How To Create a Live Wallpaper (Updated 03.21.12)

Want to make your own live wallpapers? No problem.

I. Before You Begin

1. Go download and install the latest version of Java SDK (JRE and JDK) on your Windows computer.

Download the JDK and install it

II. Open the Program

1. Download the program:

Live Wallpaper Creator Script (Link updated March 21st, 2012)

2. Extract it to somewhere on your computer.

3. Right click it and select Run As Administrator.

4. Remove the n01 – n20 images (leave the icon) and save them somewhere else on your computer if you want to keep them.

5. Put the images you want to use into the “placeimages” folder and make sure they are .png format and they are the same resolution as the phone’s screen you want to put the live wallpaper on.

6. Now rename each image as n01, n02, n03, etc (those are zeros not oh’s) until you get to the last image you want to use. (They will show up in the order you set them starting with 01 and going to 100). You cannot put more than 100 images in this folder.

7. After you hit enter it will ask you how many images you have, this number NEEDS TO BE IN HEXADECIMAL (so 20 = 14). Go to http://www.statman.info/conversions/hexadecimal.html to convert the number of images to hexadecimal. Then put that number into the command prompt and hit enter.

8. Enter a name for the wallpaper then hit enter.

9. Enter a description for the live wallpaper and hit enter.

10. Enter a package name (the name of the .apk file it will create), no spaces or any characters that aren’t letter or numbers. Then hit enter.

11. It will now create the .apk file and you can find it in the folder you extracted the Live Wallpaper Creator .zip file to. Simply transfer it to your sdcard of your phone, then install it using a file manager like Linda File Manager and select it by clicking on Menu > Wallpapers > Live Wallpapers > and choosing the live wallpaper you created.

12. Enjoy!

Thanks to Daneshm90 for his awesome live wallpaper creator script!

75 thoughts on “How To Create a Live Wallpaper (Updated 03.21.12)”

      1. dude could you please for making my/everyones life easyier put the .apk fil (the file that you put on you SDcard) downloadable so we dont have to get through all this first time??

  1. No this did not work for my Samsung S i9000,
    first i tried 100 png images and made into an apk but it just crash while trying to load on the galaxy,
    then i thought “hmm maybe the icon count as an image” lol so i tried 99 images this time and i got the same result,
    i had trouble manually going and download java ( couldn’t get the page to open ;S)

    But i have Java deployment toolkit 6.0.200.2

    Am i having the wrong version?
    I dont really get what the JDK is there for =(

    1. Johann,

      The jdk allows the program to run from command prompt. It needs to be installed or it wont make an apk. Before trying to make a 100 image background, try to just compile the 20 images that come with the program and see if that works first. Also remember to type the number of images in hexadecimal, so 20 = 14.

  2. sry for doubble post, thought i could edit by trackback.

    I tried those 20 original images and yes it worked, so i tried 20 images of the one i wanted to have as my lwp,
    and then 50 both worked pretty good,

    But i would need 496 images actually to make it run perfectly but since it crash at 100 i’m about to give up =(
    It’s a really breathtaking clip called pink wave

  3. Ok this is strange all of a sudden the run.bat tells me that

    “java was not found, you will not be able to sign apks or use apktool”
    I have not modified my java in any way and it has worked so wth :S

    Btw you are really helpful TheUnlockr, thanks for pointing this out in all the googlemess =)

  4. What size need the pictures be? And how man pixels x pixels? Because I am using a rooted HTC Tattoo and that is a other resolution and smaller screen.

  5. I cant get it working for some reason run.bat is telling me
    “the system cannot find the file specified
    a subdirectory or file out already exists”
    Why is this, I am running Windows 7 64-bit

  6. its working on my desire but the pix all don’t seem to show up full screen & the pix jump from 1 to another very quickly is there a way to make them show up in full screen without a black border around it & control the time interval between jumping from 1 image to another? i sized them according to the following:
    1) 480 x 800 pixels
    2) 16bit

  7. I find it runs ok, but instead of giving me a .apk it gives me a zip file called test-signed.apk and the actual .apk is not to be found.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated..

    Thanks Denny (The oldguy)

  8. its runs ok, but i dont see the .apk at the end it asks if i would like it to install the apk for me and to make sure adp is in the PATH ?
    i put yes and no and none worked

        1. I had the same problem, resize your images to 480*800, then the apk will be made as accepcted..
          Cobi Saar

  9. i did it at last but it is not working bigger then 20 images or there is a problem occuring about hexadecimal thingy. i have 61 images at the beginning and it’s hexa number is 3d, but it is not working. maybe cause is size of the *.apk, it is 11mb . but at the last when i make the 20 image it is working but it is not smooth even i make the fps 100 or more…

  10. Guys,

    Great job with this. Works very well. I was wondering if there was a way to cut out the Settings image size feature. Since we are developing these for 320×480, we do not want the user to be able to change the screen size to a larger resolution. Any options here?

    Thanks again!

  11. what should I do if I already have the mp4 file I want to use as the video? I could take a bunch of screenshots, but that seems counterproductive…

  12. what should I do if I already have the mp4 file I want to use as the video? I could take a bunch of screenshots, but that seems counterproductive…

  13. Does not work! keeps giving me this message “A subdirectory or file out already exists.”
    I have tried on 2 different computers. One vista and one windows 7. got the same message on both.

  14. It all worked fine until I actually put on the wallpaper. After the animation, it’s just a long period of just blank white and then the animation starts over. How can I fix it so that it continuously loops without the blank frames? Thankksss

  15. Neither the title, description, nor the package name can have special characters. If you follow this along with the other instructions your .apk should appear in the folder where you unzip the files to. ^.^

  16. am getting this: there was a problem sending the command to the program, after i complete the bat run help anyone ? please

  17. Kodiakbear211

    there’s a long blank at the end. and the name of the apk dont come up on my phone. also cant get the icon to show up on the phone.

  18. It works but it plays only half my images…des not play it full…why is that ?? i have total 84 images but it only plays uptil 47- 48th image ?? help ??

  19. hey is there anyway to go further than 301 pics cuz i made 1 of 668 but its to long o and thanks for all works well in HTC EVO.

  20. what if I have a mp4 that I want to use as the live wallpaper? where would I place the file. what xml’s and where and res locations? sorry if I sound like Im new its because I am.. 

  21. Its okay putting the Live Wallpaper on the Android Market, will it be aproved? Has the essential scripting that Android Market Staff Requests to be aproved?

  22. Kingoftheworld_87

    I have made a nice animated wallpaper but it does not fit my screen (HTC Desire HD).
    Any solutions?

  23. Kingoftheworld_87

    I made a wallpaper and tried to publish it to the market but I get this:

    Market does not
    accept apks signed with certificates issued by Android team. Create a
    new certificate that is valid for at least 50 years.Market requires versionName to be set in AndroidManifest.xml.How do i overcome this????

  24. Kingoftheworld_87

    is there anyway to remove the sign and apply your own??? been trying for ages as i want to publish to the market!

  25. Strangermachines

    My resolution is 240×320 but when i make an apk with images of that size, the wallpaper comes out zoomed in on part of the animation. how do I get it to fit the screen? the settings are already on “small”.I tried a couple of other sizes but its still zoomed in on the same part of the image.

  26. I’m seriously thinking about writing and actual app to do this. Can’t believe no one has done that yet, not talking about a phone app, but a java desktop app. Then it would be cross platform. 😛

  27. Hi also having trouble downloading  Live wallpaper script could anyone send me the script as the download link is broken.
    My email is ray41057@hotmail.com     

  28. Christian Martell

    Can someone that has already downloaded the script make it available for the rest of us to download ? I have tried the links provided , I have tried googling , but have come up with nada. 

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