Wewa is a command-line application that displays web content as a desktop wallpaper. Rather than limiting backgrounds to conventional image files, it can render websites, local HTML projects, videos and graphical shaders directly on the desktop.
The application uses platform-specific WebView technology to display its content. On Linux, it supports several Wayland environments, including Hyprland, Sway, KDE Plasma and GNOME. GNOME integration uses a companion Shell extension.
Wewa is particularly interesting for users who want animated or interactive-looking backgrounds. A website can serve as the wallpaper, while shader-based backgrounds can produce procedural animations and other graphical effects.
The program includes a collection of ready-to-use shaders, but it can also work with local ShaderToy-style shader files. Command-line options provide control over displays, rendering resolution and shader animation behaviour.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Displays remote websites as desktop wallpapers.
- Renders local HTML, CSS and JavaScript projects as desktop backgrounds.
- Includes a built-in HTTP server for serving local web content.
- Supports muted, looping local video wallpapers through the system WebView.
- Offers video fitting controls for preserving or cropping the displayed image.
- Accepts ShaderToy URLs and converts them into fullscreen shader wallpapers.
- Supports local ShaderToy-style shader files.
- Includes 37 built-in shaders with predefined parameters.
- Supports ShaderToy iChannel textures, including 2D images and 3D volume textures.
- Provides rendering scale controls for adjusting shader performance.
- Allows shader animation speed to be changed independently of the shader source.
- Supports applying wallpaper content to all monitors or a selected display.
- Provides command-line controls to stop wallpaper rendering on individual or all displays.
- Supports remote control through Unix domain sockets on Linux and macOS, and named pipes on Windows.
- Uses GTK layer-shell and WebKitGTK for supported Linux Wayland environments.
- Supports GNOME through a companion Shell extension.
- Cross-platform support – runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Website: github.com/ownself/wewa
Support:
Developer: Jimmy Liu
License: MIT License
Wewa is written in Rust. Learn Rust with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
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Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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