Wallpaper Engine 2.0.97 - Android Improvements & Fixes, Display HDR Support

Hey everyone, today we are releasing a new update for the Windows & Android version of Wallpaper Engine. The updates mainly add some new features that we did not finish for the initial release of the Android app, and fixes issues that were reported to us over the last few weeks.

Android-related Improvements

Free Alignment on Android

Allowing for the free alignment of wallpapers was one of the most common requests we received. We have now added the ability to do this. To free align your wallpaper, change the alignment option from "Cover" to "Free", you can then rotate and zoom the wallpaper with your fingers to freely position it on your mobile device just the way you want it.

This feature is mainly useful for wallpapers that have a widescreen resolution for computer screens. Make sure to use the "High Quality" or "Balanced" quality export option if you want to make proper use of this feature.

High-Performance Export Improvements

In the Windows app, we have improved the high-performance export for Android. It will now take your wallpaper settings into account so that you can first adjust the wallpaper to your liking and then export it with these settings.

The high-performance export allows you to cut the wallpaper size to exactly fit the screen of your device. We have added a new "automatic" option for the export resolution which will use your actual device resolution to fit your display exactly.

The high-performance export will now also show a preview image where you can align the part of the wallpaper that you want to transfer to your Android device more easily:

Keep in mind that for the "High-Quality" and "Balanced" export options, the wallpaper is always transferred in its full resolution.

Additional Notes about the Android Update

The Android app update will start to roll out across all app stores now. Please note that mobile app stores tend to release updates with a delay, so it might take a few days for the update to reach you.

If you have installed the APK file directly, you can grab the latest APK on our website now:

Download the latest version of Wallpaper Engine on Android

Windows App Improvements

Experimental Display HDR Support

This update also introduces new support for true display HDR support. For now this option will stay disabled by default but you can manually enable it by changing the post-processing quality option to "Ultra (Display HDR)". Please note this option will only appear when a screen with HDR enabled is connected to your system.

HDR support can significantly improve image quality in in certain lighting conditions on wallpapers. If you have a screen with HDR support, feel free to enable the option and share your feedback with us.

Other Improvements

Read the full changelog below to get a complete overview on all additions, changes and fixes this update brings to both the Windows and Android version.

Full Changelog

Windows App

Additions / Changes

Added Display HDR support.
New puppet warp limb sorting controls.
Added new block user dialog where all blocks can be checked.
Improved wallpaper blocking by grouping blocked wallpapers into a single tile.
Redesigned the top section of the Discover tab, now shows your profile avatar and offers a menu with more options related to your account.
Replaced "relevance" search with "top rated" to show better quality results when using the search functionality.
Renamed "fullscreen layer" to "post-processing layer", "composition layer" to "adjustable composition layer" and added new "full composition layer" that scales automatically to project resolution.
Improved puppet warp weight coloring.
Added auto generated scheme color for videos in editor.
Added script emitParticles() function which allows you to programmatically emit a certain number of particles from a particle system.
Improved puppet warp weight editor performance.
Replaced phone collection with new query that uses the approved tag in combination with a portrait resolution in the Discover tab.
Portrait resolution tags will now be applied to a wider range of resolutions instead of categorizing wallpapers as "Other resolution".
Added high-precision timer option, enabled by default for new users, which allows for more accurate and consistent FPS limiting.
Updated Steamworks SDK to 1.53a.
Updated OpenAL soft to 1.21.1

Bug Fixes

Improved parallax behavior on mobile.
Fixed combo box bindings in script properties.
Fixed script compiler exceptions not showing in log.
Fixed menu bar button area not matching icons.
Fixed Windows message discrepancy leading to crashes in specific cases.
Fixed some WEColor script functions.
Fixed wallpaper load rule not resuming certain types of playlists after being disabled again.
Fixed screensaver not loading special audio mute rules.
Fixed approved tag getting lost too easily when wallpaper is being updated while being approved.
Fixed audio recorder never starting if application was started while no audio devices existed at all.
Fixed fullscreen layer not rendering with any blend mode enabled.
Fixed perspective and skew effects when texture reduction is active.
Improved recent wallpaper config not clearing duplicate entries when expected to.
Fixed media keys not being forwarded by UI.
Fixed a crash when project.json properties are not according to the expected syntax.

Android App

Additions / Changes

Added free alignment option that supports scale and rotation.
Wallpaper settings are now taken into account for high-performance Android exporter instead of always exporting the default settings for a wallpaper.
Added new display resolution option for high-performance export that uses actual phone resolution.
Added ability to import multiple files on Android.
Added import error dialog when trying to open invalid files.
Added support for WiFi/USB-Tethering transmission.
Added new context menu on Android.
Added wallpaper details page.
Added error dialog when trying to use app on phone without OpenGL ES3.0.
Changed scrolling parallax to be able to scroll over entire wallpaper (by default it's half of the wallpaper).
Added manual IP address connection. Click on the three-dotted button in the upper right corner to enter the IP address of your computer if the discovery of your devices does not work.