Android 11 DP2: Google redesigns Pixel’s wallpaper picker w/ sleek look

Ben Schoon | Mar 18 2020 - 10:52 am PT

In the second developer preview of Android 11, Google is tweaking the theming app that ships with Pixel smartphones with a new option and a completely redesigned wallpaper picker.

If you long-press an empty space on the Pixel Launcher’s homescreen, you’ll be greeted with the menu for “Styles & Wallpapers,” a feature that debuted back in Android 10 with the Pixel 4. This opens up options for not only changing your wallpaper, but also theming your device with new accent colors and fonts.

Now, Google is revamping the wallpaper picker for Android 11. This new wallpaper picker — which may or may not be available for non-Pixel devices — has large thumbnails for the wallpaper being used on your homescreen and lockscreen, along with a swipe-up panel that contains other categories of wallpapers.

You can see it in action in the GIF below.

With this new design, the thumbnails for these categories are much smaller than before, leaving multiple rows on screen and better hinting that there are more wallpaper options. Once you click on a category, the process is basically identical to how it has been for quite some time now.