Backgrounds

There are many ways to customize the look of your webOS device, especially when it comes to that one wallpaper that represents who you are. Most users should admit that they spend quite a bit of time looking for “the right image” that will earn its places as your handhelds wallpaper. You know, in case someone wants to see your phone, and you hope that they notice what you have and fire back a comment – “Hey, nice wallpaper…”

When it comes to looking for wallpaper graphics, there’s plenty of search engines out there that usually takes a lot of time to go through and not all websites will display 100% in the webOS browser. The applicaiton, Backgrounds, fills that needed void and provides a simple, easy to use user-interface to search for the graphic you want.

The application is developed by Stylem Media, that is also available on Android and iPhone platforms.  Currently the application is available for free through Palm’s App Catalog. Fortunately, there’s no lite, demo or pro versions of this application, just one app. There’s no fuss or mucking around in layered menus or account registration, but it does require an internet connection.

You have three primary buttons with page buttons and search at the bottom. The top three shows the most popular images downloaded, recently uploaded and category. When viewing an image set, the app will display four random images (respective to what you’ve chosen), and you can proceed to the next page when tapping the arrows. You can narrow down what you’re looking for by tapping the Magnifying Glass icon at the bottom and search by keyword at any time; this is not restricted to the category you’ve chosen.

The category list provides a variety of sections to choose. From masculine, to feminine, nature to technology, cartoons to miscellaneous graphics. Choosing the image you want will display the full image on your screen and simply tap the ‘Save & Set as Background’ button at the bottom. After a couple of seconds, your webOS will now display a new wallpaper image for your default home screen and drag-to-unlock screen. However this app may not please everyone, for you may not find what you’re looking for. I tried searching for a Star Trek wallpaper (yes, I love the movies & shows), and unfortunately it didn’t have any. This is probably due to copyright law, which is understandable.

Artists and photographers can visit the Backgrounds Flickr Group which should allow that person to submit their work, and the user must follow the instructions on that page in order to be featured by Backgrounds.

There’s not a whole lot of features going on in this application, but sometimes less is more, and in this review I feel its a complete, well done and deserves a 9 out of 10. As mentioned earlier, the application doesn’t require any account management or authentications. Simply look for the image you want, tap the save button and you are on your way.