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Show HN: FreeWall – A minimalist iOS wallpaper app using Shortcuts
Hi HN,
I built FreeWall after getting an iPhone Air recently.
I wanted to change wallpapers more often, but the process on iOS still feels surprisingly manual:
find an image, download it, go to Settings, set it, repeat.
So I really just wanted a small utility that does one thing well.
Apple doesn’t provide a public API to set wallpapers programmatically.
Instead of trying to work around that, I decided to lean into Shortcuts,
which is one of the most powerful (and underused) extension mechanisms on iOS.
FreeWall works by:
- Limited scope by design
– Curating high-quality images from free sources like Unsplash and Pexels (huge thanks to those communities)
– Letting users trigger a Shortcut to set the wallpaper in one tap
– Keeping the app free, with no ads, and no subscriptions
This won’t be useful for everyone, but it fits how I personally use my phone:
quick changes, minimal friction, and no noise.
I’d really appreciate feedback, especially from people who use Shortcuts or have thoughts on small, opinionated iOS utilities.
App Store link:
https://apps.apple.com/app/id6755912102 https://apps.apple.com/app/id6755912102