Overview
Want a new wallpaper image, but feel too lazy to search the web? Endless Walls offers a random slideshow of thousands of good-quality photos that can be set as your iPhone’s background image. It can be convenient, but it’s limiting, unresponsive and should not cost $1.99.
Functionality
Endless Walls will stream a slideshow of photos to your phone that can be downloaded and used as your wallpaper image.
There is no order to this random assortment of photos and no way of narrowing down the category or type of image displayed, other than adjusting an option for NSFW (not safe for work) photos that can be changed in your iPhone’s settings.
If you see a photo that you like, you can pause the slideshow and click on the save button to add the image to your camera roll (so that it can be set as your wallpaper). You can also select an option to email an image.
If an interesting photo already passed, users can flick back through the last 10 photos displayed, but no further.
While there aren’t many options for selecting how photos are viewed, the time delay between photos can be adjusted in the app’s settings.
Review
If you want a new wallpaper image, but don’t want to take the time and energy to search through the free wallpaper websites out there (a
Google search will reveal plenty just for the iPhone), download the image, sync it to your iPhone and finally set it as your wallpaper, this app is convenient.
It’s even more useful if you have no idea what kind of image you want. Just open up Endless Walls and view a random slideshow of images to get the juices flowing. For example, I never would have thought of using a Kung Fu Panda image, but that cuddly glutton showed up in my slide show and I couldn’t resist.
It’s also a huge advantage that you are shown exactly how the image will appear on your iPhone, instead of using your imagination and glancing between your computer and iPhone screens. You can also download as many images as you want and try them out immediately (just in case you couldn’t really visualize how a photo of Hiro Nakamura’s thinking face would look behind a “slide to unlock” switch).
But there are no options to narrow the category of your slide show. What if you only want to see nature photos or abstract art? Well, you’ll still have to put up with team logos, sports cars and random comic book characters.
There is also no way to view a gallery of images in some sort of thumbnail view.
Basically, the app is an extended slide show. This can be convenient, but it can also be unnecessary. This wallpaper image will only be seen when your phone is locked, or while you’re taking a phone call (it will not appear behind your application logos). Should you really buy an app that presents images for such limited use, especially when they are available for free anyway?
If you’re searching for a new look and you’re not really sure what that might be, then yes, it’s not a bad idea. Otherwise, the World Wide Web is there for you, especially if you have a specific style in mind.
Summary
Endless Walls does add convenience, but it’s not comprehensive enough to warrant $1.99. Options to narrow the photo selection are necessary, as is a gallery view.
