In May of 2025, we told you that Google was giving Pixel users the ability to add AI-created weather effects to the self-created animated wallpapers for their phones. With this feature, you could take a photo of your wife or husband, have it plastered on your phone's screen, and use the AI weather effects to show them getting pelted by snow and rain (not real precipitation, obviously), drenched by the sun, covered by fog, or dealing with whatever your local weather is.
This is how you add AI-generated weather to a photo you've made your Pixel's wallpaper
When using a photo from the Google Photos app as your Pixel's wallpaper, an "effects" button will appear. Here are all the steps you need to follow:
Tap the Settings icon.
Tap on Wallpaper & style.
Press the "More wallpapers" button.
Near the top of the screen, tap on "More Photos."
From the Select a photo page, tap on Photos.
Select the photo you want to use.
From the preview page, tap on Effects.
At the bottom, select "Weather."
On the next preview, you will go to the bottom bar to select the kind of weather you want.
Tap the yellow button with the checkmark in the upper right.
Google is possibly adding a new wallpaper feature to Pixel units
Now, it appears as though Google is adding another new feature to Pixel users' wallpaper options. Android Authority, going through version 2026.07.09.978 of the Pixel-exclusive Custom Icons app, discovered a feature called "Animated wallpaper," which has the intriguing codename of "catsmile." The latter is mentioned in code strings.
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Strings of code related to the new wallpaper feature. | Image by Android Authority
Discovered strings of code give us some more information about this feature
Android Authority was able to bring to the surface the notification that users will probably see when an animated video is being created in the background. Some of the discovered code shows that an internet connection is required. Another string of code indicates that users may have a daily limit of animated video that they are allowed to create.
This might be the notification you see when animation is being created in the background. | Image by Android Authority
There is no guarantee that Google will go ahead and offer this on Pixel handsets, but it sounds like something cool if they do.
This could be similar to another Google AI-powered feature
Animated Wallpaper could be similar to Google Photos' Picture to Video feature. This turns a photo of a dog into a video, showing the dog moving. I took a screenshot of the iOS Clownfish wallpaper, and using Google Photos to Video, the static image became a dynamic video of the fish swimming through my home screen icons.
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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
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