Sunday, March 30, 2014

App introduction: Muzei

Muzei is not really a stand alone app, it is a wallpaper that has been created by the same developer as the DashClock Widget, which I like a lot as well, see my review here.

Muzei at Google Play.



What is Muzei?


Like I said, Muzei is a wallpaper for your Android device. The specialty about it is that by default it will show an art painting in the background which will be blurred out a bit so the foreground better sticks out against the background. Also this picture will be changed once a day so you get to see something fresh every day.

Blurred out background with a widget on top of it.

Viewing options


When you double tap on the screen (at some free space) the background will become sharper. You can also open the Muzei app to view the picture in detail, zoom in and scroll through it or open a link to more information about the picture and the artist who created it.

View mode with information about the painting.

Customizing


Also you can completely customize the background picture shown to you by selecting your own pictures or adding content from other sources.

Select your own pictures if you want.

Adding pictures from different sources (in this case, screenshots form the game Thief).

In the advanced settings you can select the blur and dim rate of the wallpaper shown as well as switching a notification for new pictures which allows you to go into the picture view mode directly.

Advanced settings.

When showing your own pictures you can also set the duration a picture should be shown before switching to the next one.

Time settings for your own pictures.

Conclusion


Muzei is a very simple looking wallpaper that has not too many options but is great for what it does. The blurry and dimmed appearance of the wallpapers really sets them in the background allowing even transparent widgets to stick out perfectly on top of it.
The artworks shown are interesting and nice, best to describe for me by a quote from Mark Twain I think: "I don't know much about art, but I know what I like."
The option to use your own pictures for the background is a very good addition that allows lots of flexibility and alternation.