Google Wallpapers now has no fewer than nine new backgrounds for LGBTQ+ and LGBTQ-friendly users to choose from in support of Pride. The wallpapers were spotted packed into the company’s Pixel-specific, aptly-named “Wallpapers” application. That’s available for any user to download from the Google Play Store.
As might be expected, each of the backgrounds is heavy on the rainbow theming and promote inclusivity and equality. The search giant has opted to use an array of lighthearted titles for those, such as ‘Dazzling Unicorn’ and ‘Cloud 9’. And each has a material design-inspired flat aesthetic to it.
In keeping with the reality of ongoing protests and marches, some also follow a more heavy theme. Those are still colorful and look great, of course. But wallpapers with titles such as ‘Neighborhood’, ‘March’, or ‘Raise the Flag’ carry more serious overtones.
Wallpapers aren’t the only gesture from Google for Pride
As noted already, the change is being released just in time for Pride but also arrives at a time when protests and demonstrations are happening globally. In response to that, the company also announced a $1.2 million donation to more than 70 LGBTQ+ specific organizations around the world. And there’s an addition to another $1.2 million in donations made by the search giant to The Trevor Project.
For clarity, that’s a project with directly aimed at suicide prevention for members of the LGBTQ+ community. And specifically for younger members of that community. That includes a toll-free lifeline for LGBTQ+ youth who may be in need of help and support.
The monetary donations put forward by the search giant were tweeted out this morning via Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s verified Twitter account.
Prior to this latest effort from Google, the company has already been working to make inclusivity-focused changes in its own products. For example, the company is hard at work, as of this year, to bring more inclusive emoji than ever to the Android platform. It’s also made an effort in applications such as Maps to point users toward LGBTQ-friendly establishments since 2018.
And, more recently, the company rolled out a change to Maps that added the Black Lives Matter mural. That’s currently found on Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington DC in Maps’ Satellite view. That’s in addition to other donations and its decision to give away or heavily-discount a plethora of movies via Google Play Movies.
These wallpapers are free to use and available now
Google Wallpapers is a free-to-use app with no in-app purchases, available to just about any Android device. And the update containing the new backgrounds appears to be happening on the server-side.
So users who want to download and use the new LGBT+ Pride wallpapers can do so as of the announcement. There’s no app update required to do so. Users just need to be connected to either mobile data or Wi-Fi when they open the app. The included wallpapers will update automatically and users will see a new category labeled “Pride.”
As with all wallpapers in the app, users can also set the backgrounds to change on a cycle. All that’s needed is a click on the “Daily wallpaper” option at the top-left-hand side in any category.