How to set a video as live wallpaper on your Android phone or tablet

Android devices are popular for the fact that you can customize them however you wish. If your phone can’t do something out of the box, there’s probably an app for you on the Play Store that can do whatever you’re thinking of. One such feature is the ability to set one of your videos as a live wallpaper on your phone. Most phones can’t do it natively, but thanks to some great third-party apps, you can unlock another level of customization for your device.

Let’s look at a couple of those apps that will allow you to set videos as live wallpapers on the best Android phones and tablets. We’ll also go over some steps highlighting how you can use them on Samsung phones without the use of a third-party app.

How to set videos as live wallpapers on Android

To set videos as live wallpapers on an Android device, you can install a third-party app like Video to Wallpaper. There are other options, but this one is rather easy to use, and the overall setup process is pretty straightforward. Here’s how to use it.

1. Install the app from the Google Play Store and launch it.
2. Tap on the + icon in the bottom right corner of the home page to add a new video.
3. In the following pop-up, tap on the Choose button to create live wallpaper from your device’s internal storage.

4. Select the video of your choice by tapping on it within the following window. In this case, I’m using one of the OnePlus 11 live wallpapers.
5. Optionally, you can rename the wallpaper if you want to make it easier to remember which wallpaper is which.
6. Tap on OK to confirm your selection.
7. The selected wallpaper will appear on the app’s home screen, and you’ll have to tap on the Apply button underneath it to proceed to the next step.
8. This will bring up another pop-up window with instructions on how to apply the wallpaper. Tap OK.

9. Select Video to Wallpaper on the following page.
10. You should now see a preview pane with a Set Wallpaper button at the bottom. You can tap on this button to proceed to the next step, or you can check the Preview option in the top right corner to view the wallpaper in full-screen mode.
11. Tapping on the Set Wallpaper button will bring up a prompt asking you to select where you want to apply the selected wallpaper. It includes two options: one to apply the wallpaper to your home screen and the other to apply it to both the home screen and the lock screen. You can select either of the two options to apply the wallpaper.

The live wallpaper should now appear on your home screen and/or lock screen based on your selection. You can follow the same steps to change the live wallpaper whenever you please. All the live wallpapers you pick in step 4 will appear on the app’s home screen for easy access, so you’ll be able to switch between them without following steps 2 and 3 every time.

Video to Wallpaper is one of the simplest apps you can use to set videos as live wallpapers on your Android phone. I picked it over other apps for one simple reason: it’s ad-free. If you’re looking for an app that offers more controls and customization options or is easier to use, you should check out the alternatives mentioned below.

How to set videos as live wallpapers on Samsung Galaxy phones

Without third-party apps

Samsung Galaxy phones are fairly unique in that you don’t need a third-party app to use one of your videos as a live wallpaper. Samsung has that feature built-in, though it only works for the lock screen, not the home screen itself. Here’s how to use it.

1. Open the video you want to set as wallpaper in the Gallery app.
2. Tap on the three-dot menu button in the bottom right corner.
3. Select the Set as wallpaper option.
4. This will bring up two options: Lock screen and Call background. Tap on the Lock screen option to set the video as the lock screen wallpaper.

   The feature supports videos only up to 15 seconds long, and you’ll have to trim your video if it’s longer in the next step.

5. In the following window, tap on the scissor icon on the video to crop it, or tap on the Set on Lock screen button to apply the wallpaper.

Sadly, this feature won’t let you set a video as a live wallpaper on the home screen. You’ll still have to rely on a third-party app for that purpose.

Best apps to set videos (or GIFs) as live wallpapers on Android

If you don’t like the Video to Wallpaper app we recommended above, there are a few other apps that serve a similar purpose, many of which have some additional features. Here are some great alternatives:

1. Any Video Live Wallpaper

Although the Video to Wallpaper app is quite simple to use, if you want something even simpler and don’t mind a couple of ads, you can try the Any Video Live Wallpaper app. The app has a minimal UI with just two large buttons in the center.

2. Video Live Wallpaper

For those who need some additional customization options, the Video Live Wallpaper app is another great alternative. The app not only lets you set any video as a live wallpaper on your home screen or lock screen, but it also gives you a couple of additional settings to trim the video, enable/disable audio, and scale the video to fit the screen.

3. Video Wallpaper

The Video Wallpaper app is another simple alternative that lets you set any video as a live wallpaper with just a couple of taps. The app’s home screen shows a list of videos from your internal storage that you can use as live wallpaper. Sadly, tapping on any video brings up a full-screen ad. After you remove the ad, the app gives you a couple of customization options that let you turn on audio on the live wallpaper, scale to fit the screen, and double-tap to start/pause the live wallpaper.

Make your phone even more personal with video wallpapers

It should be easier than you imagined if you wish to use the videos and GIF images in your gallery as live wallpapers on your Android phone. You’re going to need a third-party application to set a video as a live wallpaper on your phone unless you have a Samsung Galaxy phone that lets you do it without an app. If I had to pick just one app out of the lot, I would go with the Video to Wallpaper app as it is extremely simple to use. But the Any Video Live Wallpaper app is also a decent alternative.