The list of our favorite Android apps contains plenty of wallpaper apps that can make your homescreen stand out. But if you want something different, you can create your unique emoji wallpaper to personalize your phone's homescreen to your taste. The Google Emoji Workshop app lets you create fun emoji wallpapers that even animate. While the app is exclusive to Google Pixel phones, you can also get it on other Android devices, including the best Samsung phones.
Follow this guide to learn how to create and customize emoji wallpaper on your Android phone.
What is Emoji Wallpaper?
As the name suggests, Emoji Wallpaper lets you create wallpapers containing your favorite emoji. You can have up to 14 emoji characters in a wallpaper, with its patterns and colors customizable as you like. All emoji wallpapers you generate are live wallpapers by default. They react to your touch and animate when you put your phone on charge or lock and unlock it.
The charging animation replaces the emoji in your wallpaper with the lighting icon for a few seconds. This animation happens every time you put or remove your Google Pixel from charging.
Emoji Wallpaper is available on Google Pixel phones running Android 13 June 2023 Feature Drop. However, you can sideload the Emoji Workshop app to get the feature on your device as long as it runs Android 13.
How to create an emoji wallpaper
Before starting with the steps below, ensure the Emoji Workshop Wallpaper app is installed on your Google Pixel. The app is not compatible with non-Pixel phones, but you can sideload the APK to get the app running on your phone.
- Long-press an empty area of your Pixel homescreen.
- Select Wallpaper & style from the dialog box that pops up.
- Tap Change wallpaper from the menu that opens, followed by Emoji Workshop from the wallpaper source.2 Images
- Enter the emoji that you want to use in the wallpaper in the Edit Emoji box displayed at the bottom. Alternatively, tap Randomize if you don't have a specific preference.
- To change the emoji wallpaper's pattern, head to the Patterns tab. You can select from Mosaic, Lotus, Stacks, Sprinkle, and Prism patterns. Adjust the emoji size from the slider shown below.
- You can tweak the emoji wallpaper's colors from the Colors tab. There are a variety of combinations, but you cannot pick your custom color.
- When you are done customizing your emoji wallpaper, tap the Checkmark button in the upper-right corner.
- Select Set Wallpaper to set it as your wallpaper. You can share an emoji wallpaper with friends using the Share option below the Set Wallpaper button.2 Images
You can create multiple emoji wallpapers on your phone. They are accessible from Emoji Workshop in Settings > Wallpaper & style > Change wallpaper. Or you can long-press on your Pixel's homescreen to get to the Wallpaper & style menu.
How to customize an existing emoji wallpaper
Google lets you customize your created emoji wallpapers. You don't have to create a new wallpaper and start from scratch if you want to make changes to an existing wallpaper.
- Long-press an empty area of your Pixel homescreen.
- Select Wallpaper & style from the menu that pops up.
- Select Change wallpaper, followed by Emoji Workshop.2 Images
- The Your emoji wallpapers section displays the emoji wallpapers you have created.
- Tap the wallpaper you want to customize. The full editing options don't appear if that wallpaper is currently in use. Switch to another wallpaper when you want to customize the wallpaper that's currently in use.
- Select the Pencil button to change the emoji, pattern, and colors of the wallpaper. To turn off the Live wallpaper animations, head back to the wallpaper preview, tap the button with three stars, and turn off the live wallpaper option.
How to get Google's emoji wallpapers on any Android phone
The Emoji Workshop Wallpaper app should work on most Android phones running a recent build of Android 13.
- Download and install the Emoji Workshop Wallpaper from APKMirror on your Android phone.
- Long-press an empty area of your phone's homescreen and select Wallpaper, followed by Live wallpapers.
- Select Your emoji wallpaper.
- Create and customize the emoji wallpaper as per your liking. The preview might appear broken on some phones but don't worry about it.
- Once you finish the customizations, tap the Checkmark to apply the wallpaper.2 Images
Personalize your Android phone's homescreen
Emoji wallpaper is just one of the many ways you can customize your Android phone's homescreen to your taste. You can always use a custom launcher with one of our favorite icon packs to add more style to your homescreen. And then add some handy widgets to increase its usefulness.