Automatically change your wallpaper by downloading stunning images from the internet — all driven by your own search terms.
Forked from CodePlex Archive (link broken)
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| 🖥️ Resolution-Aware | Automatically picks wallpapers that match your screen resolution |
| 🚫 Ban Wallpapers | Ban any wallpaper you dislike — Pulse immediately fetches a fresh replacement |
| ⚡ Smart Caching | Search results and wallpapers are cached for fast load times |
| 📦 Pre-Fetch | Bulk-download all wallpapers returned by a search in one click |
| 🔄 Auto-Change on Startup | Wallpaper changes automatically every time Pulse launches |
Pulse uses a plugin-based provider system. Input providers fetch image URLs; output providers apply wallpapers/effects.
| Provider | Source | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🖼️ Local Directory | Local filesystem | ✅ Working | Scans a folder for images by extension |
| 🌌 Wallhaven | wallhaven.cc | ✅ Working | Official API v1: keywords, categories, purity, resolution & colors |
| 📡 Media RSS | Any MediaRSS feed URL | ✅ Working | Works with DeviantArt and other RSS feeds |
| 🚀 NASA APOD | apod.nasa.gov | ✅ Working | Scrapes the Astronomy Picture of the Day archive |
| 🌍 National Geographic | ngm.nationalgeographic.com | ❌ Dead | Old endpoint returns 403 — needs URL update |
| 🔍 Google Images | images.google.com | ❌ Blocked | Google bot-detection blocks scraping |
| Provider | Purpose | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 🖥️ Wallpaper Setter | Sets the Windows desktop wallpaper | ✅ Working |
| 🪟 Logon Background | Changes the Windows 7 login screen background | |
| 💎 Aero Glass Changer | Changes the Aero glass accent colour | |
| 📦 Piler | Saves/organises downloaded images | ✅ Working |
The solution (Pulse.sln) is organized into core components, plugin providers, and test suites:
pulse/
├── PulseForm/ # Main Windows Forms application (compiles to Pulse.exe)
│ ├── Tray icon lifecycle, options dialog, wallpaper scheduling
├── Pulse.Base/ # Core engine library (Pulse.Base.dll)
│ ├── Provider interfaces (IInputProvider, IOutputProvider)
│ ├── Dynamic plugin discovery & loading (ProviderManager)
│ ├── Wallpaper rotation engine (PulseRunner), DownloadManager, Settings
├── Pulse.Forms.UI/ # WinForms UI controls & monitors (Pulse.Forms.UI.dll)
│ ├── DownloadMonitor & DownloadQueue dialogs, provider settings controls
├── Providers/ # Plugin providers (compiled into bin/<Config>/Providers/)
│ ├── Wallhaven/ # [Input] Wallhaven API v1 wallpaper search provider
│ ├── LocalDirectory/ # [Input] Scans local folders for wallpapers
│ ├── MediaRSS/ # [Input] Scrapes MediaRSS feeds (e.g., DeviantArt)
│ ├── NASAAPOD/ # [Input] Scrapes NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
│ ├── GoogleImages/ # [Input] Google Images scraper (blocked by bot checks)
│ ├── NationalGeographicWallpapers/ # [Input] Legacy NatGeo photo scraper
│ ├── WallpaperSetter/ # [Output] Sets desktop wallpaper via Windows API
│ ├── Piler/ # [Output] Automatically archives downloaded pictures
│ ├── LogonBackground/ # [Output] Windows 7 logon background changer
│ ├── AeroGlassChanger/ # [Output] Windows 7/8 Aero Glass tint synchronizer
│ └── WinAPI/ # Shared native Windows API P/Invoke interop library
├── Pulse.Tests/ # Unit and integration test suite (MSTest)
├── PulseMassDownloader/ # Standalone bulk wallpaper downloader utility
└── References/ # Third-party pre-compiled dependencies
- Operating System: Windows 7 / 8 / 10 / 11
- Target Framework: .NET Framework 4.8 Developer Pack
- Build Tools:
- Visual Studio 2019 / 2022 (with the .NET desktop development workload), OR
- Visual Studio Build Tools with MSBuild
- NuGet CLI (or Visual Studio package restore)
- Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/RobbyB97/pulse.git cd pulse - Open
Pulse.slnin Visual Studio. - Select your configuration: Release (or Debug) and Mixed Platforms.
- Restore packages: Right-click the solution in Solution Explorer > Restore NuGet Packages.
- Build: Press
Ctrl+Shift+Bor select Build > Build Solution.
- Restore NuGet dependencies:
nuget restore Pulse.sln
- Build the solution using MSBuild:
msbuild Pulse.sln /p:Configuration=Release /p:"Platform=Mixed Platforms" /m
Note
Build outputs are placed directly in the bin\ directory:
- Application:
bin\Release\Pulse.exe - Plugins:
bin\Release\Providers\*.dll(automatically output to theProviders\subfolder)
- Navigate to the build output directory:
cd bin\Release - Run
Pulse.exe:.\Pulse.exe
- Pulse runs in the background as a System Tray application:
- Look for the Pulse icon in the Windows notification area (bottom-right taskbar).
- Double-click the tray icon to advance to the next wallpaper.
- Right-click the tray icon to access:
- Next / Previous Picture: Cycle through wallpapers.
- Ban Picture: Discard the current wallpaper and fetch a fresh replacement immediately.
- Pre-Fetch: Bulk-download all wallpapers returned by the active search.
- Settings / Options: Configure search queries, provider selection, rotation intervals, and resolution matching.
- Download Monitor: Inspect the active image download queue and status.
Pulse includes unit and integration tests using MSTest.
- In Visual Studio: Open Test > Test Explorer and click Run All Tests In View (
Ctrl+R, A). - Via Command Line:
vstest.console.exe Pulse.Tests\bin\Release\Pulse.Tests.dll /TestAdapterPath:packages\MSTest.TestAdapter.3.6.0\build\net462
⚠️ Pre-built binary releases are not currently available. Follow the Building from Source instructions above to compile and run Pulse.
- Lifehacker — Pulse Creates Wallpaper Slideshows Based on Keywords
- Redmond Pie — Pulse for Windows 7: Changes Your Login Screen Background and Desktop Wallpaper Periodically
- TV 2 Nyheder (Danish) — Aldrig mere kedeligt Windows
- Chip.com.tr (Turkish) — Masaüstü Resimlerini Otomatik Değiştirin
GuidingTech — Automatically Download Wallpapers from NatGeo, Google Images & Wallbase(link broken — 404)
- C# / .NET Framework 4.8 — Windows Desktop Application
- Windows Forms (WinForms) — User interface and system tray management
- Windows API (P/Invoke) — Desktop wallpaper manipulation (
SystemParametersInfo/ActiveDesktop), Aero Glass, and logon integration - CsQuery — HTML parsing and scraping for web-based providers
- MSTest v3 — Test framework and test adapter
Originally published on CodePlex. Forked and maintained here.