Dynamic Theme UWP and Bing/Spotlight on your phone

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Out for a while now, Dynamic Theme is a UWP app that adds even more choice into what you want behind your lock and Start screens. But I realised that people kept referring to it and I'd never formally covered it on AAWP. So here goes, with a breakdown and screenshot gallery...

From the Store description:

  • Use the daily Bing or Windows Spotlight picture as background and/or lock screen
  • Use a Bing or Windows Spotlight picture as background and/or lock screen
  • Use personal pictures as background and/or lock screen
  • Different modes supported: static image or slideshow (one or multiple folders)
  • View recent daily Bing images
  • View recent Windows Spotlight images
  • Use daily Bing and/or Windows Spotlight image as dynamic tile of the application
  • Configurable alert to indicate when a new daily Bing or Windows Spotlight image is published
  • Automatic or manual saving locally daily Bing and/or Windows Spotlight pictures
  • Synchronize your settings between your different devices (Microsoft account required)

There's every chance you're 100% happy with what Windows 10 Mobile gives you out of the box - including the Bing image of the day... But if you want even more images and even more control then check out Dynamic Theme. Here it is in action:

Screenshot, Dynamic ThemeScreenshot, Dynamic Theme

Spectacular lock screens, set up automatically.... (right) the hamburger menu, showing specific settings panes for Bing and Windows Spotlight images, detailing when you're notified of changes, whether you want them on a live tile and whether you want them auto-saved.

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Delving into these settings, here making sure my Spotlight images get saved onto the phone, for future (manual) use.

Screenshot, Dynamic ThemeScreenshot, Dynamic Theme

There's a 'Slideshow' setting too, cycling through your own photos, though note that these can cause visual overload, as here with a seaside snap of mine not playing well with the dense Start screen layout!!

Screenshot, Dynamic ThemeScreenshot, Dynamic Theme

Here I'm browsing through Windows Spotlight images inside Dynamic Theme UWP; (right) there are a variety of ways to make images 'fit' the phone screen!

The exact difference between the Bing image of the day and the Windows Spotlight image set isn't 100% clear. As far as I can see, the Bing image is chosen each day without fail and comes from the web, while the Windows Spotlight images are slightly less regular and are designed to be pushed to Windows 10 PCs. Anyone know of a FAQ for these?

You can grab Dynamic Theme UWP for free in the Store here.

Source / Credit: Store