Wallflow

Desktop app for Linux, Windows and macOS

Rotate your wallpaper through your own images, on a schedule you choose.

Watch folders, add files, or search Wallhaven from the Gallery. Wallflow lives in the tray, starts with your session, and stays out of the way.

Download View on GitHub
Wallflow Gallery: Nature selected, landscape results from Wallhaven
Wallflow Library: watched folders and a thumbnail grid of wallpapers
Wallflow Dashboard: current wallpaper, countdown, and pause controls

Search Wallhaven and add a wallpaper

What it does

Your images. Your schedule. Your desktop.

Point Wallflow at folders you already have, add individual files, or browse the Gallery. Folders are watched in place; added files and Gallery downloads are copied in so they stay in rotation. Skip, pause, or apply one immediately.

  • 01

    Watch any folders

    Point it at one or more folders. JPG, JPEG, PNG, WebP and BMP files are picked up. New images join the rotation without a restart.

  • 02

    Add individual images

    Pick files one by one. Wallflow copies them into its data directory so they stay in rotation even if you move the originals. Delete a copy from Library when you no longer want it.

  • 03

    New

    Wallhaven Gallery

    Search landscape wallpapers from Wallhaven without leaving the app. Nature, anime, fantasy, space, or cities — or type your own query. Add one to the library, or set it as the wallpaper now. Listings are SFW only; no API key required.

  • 04

    Your interval

    Choose how often the wallpaper changes — in seconds, minutes, or hours.

  • 05

    Shuffle, sequential, or random

    Shuffle plays every image once before repeating. Sequential walks the library in order. Random picks without a playlist.

  • 06

    Fill, fit, stretch, center, or tile

    Fit modes map to whatever your desktop calls them, so the image lands the way you expect.

  • 07

    Thumbnail library

    Browse the whole library as thumbnails. Click one to apply it immediately, or exclude images you would rather not see. Filter the gallery to the copies you added.

  • 08

    Skip, pause, tray

    Skip forwards and backwards, or pause, from the window or the tray menu. Closing the window hides it; Quit in the tray stops the app.

  • 09

    Per-monitor on Windows and macOS

    A different image per monitor on Windows and macOS. Linux backends set every monitor to the same image.

  • 10

    Starts at login

    It starts with your session and stays in the tray so the rotation keeps going in the background.

How to use

From install to rotating in a few minutes

A short walkthrough of the usual first session, matching what you see in the app.

  1. 1

    Add folders or images in Library

    Open Library and click Add folder to watch a directory, or Add images to copy individual files into Wallflow. It scans for JPG, JPEG, PNG, WebP and BMP. Turn on Subfolders to include nested directories, or hit Rescan after you drop in new pictures. The Added images row shows how many copies you have; the icon beside it filters the gallery to those copies. Click a thumbnail to apply it now — the current wallpaper gets a checkmark.

    Wallflow Library: watched folders, added images, and a gallery of thumbnails with the current wallpaper marked
  2. 2

    Browse the Gallery and add a wallpaper

    Open Gallery to search Wallhaven. It starts on Nature with landscape photos already on screen. Switch parent chips (Anime, Fantasy, Space, Cities), tap a sub-topic, or use Custom for a free search. Hover a tile to Add it to the library, or Use now to set it as the wallpaper immediately. Photos are provided by Wallhaven.

    Wallflow Gallery: Nature selected, landscape search results from Wallhaven, with resolution and file size on each thumbnail
  3. 3

    Set the schedule and fill in Settings

    Under Rotation, set Change every and pick Order — Shuffle plays every image once before repeating. Under Appearance, choose a Fill mode (fill, fit, stretch, center, or tile). Turn on Start at login and Start in the tray if you want it running after reboot without opening the window.

    Wallflow Settings: change every 2 minutes, shuffle order, fill mode, and start at login
  4. 4

    Watch it on the Dashboard

    The Dashboard shows the current wallpaper, its filename, and how long until the next change. Use Previous, Pause, and Next there. The cards below list how many images are in rotation, how many were found on disk, and which desktop Wallflow detected.

    Wallflow Dashboard: current wallpaper preview, countdown to the next change, and Previous, Pause, Next controls
  5. 5

    Control it from the tray

    Closing the window leaves Wallflow running. The tray (or menu bar) menu shows the current file, then Next wallpaper, Previous wallpaper, Pause, Open Wallflow, and Quit. Use Quit there to stop the app completely.

    Wallflow tray menu showing the current wallpaper name, Next wallpaper, Previous wallpaper, Pause, Open Wallflow, and Quit

Install

Download Wallflow 1.0.5

Grab the file for your system below.

Ubuntu / Debian

.deb package

24.04 LTS or newer. Needs libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0.

Download .deb 
sudo apt install ./Wallflow_1.0.5_amd64.deb

Other Linux

AppImage

Any distribution. Make it executable, then run it.

Download AppImage 
chmod +x Wallflow_1.0.5_amd64.AppImage
./Wallflow_1.0.5_amd64.AppImage

macOS

Disk image

macOS 10.15 or newer. Apple Silicon and Intel. Not notarized, so the first launch needs a right-click then Open.

Apple Silicon Intel 
Wallflow_1.0.5_aarch64.dmg
Wallflow_1.0.5_x64.dmg

Windows

NSIS installer

Windows 10 (1803) or newer. Installs for the current user only. Not code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may ask you to confirm via More info then Run anyway.

Download .exe 
Wallflow_1.0.5_x64-setup.exe

Compatibility

Supported systems

On Linux the wallpaper is applied through whatever your desktop provides. Windows uses the IDesktopWallpaper COM interface, with a fallback if that is unavailable. macOS uses NSWorkspace, which supports a different image per display.

Requirements

System Requirement
Ubuntu / Debian 24.04 LTS or newer (needs libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0)
Other Linux Any distribution, via the AppImage
Windows Windows 10 (1803) or newer
macOS 10.15 Catalina or newer (Apple Silicon and Intel)

Linux desktops

Desktop Mechanism
GNOME, Unity, Budgie, Pantheon gsettings on org.gnome.desktop.background
KDE Plasma qdbus on plasmashell, falling back to plasma-apply-wallpaperimage
Xfce xfconf-query, applied to every listed monitor
Cinnamon gsettings on org.cinnamon.desktop.background
MATE gsettings on org.mate.background
LXQt pcmanfm-qt
Anything else Tries gsettings, then qdbus, then feh

About

Built by Emon Hossain

Wallflow is a small open-source utility: MIT licensed, a few megabytes to install, and written so it can sit in the tray without getting in the way.

Developer: Emon Hossain (@efadhemon)