaper(homeImagePath, 'home');
await setStaticWallpaper(lockImagePath, 'lock');

path accepts a local file or a remote URL — remote ones are downloaded, applied, then deleted.

Live wallpapers (video / daynight / parallax / ripple)

type LiveWallpaperConfig =
  | { type: 'video'; videoPath: string }
  | { type: 'daynight'; dayImagePath: string; nightImagePath: string }
  | { type: 'parallax'; zipPath: string }   // API-provided zip
  | { type: 'parallax'; layers: string[] }  // loose layers, no zip — array order is z-order
  | { type: 'ripple'; videoPath: string }   // animated ripple over a looping video
  | { type: 'ripple'; imagePath: string };  // animated ripple over a static image

import { setLiveWallpaper, isLiveWallpaperActive, subscribe } from 'react-native-wallpaper-engine';

await setLiveWallpaper({ type: 'video', videoPath: remoteOrLocalVideoPath });
// Always resolves 'preview_opened' — the system picker confirms home/lock/both. Re-check after:
const unsubscribe = subscribe('onWallpaperChanged', ({ isLiveWallpaperActive }) => {
  console.log('active:', isLiveWallpaperActive);
});

Parallax zip — no manifest needed, layers come from file names:

parallax_data.zip
├─ 0.jpg        ← leading digit = z-order (0 = background, moves least)
├─ 1.png
├─ 2.png        ← highest digit = foreground, moves most
└─ 1_mask.jpg   ← *_mask.* files are depth maps — ignored, never drawn

Or skip the zip and assemble your own layers (array order = z-order):

await setLiveWallpaper({ type: 'parallax', layers: [backgroundUrl, midgroundUrl, foregroundUrl] });

ripple accepts a video or a static image — video wins if both are given.

Interactive in-app preview

WallpaperEnginePreviewView renders a live preview for parallax (sensors) and ripple (touch), reusing the same native renderer as the applied wallpaper. Other types render nothing.

import { WallpaperEnginePreviewView, type LiveWallpaperConfig } from 'react-native-wallpaper-engine';

const config: LiveWallpaperConfig = { type: 'parallax', zipPath: localOrRemoteZipPath };

<WallpaperEnginePreviewView config={config} style={{ flex: 1 }} />;

Download progress

import { subscribe } from 'react-native-wallpaper-engine';

subscribe('onWallpaperDownloadProgress', ({ progress }) => {
  console.log(`${Math.round(progress * 100)}%`);
});

Day/night helper

import { resolveDayNightSlot } from 'react-native-wallpaper-engine';

resolveDayNightSlot(); // 'day' | 'night', 06:00-18:00 local time = day

Use it to pick which bitmap to show in your own preview UI so it matches the applied wallpaper.

Autochanger

Not an API wallpaper type — rotates static wallpapers on a timer via WorkManager.

import { startAutoChanger, stopAutoChanger, getAutoChangerState, subscribe } from 'react-native-wallpaper-engine';

await startAutoChanger({ imageUrls: [url1, url2, url3], intervalMinutes: 60 });

const state = await getAutoChangerState(); // resync UI with the real native state
subscribe('onAutoChangerTick', ({ index, url }) => { /* applied url at index */ });

await stopAutoChanger();

API reference

Functions

Function	Signature
setStaticWallpaper	(path: string, target: 'home' | 'lock' | 'both') => Promise<void>
setLiveWallpaper	(config: LiveWallpaperConfig) => Promise<'applied' | 'preview_opened'>¹
isLiveWallpaperActive	() => boolean
resolveDayNightSlot	() => 'day' | 'night'
startAutoChanger	(config: AutoChangerConfig) => Promise<void>
stopAutoChanger	() => Promise<void>
getAutoChangerState	() => Promise<AutoChangerState>
subscribe	(event: keyof WallpaperEngineEventsMap, listener) => () => void

¹ 'applied' is reserved for a possible future direct-apply path — today this always resolves 'preview_opened'.

Events

Event	Payload	Notes
onAutoChangerTick	{ index: number; url: string }	Best-effort — app process must be alive
onAutoChangerStateChange	{ isRunning: boolean }	Best-effort
onWallpaperDownloadProgress	{ progress: number } (0..1)	Always delivered
onWallpaperChanged	{ isLiveWallpaperActive: boolean }	Fires on any confirmed wallpaper change

Types

type ApplyTarget = 'home' | 'lock' | 'both';
type SetLiveWallpaperResult = 'applied' | 'preview_opened';
type DayNightSlot = 'day' | 'night';

interface AutoChangerConfig {
  imageUrls: string[];
  intervalMinutes: number;
}

interface AutoChangerState {
  isRunning: boolean;
  currentIndex: number;
  intervalMinutes: number;
  imageUrls: string[];
}

interface WallpaperEnginePreviewViewProps {
  config: LiveWallpaperConfig;
  style?: StyleProp<ViewStyle>;
}

Caveats

• One live wallpaper at a time — an Android constraint, not this module's.
• Autochanger events are best-effort — dropped if the app process isn't alive; call getAutoChangerState() on foreground to resync.
• No asset cache cleanup — persistent downloads (video/daynight/ripple) aren't pruned automatically.

License

MIT