For the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, Google introduced a new “Feathers” background collection but also removed the “Horizon” live wallpaper for some reason.
Debuting with the 2016 Pixel and Pixel XL as part of the “Live Earth” series, Horizon — “Look to the horizon. The sun rises as your phone charges, and lowers as the battery is used” — brilliantly doubled as an ambient battery indicator that also gave people a wallpaper that was not static.
The Pixel 4 and 4 XL started letting you access and set live backgrounds from previous generations, but something changed with the Pixel 6a. All the previous wallpapers were present in “Living Universe” except for Horizon, and that absence continues on the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. The available are below:
| Bird’s-Eye View, Zion National Park | Flying above, Monument Valley |
| Light the Way, Schwyz | Hidden fires, Mount Vesuvius |
| White Sands, Sonoran Desert | Hint of salt, Salar de Uyuni |
| Tropical Voyage, Malolo Barrier Reef | World comes to you |
| Marvelous Marble | Arches National Park, Moab, Utah |
| Moon Shot | Garden, Kent, United Kingdom |
| City Silhouette, New York, | Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, CA |
| City Silhouette, San Francisco | Pantheon, Rome, Italy |
| A walk in the clouds, Hawaii | Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan |
| Calming coastline, Lagos | Whitehaven Beach, Queensland, Australia |
Pixel 6 Pro vs. Pixel 7
It would be unfortunate if Google did not restore Horizon as it is somewhat of a classic. At the same time, the company would do very well to bring Aurora Timeline from the original collection:
Aurora Timelapse, the wallpaper that will be on every Pixel phone out of the box, uses current location, time, and weather conditions to create subtle but lush colorscapes that respond dynamically to your location. The composition of this wallpaper took hard work, as we wanted to ensure that the horizon would line up perfectly with the back-plate of the phone.
“Eclipse” from the Pixel 4a is the other worthy candidate.
Another addition Google should make is “Nature swept” — download here — from the Pixel 6a. We find that collection of 12 blurred photos to be the absolute best showcase of Material You’s Dynamic Color, and it would really do well as a default collection alongside:
Community Lens, Curated Culture, Google Arts & Culture, Landscape, Textures, Life, Earth, Cityscapes, and Solid Colors.
More on Pixel 7:
- Google releases a dozen new Pixel wallpapers for all owners [Download]
- Here are the new ‘Feathers’ wallpapers from the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro [Download]
- Google releases two sets of new Pixel wallpapers for October [Download]
- Pixel 7 initial review: Android’s ‘default’ device gets meaningful and important upgrades [Video]
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