• How to create a plain wallpaper/background?

    From Chris Green@cl@isbd.net to comp.mobile.android on Mon Feb 16 13:09:54 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no pattern
    at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to do it.

    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my
    desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a
    number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size as the
    screen resolution of my phone and use that?
    --
    Chris Green
    -+
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Andy Burns@usenet@andyburns.uk to comp.mobile.android on Mon Feb 16 13:58:11 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Chris Green wrote:

    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no pattern
    at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to do it.

    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my
    desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a
    number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size as the
    screen resolution of my phone and use that?
    probably a 1x1 pixel image of the right colour would work, though I'd
    probably try a larger one e.g. 32x32 in the hopes that android could
    "blit" it onto the screen more efficiently ...

    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Jim the Geordie@jim@geordieland.com to comp.mobile.android on Mon Feb 16 14:42:48 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    In article <2ihb6m-91k63.ln1@q957.zbmc.eu>, cl@isbd.net says...

    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no pattern
    at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to do it.

    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my
    desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a
    number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size as the
    screen resolution of my phone and use that?

    Take a photo of a sheet of paper or any other solid colour and use that.
    (It will be in your gallery)
    --
    Jim the Geordie
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From AJL@noemail@none.com to comp.mobile.android on Mon Feb 16 16:19:58 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    On 2/16/26 6:09 AM, Chris Green wrote:
    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no pattern
    at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to do it.

    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my
    desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a
    number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size as the
    screen resolution of my phone and use that?

    I prefer a black background for my phone and tablets home screen so I hold a
    finger over the camera lens and take a picture. Then I use the resulting
    black photo. If you want a slightly red tint on the photo put a bright
    light behind your finger while it's over the lens and your blood will
    nicely (gruesomely?) shade the photo...


    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Chris Green@cl@isbd.net to comp.mobile.android on Mon Feb 16 16:46:05 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    AJL <noemail@none.com> wrote:
    On 2/16/26 6:09 AM, Chris Green wrote:
    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no pattern
    at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to do it.

    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my
    desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a
    number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size as the >screen resolution of my phone and use that?

    I prefer a black background for my phone and tablets home screen so I hold a finger over the camera lens and take a picture. Then I use the resulting black photo. If you want a slightly red tint on the photo put a bright
    light behind your finger while it's over the lens and your blood will
    nicely (gruesomely?) shade the photo...

    :-)
    --
    Chris Green
    -+
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From VanguardLH@V@nguard.LH to comp.mobile.android on Mon Feb 16 12:42:28 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:

    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no pattern
    at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to do it.

    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my
    desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a
    number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size as the
    screen resolution of my phone and use that?

    I had the phone's camera take a pic while it was facing down atop a
    black mouse pad. That gave me a black picture that I could select as
    the wallpaper.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Andy Burns@usenet@andyburns.uk to comp.mobile.android on Mon Feb 16 19:22:16 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    AJL wrote:

    I prefer a black background for my phone and tablets home screen

    Lower power usage too, if you have an AMOLED display.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Maria Sophia@mariasophia@comprehension.com to comp.mobile.android on Mon Feb 16 14:51:52 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Chris Green wrote:
    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no pattern
    at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to do it.

    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my
    desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a
    number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size as the
    screen resolution of my phone and use that?

    We've discussed this topic in gory detail so many times I can't count them,
    so suffice to repeat, other than to point out again (and again) how.

    To add value to what has already been described many times, my algorithm is simply to choose the most efficient (white or black) back ground.

    For OLED/AMOLED displays, black backgrounds (& dark mode) are most
    efficient while for LCD (IPS, TFT) displays, efficiency is the same
    no matter the background color.

    Since there's no sense hashing out yet again how to do it since that adds
    no value, what I will add is that Settings > System > Developer options
    has an (obnoxious) setting for "Turn on Show screen updates" which will
    show you EXACTLY which pixels change at every moment you use the phone.

    It's enlightening, but it's only for temporary debugging purposes.
    In addition, we covered in gory detail the apps that describe the display.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Maria Sophia@mariasophia@comprehension.com to comp.mobile.android on Mon Feb 16 14:57:35 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Andy Burns wrote:
    AJL wrote:

    I prefer a black background for my phone and tablets home screen

    Lower power usage too, if you have an AMOLED display.

    Yup. It's why my background is black, and why I wrote a tutorial that
    answered the OP's question long ago to help people to set the background.
    <https://i.postimg.cc/tgvzsMRm/scrcpy25.jpg>

    I do it for all my battery-operated mobile devices, including the iPads.
    <https://i.postimg.cc/k5gv0yw8/vysor34.jpg>

    On the PC I only set the background to a solid color for laptops.
    Not desktops (since power doesn't really matter all that much).
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Alan@nuh-uh@nope.com to comp.mobile.android on Mon Feb 16 12:43:02 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    On 2026-02-16 05:09, Chris Green wrote:
    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no pattern
    at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to do it.

    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my
    desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a
    number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size as the
    screen resolution of my phone and use that?


    You mean you can't just select a solid colour from Android's settings?

    Seriously?
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Chris Green@cl@isbd.net to comp.mobile.android on Mon Feb 16 20:52:45 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Alan <nuh-uh@nope.com> wrote:
    On 2026-02-16 05:09, Chris Green wrote:
    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no pattern
    at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to do it.

    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my
    desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a
    number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size as the screen resolution of my phone and use that?


    You mean you can't just select a solid colour from Android's settings?

    Seriously?

    That was my reaction too! All I'm offered by the Wallpaper selector is
    half a dozen rather complicated designs that make actually finding
    things more difficult than it should be.
    --
    Chris Green
    -+
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Carlos E. R.@robin_listas@es.invalid to comp.mobile.android on Mon Feb 16 22:11:15 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    On 2026-02-16 21:52, Chris Green wrote:
    Alan <nuh-uh@nope.com> wrote:
    On 2026-02-16 05:09, Chris Green wrote:
    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no pattern
    at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to do it.

    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my
    desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a
    number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size as the
    screen resolution of my phone and use that?


    You mean you can't just select a solid colour from Android's settings?

    Seriously?

    That was my reaction too! All I'm offered by the Wallpaper selector is
    half a dozen rather complicated designs that make actually finding
    things more difficult than it should be.


    Indeed.

    I can choose a photo, visual effects, or dynamic.

    I would create a black picture with gimp. A very dark photo with the
    camera doesn't really have a flat colour in al pixels.
    --
    Cheers,
    Carlos E.R.
    ESEfc-Efc+, EUEfc-Efc|;
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Maria Sophia@mariasophia@comprehension.com to comp.mobile.android on Mon Feb 16 16:44:35 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Carlos E. R. wrote:
    You mean you can't just select a solid colour from Android's settings?

    Seriously?

    That was my reaction too! All I'm offered by the Wallpaper selector is
    half a dozen rather complicated designs that make actually finding
    things more difficult than it should be.


    Indeed.

    I can choose a photo, visual effects, or dynamic.

    I would create a black picture with gimp. A very dark photo with the
    camera doesn't really have a flat colour in al pixels.


    This thread never needed to be asked if the OP read the tutorials written
    on this subject, so suffice to repeat one more time that all of us have
    been informed that many Android phones (especially Samsung, Pixel, OnePlus) allow us to set a solid-color wallpaper, including pure black.

    Even if the stock OS doesn't include it, almost every Android launcher or wallpaper app can do it (e.g., mine can, but it depends on the launcher).

    So the net summary is that Android allows black and any other solid color, either through the OS or the launcher. It depends on the OP's setup.

    Like some Androids, my newest iPad, which I just checked for confirmation,
    does what my Android does also, so both platforms have the same capability.

    Settings -> Wallpaper -> Add New Wallpaper -> Color (18 exist)
    It doesn't seem like there are any others though, than those 18.
    However you can slide a bar below them to change the brightness.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Carlos E. R.@robin_listas@es.invalid to comp.mobile.android on Mon Feb 16 22:55:42 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    On 2026-02-16 22:44, Maria Sophia wrote:
    Carlos E. R. wrote:
    You mean you can't just select a solid colour from Android's settings? >>>>
    Seriously?

    That was my reaction too! All I'm offered by the Wallpaper selector is
    half a dozen rather complicated designs that make actually finding
    things more difficult than it should be.


    Indeed.

    I can choose a photo, visual effects, or dynamic.

    I would create a black picture with gimp. A very dark photo with the
    camera doesn't really have a flat colour in al pixels.


    This thread never needed to be asked if the OP read the tutorials written
    on this subject,

    Arlen, this is a ridiculous claim of yours.

    Those tutorials are impossible to find. You change your name constantly,
    thus a search for your "tutorials" is impossible.

    If you want to do a service to the community, put your tutorials, with a proper index, on some web site, with search, so that locating the
    appropriate one is easy. And then a single text, not a thread of a
    hundred posts.

    If you want to be of help here and now, just post the instructions he
    needs. Or an exact link to it. Not to a thread, but to the single post
    with the summary and conclusion.

    ...


    -aSettings -> Wallpaper -> Add New Wallpaper -> Color (18 exist)
    -aIt doesn't seem like there are any others though, than those 18.
    -aHowever you can slide a bar below them to change the brightness.

    No such thing in mine.
    --
    Cheers,
    Carlos E.R.
    ESEfc-Efc+, EUEfc-Efc|;
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Andy Burns@usenet@andyburns.uk to comp.mobile.android on Mon Feb 16 21:59:57 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Maria Sophia wrote:

    This thread never needed to be asked if the OP read the tutorials

    Unfortunately (like other usenet articles) they aren't very searchable nowadays ...

    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Maria Sophia@mariasophia@comprehension.com to comp.mobile.android on Mon Feb 16 17:21:56 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Carlos E. R. wrote:
    aSettings -> Wallpaper -> Add New Wallpaper -> Color (18 exist)
    aIt doesn't seem like there are any others though, than those 18.
    aHowever you can slide a bar below them to change the brightness.

    No such thing in mine.

    That was for iOS because the Alan Baker troll was clearly trying to
    intimate that iOS has what Android lacks using the same "mock surprise"
    theater performance that Frank Slootweg has been using in his trolls.

    Alan Baker's "mock surprise" was based on the same ignorance that Frank Slootweg's "mock surprise" theatrical performance trolls were based on.

    Alan Baker knows nothing about Android.
    He's here only to troll us.

    And Chris Green amplified Alan Bake's trolls.
    Why?

    Given Chris Green amplified Alan Baker's trolls, that's why I brought up
    iOS, but I would never have even seen Alan Baker's trolls if Chris Green
    (who has never asked a question we didn't long ago already answer)
    didn't amplify Alan Baker's trolls.

    Why do people like Chris Green even respond to Alan Baker's trolls?
    Do you realize both are trolling us?

    Worse, do you realize Alan Baker has never owned a single Android device?

    All he does is troll to say iOS is better than Android (which, it isn't,
    but that's his only purpose to troll us on this newsgroup).

    It's disconcerting that the Chris Green troll amplified Alan Baker's troll.
    Ask Alan Baker to prove me wrong on the way iOS does it.

    I had checked first on my iPadOS 26.2.1 device so my main point in
    responding to the trolls from Chris Green is that we've covered it and my
    main point of responding to your amplification of the trolls is that iPadOS
    is no better than Android, and in many ways worse.

    This only matters to Android because of Alan Baker's trolls though.
    I'm sick and tired of repeating what I wrote tutorials for.

    If people can't search before they ask a question, I'm not their customer support guy unless they search first and then ask NEW questions which we haven't covered already a thousand times in extremely gory details.

    It's my assessment that Chris Green has never once asked a question that we didn't already answer, so why should we reward him for being a troll?

    Back to the topic since we've covered that the OP is trolling us, to add technical value since each Android phone does it differently due to the launcher involved, the *simplest* way to set a solid color is perhaps
    <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.wallpaper>

    It's anathema for me because it requires GSF, but since I test most of my suggestions, I just installed it for the team where yo9u have to allow
    access to "styles" on Android 13, and then you pick "Solid colors".

    Mine showed 26 solid colors (about 1-1/2 times the solid colors of iOS for
    the Alan Baker troll to revel in) including black and white (yes, I know, they're not colors per se).

    When you pick a color in Google Wallpaper, you get the choice of
    Home screen
    Lock screen
    Home screen and lock screen

    If Chris Green had run a search before trolling us, he'd have known that.

    Note that there is a privacy element inherent in setting unique wallpapers, which we've covered in gory detail, but which only one out of a million
    people has an clue even exists. But that's for another thread altogether.
    --
    Most people know only 3 of the million things they need to know about this.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Maria Sophia@mariasophia@comprehension.com to comp.mobile.android on Mon Feb 16 17:44:12 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Andy Burns wrote:
    This thread never needed to be asked if the OP read the tutorials

    Unfortunately (like other usenet articles) they aren't very searchable nowadays ...

    HI Andy,

    Of all the people who post on this newsgroup, you're one of the few who
    doesn't troll, which I appreciate. And you are intelligent. Like I am.

    You're also knowledgeable, like I am, so I am aware as you are that
    searching Usenet had been a *lot* easier when Google Groups kept the Usenet service updated, and, to your point, you'll notice I used to reference all
    my prior tutorials using links like this on found by searching "wallpaper".
    *How your phone can be tracked by your wallpaper*
    <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/MH2n3cymu6E/>

    You'll also notice that well-informed intelligent people have excellent memories, where I wonder if you also remember you asking me why, long ago,
    why I make my titles so long and descriptive with a billion keywords.

    Do you remember asking me that?
    I shorted them, at your request, but I still strategically add keywords.

    So that others can find my, oh, hundreds? Thousands? Of tutorials easily.
    <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/search?q=tutorial%3A%20homescreen>

    Then spammers figured out a way to flood Google Groups with trolls, and
    when Google Groups stopped updating about two years ago, I started
    referencing using the other services (which have their own issues).
    <https://tinyurl.com/pug-comp-mobile-android>
    <https://i2pn2.pugleaf.net/groups/comp.mobile.android>
    <https://newsgrouper.org/comp.mobile.android>
    <https://comp.mobile.android.narkive.com/>
    <https://tinyurl.com/comp-mobile-android>
    <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/comp.mobile.android
    <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android>
    <https://www.novabbs.com/tech/thread.php?group=comp.mobile.android>
    etc.

    But lately I've been references recent articles by their Message-ID, which,
    I agree, is harder to find initially since it's ephemeral for most of us.

    Still, many of my tutorials show up in the first page of a regular Google search, although that also brings up many of my XDA tutorials also.
    <https://www.google.com/search?q=tutorial%3A+site+xdaforums.com>

    Anyway, I never disagree with a logically sensible statement from anyone,
    where I would agree with you that usenet search got harder, not easier.

    Still, I have no patience for Chris Green's trolls since they're all like micky's posts, and hence I only add value that I haven't already added.

    For example, I gave a free ad-free app that can set the wallpaper on any Android so the Chris Green troll can use that and stop bothering us.
    <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.wallpaper>
    --
    Even kind-heartd people who help others have their limits with the trolls.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Andy Burns@usenet@andyburns.uk to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 08:11:20 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Maria Sophia wrote:

    -aSettings -> Wallpaper -> Add New Wallpaper -> Color (18 exist)

    Along with various curated "fancy" photos/clipart styles, mine has dumb
    AI wallpaper generation, but also a couple of dozen solid colours.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Arno Welzel@usenet@arnowelzel.de to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 09:49:07 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Chris Green, 2026-02-16 14:09:

    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no pattern
    at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to do it.

    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my
    desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a
    number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size as the
    screen resolution of my phone and use that?

    Yes, you can just to that - create a file with the screen resolution and
    a single color and copy that to your phone.

    And why didn't you just try that before asking here? You would be
    surprised how easy it is ;-)
    --
    Arno Welzel
    https://arnowelzel.de
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Arno Welzel@usenet@arnowelzel.de to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 09:47:56 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Alan, 2026-02-16 21:43:

    On 2026-02-16 05:09, Chris Green wrote:
    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no pattern
    at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to do it.

    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my
    desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a
    number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size as the
    screen resolution of my phone and use that?


    You mean you can't just select a solid colour from Android's settings?

    Seriously?

    Yes. There is no option to choose a color *instead* of a wallpaper.
    --
    Arno Welzel
    https://arnowelzel.de
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Carlos E. R.@robin_listas@es.invalid to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 11:25:06 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    On 2026-02-16 23:21, Maria Sophia wrote:
    Carlos E. R. wrote:
    -aN++Settings -> Wallpaper -> Add New Wallpaper -> Color (18 exist)
    -aN++It doesn't seem like there are any others though, than those 18.
    -aN++However you can slide a bar below them to change the brightness.

    No such thing in mine.

    That was for iOS because the Alan Baker troll was clearly trying to

    Arlen trolling and egomania removed.


    If people can't search before they ask a question, I'm not their customer support guy unless they search first and then ask NEW questions which we haven't covered already a thousand times in extremely gory details.

    False. Already debunked.


    Back to the topic since we've covered that the OP is trolling us, to add technical value since each Android phone does it differently due to the launcher involved, the *simplest* way to set a solid color is perhaps <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details? id=com.google.android.apps.wallpaper>

    Ok, so you propose to install an wallpaper app. So you acknowledge that Android has no method on its own to set solid colours, but instead
    emulate a solid colour with a wall paper that is a single colour.


    It's anathema for me because it requires GSF, but since I test most of my suggestions, I just installed it for the team where yo9u have to allow
    access to "styles" on Android 13, and then you pick "Solid colors".

    Mine showed 26 solid colors (about 1-1/2 times the solid colors of iOS for the Alan Baker troll to revel in) including black and white (yes, I know, they're not colors per se).
    When you pick a color in Google Wallpaper, you get the choice of
    Home screen
    Lock screen
    Home screen and lock screen

    If Chris Green had run a search before trolling us, he'd have known that.


    We know that, but there is no point of mentioning it.

    Note that there is a privacy element inherent in setting unique wallpapers, which we've covered in gory detail, but which only one out of a million people has an clue even exists. But that's for another thread altogether.

    Sure.
    --
    Cheers,
    Carlos E.R.
    ESEfc-Efc+, EUEfc-Efc|;
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Carlos E. R.@robin_listas@es.invalid to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 11:30:42 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    On 2026-02-17 09:49, Arno Welzel wrote:
    Chris Green, 2026-02-16 14:09:

    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no pattern
    at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to do it.

    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my
    desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a
    number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size as the
    screen resolution of my phone and use that?

    Yes, you can just to that - create a file with the screen resolution and
    a single color and copy that to your phone.

    It is probably what the wallpaper app that Arlen suggested does.

    And why didn't you just try that before asking here? You would be
    surprised how easy it is ;-)

    Well, many of use thought that it is impossible that there is no way
    that you can not set a solid colour. There are millions of colours to
    choose from, not only 26 as in that app.

    A solid colour, when selected in a computer, uses far less resources
    than a picture, even if it is a solid colour picture. A solid colour
    picture still has to be drawn pixel by pixel. No solid fill function!
    --
    Cheers,
    Carlos E.R.
    ESEfc-Efc+, EUEfc-Efc|;
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Arno Welzel@usenet@arnowelzel.de to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 12:54:24 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Carlos E. R., 2026-02-17 11:30:

    [...]
    A solid colour, when selected in a computer, uses far less resources
    than a picture, even if it is a solid colour picture. A solid colour
    picture still has to be drawn pixel by pixel. No solid fill function!

    A solid color JPEG is very efficient - since JPEG does not store single
    pixels but the mathematical description how to construct the content. In
    the end, the device will also just draw a black rectangle, when you
    create JPEG with just black in it. There is no "pixel by pixel" in this
    case. PNG should also be very efficient in this case, even though it is lossless compression.
    --
    Arno Welzel
    https://arnowelzel.de
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Carlos E. R.@robin_listas@es.invalid to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 13:44:59 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    On 2026-02-17 12:54, Arno Welzel wrote:
    Carlos E. R., 2026-02-17 11:30:

    [...]
    A solid colour, when selected in a computer, uses far less resources
    than a picture, even if it is a solid colour picture. A solid colour
    picture still has to be drawn pixel by pixel. No solid fill function!

    A solid color JPEG is very efficient - since JPEG does not store single pixels but the mathematical description how to construct the content. In
    the end, the device will also just draw a black rectangle, when you
    create JPEG with just black in it. There is no "pixel by pixel" in this
    case. PNG should also be very efficient in this case, even though it is lossless compression.

    It is still a picture, it has to be drawn pixel by picture. The CPU
    doesn't know that all the pixels are the same colour.
    --
    Cheers,
    Carlos E.R.
    ESEfc-Efc+, EUEfc-Efc|;
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Maria Sophia@mariasophia@comprehension.com to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 12:27:05 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Carlos E. R. wrote:
    On 2026-02-16 23:21, Maria Sophia wrote:
    Carlos E. R. wrote:
    -aN++Settings -> Wallpaper -> Add New Wallpaper -> Color (18 exist)
    -aN++It doesn't seem like there are any others though, than those 18.
    -aN++However you can slide a bar below them to change the brightness.

    No such thing in mine.

    That was for iOS because the Alan Baker troll was clearly trying to

    trolling and egomania removed.

    Hi Carlos,

    As a respectful aside, I thank you (and Lawrence) for all the effort you
    put in for the team to prove the CF HTML Fragment issues on your X11 box.

    With all these threads about trolling on this newsgroup, it's important for
    me to point out that Alan Baker's "mock surprise" was similar to Frank Slootweg's "mock surprise", which is a classic trolling technique.

    It's especially important to point out Alan Baker's incessant trolling
    becuase not only has Alan Baker never in his entire life ever even owned an Android phone, but I consider "Chris Green" a troll and one of the reasons (since I use Occam's Razor so it's never based on only one datum) is that
    he instantly amplified Alan Baker's trolls, which only trolls do.

    If you call "me" a troll, you must first take in the datapoint that I never respond to Alan Baker or Joeorg Lorenz, which, had I wanted to be a troll,
    I could easily have done so.

    Hence, IMHO, my response was NOT a troll.

    It was an attempt to get people to NOT respond to Alan Baker's trolls
    (and, to some extent, to Chris Green's trolls).

    If people can't search before they ask a question, I'm not their customer
    support guy unless they search first and then ask NEW questions which we
    haven't covered already a thousand times in extremely gory details.

    False. Already debunked.

    Again, you never use Occam's Razor, Carlos. Just one datum that *you* can't find it doesn't mean it's not there.

    Since my brain is wired like a scientist and engineering brain, I take in
    more than a single datum, and in addition, I agree with any logically
    sensible statement, so I already agreed with Andy Burns that it's getting harder over time to search Usenet for specific keywords.

    But you are basing your firm conclusion on only one datum.
    Mine is based on all the known datapoints.

    Big difference in accuracy when the main point isn't any one given Tutorial
    or PSA of mine but the fact that Chris Green is a troll, in my opinion, so
    I'm not going to waste my valuable time looking up specifics for his
    specific phone, launcher and Android version for him, but, to be always a value-added team player, I provided a general-purpose solution for all.


    Back to the topic since we've covered that the OP is trolling us, to add
    technical value since each Android phone does it differently due to the
    launcher involved, the *simplest* way to set a solid color is perhaps
    <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?
    id=com.google.android.apps.wallpaper>

    Ok, so you propose to install an wallpaper app. So you acknowledge that Android has no method on its own to set solid colours, but instead
    emulate a solid colour with a wall paper that is a single colour.

    I'd appreciate it if you'd ease up on the habit of drawing black-and-white
    firm conclusions from a single datapoint. When I suggested one example,
    such as using a wallpaper app, I'm not claiming it's the only mechanism available, just that it's the most uniform or reliable one I've found.

    You need to think more like scientists and engineers do.

    Occam's Razor is about taking *all* known datapoints before arriving at a simple conclusion; it doesn't mean take 1 datum to arrive at a simple conclusion.

    If Chris Green had run a search before trolling us, he'd have known that.


    We know that, but there is no point of mentioning it.

    Well, there are troll threads where, hilariously, only the trolls are responding to, which I find enlightening, since I take in all datapoints.

    I mean you have to see the humor in Joerg Lorenz calling someone a troll.

    Note that there is a privacy element inherent in setting unique wallpapers, >> which we've covered in gory detail, but which only one out of a million
    people has an clue even exists. But that's for another thread altogether.

    Sure.

    Again and again, you draw firm conclusions from no data, which is not how
    my brain is wired, so I simply ask you to just run a search before you make
    a statement based on zero data.

    *How your phone can be tracked by your wallpaper*
    <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/MH2n3cymu6E/>
    --
    Occam's razor says the simplest explanation is usually the best one as long
    as it accounts for *all the known facts*. It doesn't mean "pick only one explanation that fits only one detail & then proceed to ignore the rest".
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Frank Slootweg@this@ddress.is.invalid to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 18:29:56 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no pattern
    at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to do it.

    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my
    desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a
    number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size as the
    screen resolution of my phone and use that?

    As you've found, this is yet another of these manufacturer dependent functions. As you - again - did not mention your brand, model and
    Android version (no, we don't keep a database of people's devices), we
    can't give a universal solution, at least not without and add-on app
    (which has already been mentioned).

    That said, there also might be a wallpaper setting in (an) other
    place(s) than Settings.

    For (example on my Samsung Galaxy A56 Android 16) phone, one can use
    the (picture) 'Gallery' app to set any picture - i.e. also one with a
    single colour - as the wallpaper, by selecting a picture and then using
    the three-vertical-dots menu, which has 'Set as wallpaper'.

    HTH.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Maria Sophia@mariasophia@comprehension.com to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 13:31:20 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Andy Burns wrote:
    Maria Sophia wrote:

    aSettings -> Wallpaper -> Add New Wallpaper -> Color (18 exist)

    Along with various curated "fancy" photos/clipart styles, mine has dumb
    AI wallpaper generation, but also a couple of dozen solid colours.

    Hi Andy,

    I APPRECIATE your post because Carlos just said because "his phone" can't
    do it, then "every phone" can't do it, which is just not Occam's Razor.

    Some phones can do it.
    And you validated that fact.

    Normally, to help other kind-hearted people, I spend minutes and sometimkes hours, and even sometimes days (elapsed time) to help look up their
    specific phone and model and launcher and Android version to find a
    solution for "them". I'd do that for you. And for Arno or Carlos.

    But since I consider Chris Green a troll, I'm not going to all that effort
    to help him, but I did go to the effort to help *everyone* instead, by suggesting what I consider to be a solution that works on *all* phones.
    <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.wallpaper>

    Having provided a general-purpose solution for everyone, including Chris
    Green, you'd think a "thank you" would be the outcome, but nope.

    Carlos argues with me. I like Carlos. So it's disconcerting when Carlos
    calls me a troll when I'm trying to defend the newsgroup against trolls.

    Note that Chris Green doesn't even provide the courtesy of a thank you.
    He never does.
    He never will.

    Another troll "Jim Jackson" did the exact same thing as did "Chris Green".
    From: Jim Jackson <jj@franjam.org.uk>
    Newsgroups: comp.mobile.android
    Subject: Feint vertical and horizontal lines in keyboard area
    Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2026 22:06:52 -0000 (UTC)
    Message-ID: <slrn10p4grs.9qm.jj@iridium.wf32df>

    Note that "Jim Jackson" doesn't even provide the courtesy of a thank you.
    He never does.
    He never will.

    It's my fault for trying to help these trolls. Sigh.
    I care too much to help people.

    I gotta stop helping others... but it's hard to not help someone.
    It's like seeing an injured dog in the road and not stopping traffic to
    move it to the side of the road and administer first aid (or get help).

    But the trolls like Chris Green & Jim Jackson are faking their wounds.
    And then folks like Carlos run me over when I try to help them.

    Sigh.
    I have to remember to NOT help people sometimes.

    I'm frustrated by how ungrateful people are when you invest in helping
    them. Not you though. But them.

    Back to the topic, THANK You for confirming what I had stated, since Carlos
    is arguing with me that if "he" can't confirm it, it must not exist.

    Which isn't Occam's Razor at all.
    --
    Occam's razor says the simplest explanation is usually the best one as long
    as it accounts for *all the known facts*. It doesn't mean "pick only one explanation that fits only one detail & then proceed to ignore the rest".
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Maria Sophia@mariasophia@comprehension.com to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 13:53:18 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Carlos E. R. wrote:
    It is still a picture, it has to be drawn pixel by picture. The CPU
    doesn't know that all the pixels are the same colour.

    While Andy & I have said that 'some phones' do it natively, whether or not
    you can point the wallpaper mechanism to a solid color *natively* is
    dependent on the phone model, the launcher & the Android version (AFAIK).

    However, this is a general-purpose solution for all Android phones. <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.wallpaper>

    For someone like the OP to *not* have known that is a problem because it's found in almost every search you can run on how to set Android wallpapers.

    Having provided a general-purpose solution for everyone, including Chris
    Green, you'd think a "thank you" would be the outcome, but nope.

    Chris Green doesn't even provide the courtesy of a thank you.
    He never does.
    He never will.

    What Chris Green does is continue to insist "he" can't do it, while
    instantly amplifying the "mock surprise" trolls from the likes of Alan
    Baker (who has never owned an Android phone in his entire life, as he is an Apple religious zealot to the core so he only posted to deprecate Android).

    BTW, to add further value to the general-purpose solution I proposed, there
    is a "fingerprint" privacy advantage to using the app that as over 1B+ downloads, as if you pick the "black" wallpaper in that app, you and
    perhaps one tenth of the billion people who have downloaded that app will
    have, we hope, the same fingerprint.

    *How your phone can be tracked by your wallpaper*
    <https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/MH2n3cymu6E/>

    It's what I'd do anyway, as I almost always follow my own recommendations.
    --
    Occam's razor says the simplest explanation is usually the best one as long
    as it accounts for *all the known facts*. It doesn't mean "pick only one explanation that fits only one detail & then proceed to ignore the rest".
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Alan@nuh-uh@nope.com to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 12:29:15 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    On 2026-02-17 09:27, Maria Sophia wrote:
    Carlos E. R. wrote:
    On 2026-02-16 23:21, Maria Sophia wrote:
    Carlos E. R. wrote:
    -aN++Settings -> Wallpaper -> Add New Wallpaper -> Color (18 exist)
    -aN++It doesn't seem like there are any others though, than those 18. >>>>> -aN++However you can slide a bar below them to change the brightness. >>>>
    No such thing in mine.

    That was for iOS because the Alan Baker troll was clearly trying to

    trolling and egomania removed.

    Hi Carlos,

    As a respectful aside, I thank you (and Lawrence) for all the effort you
    put in for the team to prove the CF HTML Fragment issues on your X11 box.

    With all these threads about trolling on this newsgroup, it's important for me to point out that Alan Baker's "mock surprise" was similar to Frank Slootweg's "mock surprise", which is a classic trolling technique.

    It's especially important to point out Alan Baker's incessant trolling becuase not only has Alan Baker never in his entire life ever even owned an Android phone, but I consider "Chris Green" a troll and one of the reasons (since I use Occam's Razor so it's never based on only one datum) is that
    he instantly amplified Alan Baker's trolls, which only trolls do.

    To be clear, I have never owned an Android device of any kind.

    But to be equally clear, I support clients who use Android, so I've been forced to use it more than a little.


    If you call "me" a troll, you must first take in the datapoint that I never respond to Alan Baker or Joeorg Lorenz, which, had I wanted to be a
    troll, I could easily have done so.
    Hence, IMHO, my response was NOT a troll.

    It was an attempt to get people to NOT respond to Alan Baker's trolls
    (and, to some extent, to Chris Green's trolls).

    This was definitely all a response to me.

    6 times, you had to mention me, didn't you?

    :-)
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Alan@nuh-uh@nope.com to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 12:30:06 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    On 2026-02-17 00:47, Arno Welzel wrote:
    Alan, 2026-02-16 21:43:

    On 2026-02-16 05:09, Chris Green wrote:
    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no pattern
    at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to do it.

    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my
    desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a
    number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size as the
    screen resolution of my phone and use that?


    You mean you can't just select a solid colour from Android's settings?

    Seriously?

    Yes. There is no option to choose a color *instead* of a wallpaper.




    Wow. How stupid is that?!?
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Carlos E. R.@robin_listas@es.invalid to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 21:46:59 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    On 2026-02-17 21:30, Alan wrote:
    On 2026-02-17 00:47, Arno Welzel wrote:
    Alan, 2026-02-16 21:43:

    On 2026-02-16 05:09, Chris Green wrote:
    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no pattern
    at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to do it. >>>>
    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my
    desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a
    number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size as the >>>> screen resolution of my phone and use that?


    You mean you can't just select a solid colour from Android's settings?

    Seriously?

    Yes. There is no option to choose a color *instead* of a wallpaper.




    Wow. How stupid is that?!?

    We don't know what is the reasoning for this decision.

    I asked ChatGPT. Here goes the blurb:

    YourCOre right: **stock Android doesnrCOt offer a built-in rCLpick any RGB colorrCY wallpaper option**. You can set photos, live wallpapers, or
    curated color/material themes rCo but not just open a color picker and say rCLmake it #1A73E8rCY.

    There isnrCOt a single official statement from Google explaining this, but there are some likely design and product reasons.

    ---

    ## 1N+Arau AndroidrCOs design philosophy (Material You)

    Since Android 12, Android uses **Material You (Monet)**. The idea is:

    * The **wallpaper drives the color palette**
    * The system extracts dominant colors
    * UI elements adapt automatically

    So GooglerCOs model is:

    rCLPick a wallpaper raA system derives harmonious colorsrCY

    If you could directly choose any arbitrary RGB color as wallpaper, it
    would partly bypass that curated color-extraction model. They prefer a **visually guided experience** rather than a technical color picker.

    ---

    ## 2N+Arau UX simplicity (avoid overwhelming most users)

    A full RGB/HEX color picker:

    * Adds UI complexity
    * Serves a niche audience
    * Can easily produce poor contrast combinations (accessibility issues)

    Most users:

    * Use photos
    * Use pre-made solid wallpapers
    * Use theme packs

    So from a UX perspective, itrCOs likely considered unnecessary complexity
    for mainstream users.

    ---

    ## 3N+Arau Accessibility & contrast concerns

    Android enforces contrast rules for:

    * Lock screen clock
    * Notifications
    * Quick settings
    * Icons

    If a user picks, say:

    * Pure white background + white clock
    * Neon green + low-contrast text

    It could create unreadable UI combinations. When Android controls the
    color pipeline (via wallpaper extraction), it can ensure contrast ratios remain compliant.

    ---

    ## 4N+Arau Technical reason (minor but real)

    A rCLsolid color wallpaperrCY is technically trivial rCo itrCOs just a bitmap. But AndroidrCOs wallpaper system is image-based. Adding a color picker means:

    * New UI
    * Color management logic
    * Theme interaction rules
    * Accessibility handling
    * Testing across OEM skins

    For something users can already achieve in 5 seconds by generating a
    solid image, Google may consider it redundant.

    ---

    ## 5N+Arau OEM skins sometimes allow it

    Some manufacturers do allow it through themes or UI layers:

    * Samsung (One UI theme store / Good Lock modules)
    * Xiaomi (MIUI themes)
    * Huawei (EMUI themes)

    They integrate color selection more deeply into their theming engines.

    ---

    ## 6N+Arau The rCLhidden compromiserCY in modern Android

    In newer versions (Android 13+), you *can*:

    * Choose from several suggested color palettes
    * Pick basic tone variations

    But:

    * ItrCOs still derived from a wallpaper
    * You donrCOt get arbitrary RGB freedom

    ---

    ## Efoa Most likely real reason?

    ItrCOs probably not technical limitation.

    ItrCOs a **design choice aligned with GooglerCOs philosophy**:

    * Curated personalization
    * Reduced complexity
    * Controlled contrast & accessibility
    * Minimal UI clutter

    ---

    If yourCOd like, I can also explain why iOS behaves similarly (it also doesnrCOt expose a raw RGB wallpaper picker in the main UI), and how both ecosystems think about rCLcontrolled personalizationrCY vs rCLfull customization.rCY
    --
    Cheers,
    Carlos E.R.
    ESEfc-Efc+, EUEfc-Efc|;
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Alan@nuh-uh@nope.com to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 14:32:07 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    On 2026-02-17 12:46, Carlos E. R. wrote:
    On 2026-02-17 21:30, Alan wrote:
    On 2026-02-17 00:47, Arno Welzel wrote:
    Alan, 2026-02-16 21:43:

    On 2026-02-16 05:09, Chris Green wrote:
    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no pattern >>>>> at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to do >>>>> it.

    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my
    desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a
    number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size as the >>>>> screen resolution of my phone and use that?


    You mean you can't just select a solid colour from Android's settings? >>>>
    Seriously?

    Yes. There is no option to choose a color *instead* of a wallpaper.




    Wow. How stupid is that?!?

    We don't know what is the reasoning for this decision.

    All the following is interesting, but for the whole "we have lots of
    choice that Apple doesn't allow you, neener-neener!" crowd, it seems a
    little ironic, don't you think?

    :-)


    I asked ChatGPT. Here goes the blurb:

    YourCOre right: **stock Android doesnrCOt offer a built-in rCLpick any RGB colorrCY wallpaper option**. You can set photos, live wallpapers, or
    curated color/material themes rCo but not just open a color picker and say rCLmake it #1A73E8rCY.

    There isnrCOt a single official statement from Google explaining this, but there are some likely design and product reasons.

    ---

    ## 1N+Arau AndroidrCOs design philosophy (Material You)

    Since Android 12, Android uses **Material You (Monet)**. The idea is:

    * The **wallpaper drives the color palette**
    * The system extracts dominant colors
    * UI elements adapt automatically

    So GooglerCOs model is:

    rCLPick a wallpaper raA system derives harmonious colorsrCY

    If you could directly choose any arbitrary RGB color as wallpaper, it
    would partly bypass that curated color-extraction model. They prefer a **visually guided experience** rather than a technical color picker.

    ---

    ## 2N+Arau UX simplicity (avoid overwhelming most users)

    A full RGB/HEX color picker:

    * Adds UI complexity
    * Serves a niche audience
    * Can easily produce poor contrast combinations (accessibility issues)

    Most users:

    * Use photos
    * Use pre-made solid wallpapers
    * Use theme packs

    So from a UX perspective, itrCOs likely considered unnecessary complexity for mainstream users.

    ---

    ## 3N+Arau Accessibility & contrast concerns

    Android enforces contrast rules for:

    * Lock screen clock
    * Notifications
    * Quick settings
    * Icons

    If a user picks, say:

    * Pure white background + white clock
    * Neon green + low-contrast text

    It could create unreadable UI combinations. When Android controls the
    color pipeline (via wallpaper extraction), it can ensure contrast ratios remain compliant.

    ---

    ## 4N+Arau Technical reason (minor but real)

    A rCLsolid color wallpaperrCY is technically trivial rCo itrCOs just a bitmap.
    But AndroidrCOs wallpaper system is image-based. Adding a color picker means:

    * New UI
    * Color management logic
    * Theme interaction rules
    * Accessibility handling
    * Testing across OEM skins

    For something users can already achieve in 5 seconds by generating a
    solid image, Google may consider it redundant.

    ---

    ## 5N+Arau OEM skins sometimes allow it

    Some manufacturers do allow it through themes or UI layers:

    * Samsung (One UI theme store / Good Lock modules)
    * Xiaomi (MIUI themes)
    * Huawei (EMUI themes)

    They integrate color selection more deeply into their theming engines.

    ---

    ## 6N+Arau The rCLhidden compromiserCY in modern Android

    In newer versions (Android 13+), you *can*:

    * Choose from several suggested color palettes
    * Pick basic tone variations

    But:

    * ItrCOs still derived from a wallpaper
    * You donrCOt get arbitrary RGB freedom

    ---

    ## Efoa Most likely real reason?

    ItrCOs probably not technical limitation.

    ItrCOs a **design choice aligned with GooglerCOs philosophy**:

    * Curated personalization
    * Reduced complexity
    * Controlled contrast & accessibility
    * Minimal UI clutter

    ---

    If yourCOd like, I can also explain why iOS behaves similarly (it also doesnrCOt expose a raw RGB wallpaper picker in the main UI), and how both ecosystems think about rCLcontrolled personalizationrCY vs rCLfull customization.rCY



    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Arno Welzel@usenet@arnowelzel.de to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 23:32:31 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Carlos E. R., 2026-02-17 13:44:

    On 2026-02-17 12:54, Arno Welzel wrote:
    Carlos E. R., 2026-02-17 11:30:

    [...]
    A solid colour, when selected in a computer, uses far less resources
    than a picture, even if it is a solid colour picture. A solid colour
    picture still has to be drawn pixel by pixel. No solid fill function!

    A solid color JPEG is very efficient - since JPEG does not store single
    pixels but the mathematical description how to construct the content. In
    the end, the device will also just draw a black rectangle, when you
    create JPEG with just black in it. There is no "pixel by pixel" in this
    case. PNG should also be very efficient in this case, even though it is
    lossless compression.

    It is still a picture, it has to be drawn pixel by picture. The CPU
    doesn't know that all the pixels are the same colour.

    Wrong - the CPU *does* know that, since the compression algorithm tells
    the CPU "this is a big black rectangle".
    --
    Arno Welzel
    https://arnowelzel.de
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Carlos E. R.@robin_listas@es.invalid to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 23:47:30 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    On 2026-02-17 23:32, Alan wrote:
    On 2026-02-17 12:46, Carlos E. R. wrote:
    On 2026-02-17 21:30, Alan wrote:
    On 2026-02-17 00:47, Arno Welzel wrote:
    Alan, 2026-02-16 21:43:

    On 2026-02-16 05:09, Chris Green wrote:
    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no pattern >>>>>> at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to
    do it.

    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my
    desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a >>>>>> number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size as >>>>>> the
    screen resolution of my phone and use that?


    You mean you can't just select a solid colour from Android's settings? >>>>>
    Seriously?

    Yes. There is no option to choose a color *instead* of a wallpaper.




    Wow. How stupid is that?!?

    We don't know what is the reasoning for this decision.

    All the following is interesting, but for the whole "we have lots of
    choice that Apple doesn't allow you, neener-neener!" crowd, it seems a little ironic, don't you think?

    :-)


    Oh, I never listen to that :-)

    Besides, ChatGpt said that iOS has the same method. :-p


    I asked ChatGPT
    ...
    If yourCOd like, I can also explain why iOS behaves similarly (it also
    doesnrCOt expose a raw RGB wallpaper picker in the main UI), and how
    both ecosystems think about rCLcontrolled personalizationrCY vs rCLfull
    customization.rCY



    --
    Cheers,
    Carlos E.R.
    ESEfc-Efc+, EUEfc-Efc|;
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Carlos E. R.@robin_listas@es.invalid to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 23:50:08 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    On 2026-02-17 23:32, Arno Welzel wrote:
    Carlos E. R., 2026-02-17 13:44:

    On 2026-02-17 12:54, Arno Welzel wrote:
    Carlos E. R., 2026-02-17 11:30:

    [...]
    A solid colour, when selected in a computer, uses far less resources
    than a picture, even if it is a solid colour picture. A solid colour
    picture still has to be drawn pixel by pixel. No solid fill function!

    A solid color JPEG is very efficient - since JPEG does not store single
    pixels but the mathematical description how to construct the content. In >>> the end, the device will also just draw a black rectangle, when you
    create JPEG with just black in it. There is no "pixel by pixel" in this
    case. PNG should also be very efficient in this case, even though it is
    lossless compression.

    It is still a picture, it has to be drawn pixel by picture. The CPU
    doesn't know that all the pixels are the same colour.

    Wrong - the CPU *does* know that, since the compression algorithm tells
    the CPU "this is a big black rectangle".

    Maybe, maybe not. That data is internal to the generic jpg library.
    Probably the initial picture is decoded once and stored in bitmap form.
    --
    Cheers,
    Carlos E.R.
    ESEfc-Efc+, EUEfc-Efc|;
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Alan@nuh-uh@nope.com to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 14:58:23 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    On 2026-02-17 14:32, Arno Welzel wrote:
    Carlos E. R., 2026-02-17 13:44:

    On 2026-02-17 12:54, Arno Welzel wrote:
    Carlos E. R., 2026-02-17 11:30:

    [...]
    A solid colour, when selected in a computer, uses far less resources
    than a picture, even if it is a solid colour picture. A solid colour
    picture still has to be drawn pixel by pixel. No solid fill function!

    A solid color JPEG is very efficient - since JPEG does not store single
    pixels but the mathematical description how to construct the content. In >>> the end, the device will also just draw a black rectangle, when you
    create JPEG with just black in it. There is no "pixel by pixel" in this
    case. PNG should also be very efficient in this case, even though it is
    lossless compression.

    It is still a picture, it has to be drawn pixel by picture. The CPU
    doesn't know that all the pixels are the same colour.

    Wrong - the CPU *does* know that, since the compression algorithm tells
    the CPU "this is a big black rectangle".
    Well first of all, the CPU never "knows" anything.

    What matters is the way that the CODE is written to go from having a
    file in storage to the data in the buffer set up to be what is displayed
    on the devices screen; essentially, how the HUMANS who wrote it made it
    work.

    A JPEG of just black for my iPhone 16 at 2556x1179 can be pretty small
    (as small as about 21KB)...

    ...but once it's been put into a buffer to be used whenever the screen redraws, well then it's going to be 2556*1179*24 bits of data (assuming
    8 bits per colour for RGB. That's about 9MB.

    And there is no way that the rendering routines are going to rerender
    the initial compressed JPEG to reproduce each pixel every time the
    screen needs to be redrawn.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Alan@nuh-uh@nope.com to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 15:29:02 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    On 2026-02-17 14:47, Carlos E. R. wrote:
    On 2026-02-17 23:32, Alan wrote:
    On 2026-02-17 12:46, Carlos E. R. wrote:
    On 2026-02-17 21:30, Alan wrote:
    On 2026-02-17 00:47, Arno Welzel wrote:
    Alan, 2026-02-16 21:43:

    On 2026-02-16 05:09, Chris Green wrote:
    I thought this was going to be easy! I want a plain (as in no
    pattern
    at all) wallpaper and it's proving very difficult to find how to >>>>>>> do it.

    I can probably create an image file using drawing programs on my >>>>>>> desktop computer, that's easy. I can see that Android can accept a >>>>>>> number of image types, do I just create a file of the same size >>>>>>> as the
    screen resolution of my phone and use that?


    You mean you can't just select a solid colour from Android's
    settings?

    Seriously?

    Yes. There is no option to choose a color *instead* of a wallpaper.




    Wow. How stupid is that?!?

    We don't know what is the reasoning for this decision.

    All the following is interesting, but for the whole "we have lots of
    choice that Apple doesn't allow you, neener-neener!" crowd, it seems a
    little ironic, don't you think?

    :-)


    Oh, I never listen to that :-)

    Besides, ChatGpt said that iOS has the same method. :-p

    It never occurred to you that ChatGPT isn't necessarily accurate?

    You can most definitely choose solid background colours in iOS...

    ...AND it definitely exposes all the RGB colours.





    I asked ChatGPT
    ...
    If yourCOd like, I can also explain why iOS behaves similarly (it also
    doesnrCOt expose a raw RGB wallpaper picker in the main UI), and how
    both ecosystems think about rCLcontrolled personalizationrCY vs rCLfull >>> customization.rCY
    Go to "Wallpapers" in settings.

    Create a new wallpaper (if you don't want to fool with an existing one)

    Choose "Colour" from the top options.

    You'll be presented with an array of 18 "Background Colour[s]" to choose from...

    ...AND a spot where you can tap to choose any colour in the RGB gamut.

    You can choose from a larger grid of colours...

    ...or from a spectrum of all the colours there are...

    ...OR by numerically choosing your values for RGB individually...

    ...or by hex colour value.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Alan@nuh-uh@nope.com to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 15:30:18 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    On 2026-02-17 14:50, Carlos E. R. wrote:
    On 2026-02-17 23:32, Arno Welzel wrote:
    Carlos E. R., 2026-02-17 13:44:

    On 2026-02-17 12:54, Arno Welzel wrote:
    Carlos E. R., 2026-02-17 11:30:

    [...]
    A solid colour, when selected in a computer, uses far less resources >>>>> than a picture, even if it is a solid colour picture. A solid colour >>>>> picture still has to be drawn pixel by pixel. No solid fill function! >>>>
    A solid color JPEG is very efficient - since JPEG does not store single >>>> pixels but the mathematical description how to construct the
    content. In
    the end, the device will also just draw a black rectangle, when you
    create JPEG with just black in it. There is no "pixel by pixel" in this >>>> case. PNG should also be very efficient in this case, even though it is >>>> lossless compression.

    It is still a picture, it has to be drawn pixel by picture. The CPU
    doesn't know that all the pixels are the same colour.

    Wrong - the CPU *does* know that, since the compression algorithm tells
    the CPU "this is a big black rectangle".

    Maybe, maybe not. That data is internal to the generic jpg library.
    Probably the initial picture is decoded once and stored in bitmap form.
    Any other way would be insane.

    A JPEG might not be expensive to decode, but it's got to be more
    expensive that simply moving data from a bitmap.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Maria Sophia@mariasophia@comprehension.com to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 18:50:00 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Carlos E. R. wrote:
    Yes. There is no option to choose a color *instead* of a wallpaper.




    Wow. How stupid is that?!?

    We don't know what is the reasoning for this decision.

    Read again what Arno wrote.

    Alan Baker would never understand what Arno actually said.

    But you should have understood it.

    Read it again and only take from it what Arno actually said.

    He explained it well.

    Carlos E. R. wrote:
    Besides, ChatGpt said that iOS has the same method. :-p


    Hi Carlos,

    It's EXACTLY the same with iOS although IOS has fewer choices
    (based on my comparison yesterday of my iOS device with my Android).
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Alan@nuh-uh@nope.com to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 16:05:39 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    On 2026-02-17 15:50, Maria Sophia wrote:
    Carlos E. R. wrote:
    Yes. There is no option to choose a color *instead* of a wallpaper.




    Wow. How stupid is that?!?

    We don't know what is the reasoning for this decision.

    Read again what Arno wrote.

    Alan Baker would never understand what Arno actually said.

    But you should have understood it.

    Read it again and only take from it what Arno actually said.

    He explained it well.

    Carlos E. R. wrote:
    Besides, ChatGpt said that iOS has the same method. :-p


    Hi Carlos,

    It's EXACTLY the same with iOS although IOS has fewer choices (based on
    my comparison yesterday of my iOS device with my Android).

    False.

    It is NOT exactly the same...

    ...as I just explained.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Maria Sophia@mariasophia@comprehension.com to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 19:11:07 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Arno Welzel wrote:
    You mean you can't just select a solid colour from Android's settings?

    Seriously?

    Yes. There is no option to choose a color *instead* of a wallpaper.

    Hi Arno,

    I'm not suggesting this app 'cuz it costs money, and the instant you pay a cent, you lose some privacy, but notice it can set Android colors by hex.
    <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tecdrop.rgbcolorwallpaperpro>

    You give it a hex value, e.g., ABCDEF, and it creates a perfectly colored
    image and hands it to Android's normal wallpaper system for the wallpaper.

    But another option, which is free, is to generate the image on the web.
    <https://singlecolorimage.com/>
    --
    Intelligent people can always come up with many solutions to any problem.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Maria Sophia@mariasophia@comprehension.com to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 19:13:03 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Carlos E. R. wrote:
    Wow. How stupid is that?!?

    We don't know what is the reasoning for this decision.

    Arno said "color", which is different from color of wallpaper.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Maria Sophia@mariasophia@comprehension.com to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 20:30:27 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Carlos E. R. wrote:
    It is still a picture, it has to be drawn pixel by picture. The CPU
    doesn't know that all the pixels are the same colour.

    Wrong - the CPU *does* know that, since the compression algorithm tells
    the CPU "this is a big black rectangle".

    Maybe, maybe not. That data is internal to the generic jpg library.
    Probably the initial picture is decoded once and stored in bitmap form.

    While you were discussing this (and while you were posting to troll threads that you, yourself authored and only trolls responded to), I purposefully helpfully invested my value added into writing up this PSA to help everyone
    set their background homescreen/lockscreen to ANY desired solid RGB color
    on Windows, iOS and Android, simply using the web or any text editor.

    Newsgroups: comp.mobile.android,misc.phone.mobile.iphone,alt.comp.os.windows-10
    Subject: PSA: Creating *any* RGB solid color for mobile wallpaper or Windows background
    Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2026 20:22:03 -0500
    Message-ID: <10n347s$2pa0$1@nnrp.usenet.blueworldhosting.com>
    --
    There are two kinds of people on Usenet, one of which can add value.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Alan@nuh-uh@nope.com to comp.mobile.android on Tue Feb 17 17:59:12 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    On 2026-02-17 17:30, Maria Sophia wrote:
    Carlos E. R. wrote:
    It is still a picture, it has to be drawn pixel by picture. The CPU
    doesn't know that all the pixels are the same colour.

    Wrong - the CPU *does* know that, since the compression algorithm tells
    the CPU "this is a big black rectangle".

    Maybe, maybe not. That data is internal to the generic jpg library.
    Probably the initial picture is decoded once and stored in bitmap form.

    While you were discussing this (and while you were posting to troll threads that you, yourself authored and only trolls responded to), I purposefully helpfully invested my value added into writing up this PSA to help everyone set their background homescreen/lockscreen to ANY desired solid RGB color
    on Windows, iOS and Android, simply using the web or any text editor.

    Only you got it wrong in that you claimed that iOS can't do it
    "*directly* natively set the background color by number".

    Happy to set you straight.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Arno Welzel@usenet@arnowelzel.de to comp.mobile.android on Fri Feb 20 09:18:13 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Maria Sophia, 2026-02-18 01:11:

    Arno Welzel wrote:
    You mean you can't just select a solid colour from Android's settings?

    Seriously?

    Yes. There is no option to choose a color *instead* of a wallpaper.

    Hi Arno,

    I'm not suggesting this app 'cuz it costs money, and the instant you pay a cent, you lose some privacy, but notice it can set Android colors by hex.
    <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tecdrop.rgbcolorwallpaperpro>

    You give it a hex value, e.g., ABCDEF, and it creates a perfectly colored image and hands it to Android's normal wallpaper system for the wallpaper.

    But another option, which is free, is to generate the image on the web.
    <https://singlecolorimage.com/>

    Or use a graphics program on your computer like Paint, which can also
    create an image with only one color for the background.
    --
    Arno Welzel
    https://arnowelzel.de
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Arno Welzel@usenet@arnowelzel.de to comp.mobile.android on Fri Feb 20 09:19:52 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Carlos E. R., 2026-02-17 23:50:

    On 2026-02-17 23:32, Arno Welzel wrote:
    Carlos E. R., 2026-02-17 13:44:

    On 2026-02-17 12:54, Arno Welzel wrote:
    Carlos E. R., 2026-02-17 11:30:

    [...]
    A solid colour, when selected in a computer, uses far less resources >>>>> than a picture, even if it is a solid colour picture. A solid colour >>>>> picture still has to be drawn pixel by pixel. No solid fill function! >>>>
    A solid color JPEG is very efficient - since JPEG does not store single >>>> pixels but the mathematical description how to construct the content. In >>>> the end, the device will also just draw a black rectangle, when you
    create JPEG with just black in it. There is no "pixel by pixel" in this >>>> case. PNG should also be very efficient in this case, even though it is >>>> lossless compression.

    It is still a picture, it has to be drawn pixel by picture. The CPU
    doesn't know that all the pixels are the same colour.

    Wrong - the CPU *does* know that, since the compression algorithm tells
    the CPU "this is a big black rectangle".

    Maybe, maybe not. That data is internal to the generic jpg library.
    Probably the initial picture is decoded once and stored in bitmap form.

    So what? Painting the wallpaper is not really a performance issue.
    --
    Arno Welzel
    https://arnowelzel.de
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Arno Welzel@usenet@arnowelzel.de to comp.mobile.android on Fri Feb 20 09:23:33 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Alan, 2026-02-17 23:58:

    On 2026-02-17 14:32, Arno Welzel wrote:
    Carlos E. R., 2026-02-17 13:44:

    On 2026-02-17 12:54, Arno Welzel wrote:
    Carlos E. R., 2026-02-17 11:30:

    [...]
    A solid colour, when selected in a computer, uses far less resources >>>>> than a picture, even if it is a solid colour picture. A solid colour >>>>> picture still has to be drawn pixel by pixel. No solid fill function! >>>>
    A solid color JPEG is very efficient - since JPEG does not store single >>>> pixels but the mathematical description how to construct the content. In >>>> the end, the device will also just draw a black rectangle, when you
    create JPEG with just black in it. There is no "pixel by pixel" in this >>>> case. PNG should also be very efficient in this case, even though it is >>>> lossless compression.

    It is still a picture, it has to be drawn pixel by picture. The CPU
    doesn't know that all the pixels are the same colour.

    Wrong - the CPU *does* know that, since the compression algorithm tells
    the CPU "this is a big black rectangle".
    Well first of all, the CPU never "knows" anything.

    What matters is the way that the CODE is written to go from having a
    file in storage to the data in the buffer set up to be what is displayed
    on the devices screen; essentially, how the HUMANS who wrote it made it work.

    Yes, I know. But I did not start with the term "the CPU doesn't know", I
    just explained in in this way, so the original poster will understand it.

    A JPEG of just black for my iPhone 16 at 2556x1179 can be pretty small
    (as small as about 21KB)...

    Yes - because the compression consists of not much more than "this is a
    black rectangle" and not of thousands of individual pixels.

    ...but once it's been put into a buffer to be used whenever the screen redraws, well then it's going to be 2556*1179*24 bits of data (assuming
    8 bits per colour for RGB. That's about 9MB.

    Which is nearly nothing compared to multiple gigabytes(!) of RAM
    available in modern smartphones. A mobile SoC does this without any
    major effort at all.
    --
    Arno Welzel
    https://arnowelzel.de
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Maria Sophia@mariasophia@comprehension.com to comp.mobile.android on Fri Feb 20 04:23:48 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Arno Welzel wrote:
    But another option, which is free, is to generate the image on the web.
    <https://singlecolorimage.com/>

    Or use a graphics program on your computer like Paint, which can also
    create an image with only one color for the background.

    Yup.

    To create a pixel of RGB hex color ABCDEF, all I needed was a text editor.
    C:\> gvim wallpaper.ppm
    P3 1 1 255 171 205 239
    C:\> magick wallpaper.ppm wallpaper.png

    Newsgroups: comp.mobile.android,misc.phone.mobile.iphone,alt.comp.os.windows-10
    Subject: PSA: Creating *any* RGB solid color for mobile wallpaper or Windows background
    Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2026 20:22:03 -0500
    Message-ID: <10n347s$2pa0$1@nnrp.usenet.blueworldhosting.com>

    The point being it's trivial to create a solid black background if we think about it, & the beauty is black has almost no entropy for fingerprinting.
    --
    Privacy is an added feature you build yourself into everything you use.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Maria Sophia@mariasophia@comprehension.com to comp.mobile.android on Fri Feb 20 04:47:47 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

    Arno Welzel wrote:
    Maybe, maybe not. That data is internal to the generic jpg library.
    Probably the initial picture is decoded once and stored in bitmap form.

    So what? Painting the wallpaper is not really a performance issue.

    This is a good point to discuss, which is what is the performance impact of
    a solid-color wallpaper versus, oh, a pointillism from Georges Seurat.
    <https://www.artic.edu/artworks/27992/a-sunday-on-la-grande-jatte-1884>

    I already showed in this thread how to create a 1x1 pixel black image
    using any text editor and then converting the PPM to PNG with another.

    But what "exactly" happens on a phone when we set it to that 1x1 image?
    I don't know.

    What "might" happen is the OS loads the 1x1 PNG image into memory.
    It decodes the 1x1 RGB PNG into a raw bitmap and stores that in RAM.
    So we're looking at, what, maybe 3 bytes (or 4 for an alpha channel)?

    Then it's scaled, e.g., on an Android Galaxy A32-5G, to 1600x720.
    Every pixel becomes identical resulting in a uniform framebuffer.
    Which, if there's only one, is simply the screen stored in RAM.

    Apparently each OS stores the wallpaper differently though.

    Android:
    /data/system/users/0/wallpaper
    Stored as a full-resolution bitmap not accessible to apps.

    iOS/iPadOS:
    Stored in a protected system container not readable by apps.

    Windows:
    Stored as TranscodedWallpaper as a BMP or JPEG depending on version.
    Which is fully readable by almost everything out there.

    On every frame, the OS draws the wallpaper as the "bottom layer".
    a. wallpaper
    b. icons
    c. widgets
    d. status bar
    e. animations

    For a 1+1 solid color, the wallpaper layer is:
    A. a giant block of identical pixels
    B. extremely cheap to render
    C. no GPU load
    D. no texture-sampling complexity
    It is the fastest possible wallpaper.

    Only on Android, the OS also generates a "color summary" after computing
    i. primary color
    ii. secondary color
    iii. tertiary color
    iv. luminance
    But for a solid color, all three are the same.
    Which is why solid colors collapse wallpaper fingerprinting entropy.

    I suspect the wallpaper is cached for faster redraw.
    Such that the original file is never used again.

    And because the source image is uniform:
    I. scaling is perfect
    II. no artifacts appear
    III. no metadata survives
    IV. no fingerprintable patterns exist
    Solid black is the most privacy-safe wallpaper possible on all platforms.

    To understand a little bit about privacy would be to understand why
    something like this would be one of the worst for fingerprinting privacy.
    <https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/georges-seurat-bathers-at-asnieres>
    --
    As I said many times, privacy is a million things, but most people only
    know about half a dozen of those things which we are discussing here.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2