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Spectrum ICS Pro LWP. Make Your Phone Background Look Awesome, Like Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

Posted Monday, December 19th, 2011 at 11:24 am by Paul Wilks 0 Comments

User Rating3.83/5

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Spectrum ICS Pro LWP is the ultimate live wallpaper for people trying to give their devices a fresh Ice Cream Sandwich theme. The app gives you plenty of cool customizations so not only can you make your wallpaper look unique, you really do have complete control over the look and feel of every aspect. In a nutshell, I was looking for a really smart LWP that had that colorful, stripy ICS effect and this was just by far the best option.

Price: Free or $1.19 for the Pro version

Tested on: HTC Desire HD
Content Rating: Everyone

AndroidTapp.com Android App Review:

Pros & Cons:

Pros

• Lots of customizations available!
• Several pre-sets!
• Very smooth!
• Interactive particles!
• Ideal for ICS themes!

Cons

• You can customize 5 different colors if you choose to, but I found that only the middle three seem to display completely in profile mode (you have to switch to landscape mode to see these properly)
• No means to save a particular wallpaper you have created.

Features:

I remember watching the Google event which launched the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and being smitten with the design of ICS. From the colorful wallpapers to the Roboto font, it just looked really good. From that moment forward there have been a growing puddle of apps in the Android Market looking to replicate the look and feel of ICS, especially with Android 4.0 perhaps being a few months of waiting away for those of us not investing in the SGN itself.

One of the most striking elements of ICS was the multi-colored streaky wallpaper which seemed to cover most of the press-released images of the Galaxy Nexus, so it was something I really wanted to see on my phone. I did try out a few other similar wallpapers but they lacked different things like smoothness, customizability and the right look. However, then I started playing with Spectrum ICS LWP. I tried the Free version first- which I’d recommend to anyone wanting to see how it looks.

Essentially there are 4 parts that make up the wallpaper and you get to control them all in the Pro version of the app. You have the colors; you can either opt for the rainbow-styling of the original ICS wallpaper or there are quite a few other pre-sets contained in the app to choose from. Alternatively you can just simply create your own colors and infuse them into your own wallpaper. Then you have the strips in the background. Here you can adjust the number of the strips and the speed at which they move. There are also shadows at the top and bottom of the screen, you can either have choose between 2 different shadow types or you can instead lose the shadow altogether for a brighter look. Finally there are dust particles and light elements. Here you can adjust the color, speed and number of these however you wish. Combining all these you can end up with a rich live wallpaper than can either replicate the ICS original or give it a alternative look with the same kind of design, depending on how creative you want to be.

It’s certainly worth playing about with and trying different effects. I’ve gone for a slightly Christmassy look to mine at the moment; deep red, blue and green with lots of snow-like particles floating around. One aspect that is a little disappointing is the way, when you choose colors yourself, of the 5 you can pick, only the central 3 are really displayed when your phone is held in portrait profile, you would have hold it in landscape mode to see them all. Now, I’m sure this is something that might be rectified in a future update, but it might be something you have to work with initially.

Usefulness:

If you’re looking for that smart ICS thematic this is probably the best live wallpaper currently in the Android Market. It has loads of customizability which lets you either mimic the ICS wallpaper in gorgeous interactive goodness, or just create one that has a similar theme.

Ease of Use:

The app is very easy to use, and it’s actually worth trying out different settings to find a wallpaper that is best for you. The menus are typical Android, functional and simple to navigate.

Frequently Used:

If you like the wallpaper, it would be something that constantly runs in the background while you use your phone. Further use i.e. tweaking depends on the user and what changes s/he might want to make.

Interface:

The menu, as mentioned is simple and responsive. The wallpaper itself features interactive light elements that will drift away form wherever you touch your screen. It’s quite subtle but looks pretty cool.

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