[Feature] Support for Monochrome / Themed App Icon

[playagain96]

It would be cool if the app could use the Monet coloring (from wallpaper)

[playagain96]

Also would be nice if app icon could support Monet too, since it's standing out

[maocide]

Hello playagain96,

I actually had this exact idea, and in fact, it was in the making for a bit and included a while ago. The app already supports Material You / Monet dynamic colors! This was fully implemented in the v1.3.0 Material 3 UI overhaul alongside the per-video settings. It happens automatically. Just make sure that in your Android system settings (usually under "Wallpaper & style"), your color palette is set to use "Wallpaper colors" rather than a "Basic color" preset. If it is already set that way and still not changing, it's likely due to how your specific phone manufacturer (OEM) handles dynamic colors for third-party apps, which unfortunately I can't override.

If you check the Play Store video, you can see the feature in action. The app automatically communicates the colors to the Android System UI when a video is set as the wallpaper. Then, the System UI decides whether to apply them based on the user's system preferences.

Regarding the themed app icon: Android requires developers to create a completely separate, flat, single-color vector graphic for themed icons to work. I'll leave this open as a low-priority enhancement, but I will have to test the actual result first to see if it's worth it. If the logo doesn't translate well to a flat silhouette and loses its identity, I might just skip it. It would require redrawing the logo entirely, so it definitely won't be immediate!

[playagain96]

I tried all pallettes, even lockscreen and main wallpaper one, nothing worked on Undead, but it works on other f-droid apps supporting Monet? Idk why

[maocide]

Wait, I think we might be talking about two different halves of the "Monet" feature, which is causing the confusion!

When I said the app supports Material You/Monet, I meant that the engine successfully extracts the colors from your video wallpaper and sends them to your Android System. This allows your phone's system UI (notification shade, lock screen, widgets) to theme around the video.

However, if you are talking about the inside of the UndeadWallpaper app itself (my settings menus, buttons, sliders, etc.)... those do not change color! I intentionally designed the app's UI with a hardcoded green theme because it fits the "Undead" idea and vibe.

So if my app's menus aren't changing colors to match your system palette, that is actually completely by design. I wanted to keep the thematic green look, so there are no plans to make the internal UI dynamically change colors right now!

[playagain96]

For me even tho my video wallpaper is an aquarium video, for Monet it still tells me those colors:

[maocide]

Thanks, for the screens, they explain something.

I think you are using a Motorola device. I also see in one of those screenshot that your system wallpaper picker is showing the green and orange zombie... which is the static thumbnail image I set for the app itself.

The app's code is successfully calculating the colors of your aquarium video and sending them to the OS. Unfortunately some System UI, like Motorola's custom Android software is ignoring the live data. To save processing power, Motorola's system just looks at the app's static thumbnail icon (the green/orange zombie), extracts the colors from that, and applies them system-wide. That is why your Monet colors are green and orange instead of blue and pink!

Since this is a restriction of how Motorola programmed their operating system to handle live wallpapers, I unfortunately can't force their OS to read the live video colors. Your setup looks nice though! And thanks for the info, I will add this information to the FAQ.

[maocide]

Since the Motorola OS restriction on the Monet system colors is documented, I'm going to rename this issue to focus specifically on the second request.

Adding support for a themed/monochrome app icon is a nice idea. I'll leave this open as an enhancement for a future update once I have some time to convert the app's logo into a flat vector silhouette.

[CatLover01]

You mention this as a Motorola OS restriction, but the same behavior applies to many other devices, including Pixels and others.
I actually haven’t found any device where this actually works reliably for live wallpapers. Do you know of one that does?

From my experience, it only works when setting static wallpapers.

[maocide]

Hello!

I can confirm it actually does work reliably on several devices. The engine successfully passes the live dynamic colors to the Android System UI on modern vanilla Android (like the Pixel 10 running Android 16), and it has also been verified working natively on Vivo devices. You can actually see the live color extraction functioning in real-time in the official demo video on the Play Store!

When the feature fails to apply, it almost always comes down to one of four things:

1. An older Android OS (API 31+ is required for proper Material You extraction).
2. A custom third-party launcher interfering with the system wallpaper manager.
3. A Custom ROM that alters or breaks the standard Android color extraction framework.
4. A specific OEM skin (like Motorola or Samsung) intentionally blocking the live data to save processing power.

If you are experiencing this issue on a Pixel or another device, please feel free to open a brand new Bug Report issue. Make sure to include your exact phone model, Android version (or Custom ROM), and launcher details so I have actual technical data to look at, and we can keep the tracker organized!

[CatLover01]

You’re right that it works on the first setup.

The issue is that the demo resets/restarts the live wallpaper engine, and after that initial successful apply, further calls don’t reliably re-trigger the system UI color update. So it’s not the initial compatibility, but the lack of updates after the first bind.

[maocide]

Ah, I understand what you are referring to now! That is actually an intentional architectural design to protect system stability, not a bug.

You are correct that the colors are successfully passed during the initial setup. However, the app intentionally avoids constantly triggering notifyColorsChanged() during playlist transitions or continuous playback.

If a live wallpaper constantly spams the OS with new color data, the Android System UI is forced into a global redraw. This causes severe UX interruptions across the entire phone... most notably, it will instantly hide the user's keyboard while they are typing and cause UI stuttering. If abused, the OS will eventually just throttle or ignore the app entirely.

Because of this, the colors are strictly bound when a video is initially set, and the OS itself decides when to recompute them (typically on device unlock) to prevent redraw spam.

[maocide]

I’ve spent some time prototyping a monochrome vector implementation for the app icon, and unfortunately, the visual trade-off isn't worth it. Converting the current mascot into a flat, single-color silhouette significantly compromises the level of detail and character that makes the app recognizable.

Since the app already fully supports Material You and dynamic color extraction for the Android System UI (which allows the phone to theme around your wallpapers), for the app icon I’ve decided to prioritize keeping the original, high-fidelity colorful icon to maintain the app's visual identity. The original icon is correctly rendered and adapted by material you.

I’m going to close this issue to keep the tracker focused on new features. Thanks again for the input!