WallJoy, an iPhone wallpaper app from developer xiaolin jiang, is free to download on the App Store right now. The Hong Kong site New Mobile Life reported on November 3 that it normally costs US $0.99, and the App Store listing currently shows a price of Free.
The app is a browser for portrait wallpapers: you scroll, search, save the ones you like and set them yourself from Photos. It has no ads and says it collects no data, which makes it an easy app to try.
What does WallJoy do?
WallJoy is listed under Utilities and is built around a large library of phone backgrounds. The listing describes millions of images and a handful of tools to find them quickly.
- HD wallpapers optimized for portrait screens, so they should not look stretched
- 12 categories, including Nature, City, Animals, Flowers, Ocean and Starry Sky
- Daily Picks, a fresh set of popular wallpapers recommended every day
- Keyword search across the whole library
- One-tap save to the Photos app
- A heart button to build a personal Favorites collection
Where do the images come from?
According to the listing, every wallpaper comes from the Pixabay open platform and is licensed under the Pixabay License, which the developer describes as free for personal and commercial use. That matters if you plan to use an image beyond your own lock screen.
Prices
- Original price: US $0.99, as reported by New Mobile Life
- Current price: Free on the App Store listing, which also says “100% Free” for the wallpapers themselves
- End date: not stated by either source, so the offer can end at any time
The App Store listing does not show a crossed out price or a countdown. The original price comes from the news site, and the listing only confirms the current free price. Prices can differ by country, and the sources do not say where the offer applies.
What are the requirements?
- iPhone with iOS 16.0 or later
- Also listed for Mac with macOS 13.0 or later and an Apple M1 chip or later, and for Apple Vision with visionOS 1.0 or later
- Download size of 6.6 MB
- Interface in English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese
- Age rating 4+
How to get it
- Open the App Store on your iPhone and search for WallJoy, or use the listing link from the developer.
- Check that the seller is xiaolin jiang and that the price button reads Get.
- Tap Get and confirm with your Apple Account.
- Open the app and allow photo access only when you save your first wallpaper. The developer says that access is needed only for saving.
Who it suits
People who change their wallpaper often. Daily Picks and the category list save the time of searching the web for images that fit a phone screen.
Anyone who dislikes ads. The listing promises a clean, ad free experience, which is not a given for free wallpaper apps.
Readers who care about privacy. The developer states in the App Privacy section that no data is collected. Apple notes that this information is supplied by the developer and has not been verified by Apple.
Chinese speakers. Besides English, the interface comes in Simplified and Traditional Chinese.
What is not known
The sources do not say how long the free offer lasts, or whether the app may return to a paid price later. The listing shows no ratings yet, because the app has not received enough of them, so there is no user feedback to read. The version history lists version 1.2.0 on Aug 4 with bug fixes, and the developer does not say what the next update will add.
Next step
If you want it, install it now, since the end date is not stated. Before downloading, open the App Store listing on your own device to confirm the price in your country, and read the privacy section in full.
