Creativity has always been at the heart of what we do at Zedge. For years, our core content types — Ringtones, Wallpapers, Live Wallpapers, and Notification Sounds — have helped millions of users personalize their devices and express themselves.
Over time, however, we noticed something important: while user acquisition remained steady, it wasn’t accelerating. That wasn’t a surprise. We’ve been in this space for a long time and have already reached a strong audience deeply interested in our existing content. To unlock the next phase of growth, we knew we had to think bigger.
The answer was clear: expand what “content” means at Zedge.
Why New Content Types Matter
Introducing new content types allows us to:
- Reach entirely new audiences
- Give existing users more reasons to engage daily
- Offer artists new creative outlets
- Build a stronger competitive edge in an evolving personalization ecosystem
So we decided to let our creativity run wild — with a structured plan behind it.
Our Experiment-First Approach
Every new content type at Zedge begins as an experiment.
- Design first: Our design team creates sample concepts and prototypes to explore what’s both possible and delightful.
- Launch small: We release a limited selection to users with minimal development investment.
- Test adoption: We closely track user engagement and see whether marketing can attract new users around this content type.
- Scale with confidence: Once we see traction in the percentage of users downloading the new content, we formalize the content type across our backend systems, web tools, and artist workflows — from upload and moderation to module management.
- Empower creators: Finally, we open the doors to our global artist community, enabling them to create and upload their own designs at scale.
This approach lets us innovate quickly without losing focus on quality or sustainability.
New Content Types We’re Exploring
Here are some of the new content formats we’ve been experimenting with — and seeing exciting early interest from both users and artists.
24-Hour Wallpapers
These wallpapers subtly evolve throughout the day based on time.
Imagine:
- A seaside cliff glowing in the morning sun, cooling into dusk, and resting under moonlight
- An animal that naps during the day and comes alive at night
The wallpaper changes automatically as the day progresses, keeping your screen fresh and dynamic. Under the hood, this is powered by scheduled frame updates using WorkManager and WallpaperManager — but for users, it simply feels magical.
Dual Wallpapers (Lock + Home)
This format uses two coordinated wallpapers:
- One for the lock screen
- One for the home screen
Together, they tell a tiny story every time you unlock your phone.
Examples:
- A flower bud on the lock screen that blooms when you unlock
- A sleeping cat that opens her bright green eyes
- A car that flashes its headlights
- A Christmas tree that lights up in full glory
Every unlock becomes a small moment of joy — and implementation is elegantly simple: two intentionally designed wallpapers working together.
Battery Level–Based Wallpapers
These wallpapers visualize your battery level in a creative, glanceable way.
Picture:
- A green plant slowly withering as battery drains
- Leaves turning yellow, then brown
- At under 20%, the plant is completely wilted
No tiny battery icon needed. It’s functional, emotional, and surprisingly motivating — especially for procrastinators who suddenly feel responsible for keeping a virtual plant (or fish) alive.
Watch Faces
Personalization shouldn’t stop at your phone.
We’re exploring watch faces as a new content type — essentially, wallpapers for wearable devices. On Android, this is particularly challenging due to the diversity of watch brands and operating systems.
Our strategy:
- Start small
- Support the most widely used devices first
- Gracefully handle unsupported edge cases
Once adoption proves strong, we can gradually expand support across the broader Android ecosystem.
What’s Next
This is just the beginning.
Our content roadmap includes ideas like:
- Weather-based wallpapers
- Alarm challenges
- DIY video wallpapers
- And more interactive, context-aware experiences
We carefully monitor many metrics as we test these ideas — engagement, retention, creation volume — but the most important signal remains user acquisition and daily active user base. Each successful content type helps us reach new users and grow the Zedge community in meaningful ways.
The Bigger Picture
Expanding content types isn’t just about adding features. It’s about redefining how users interact with their devices — and how artists express creativity on Zedge.
Our portfolio will keep growing, evolving, and surprising us. And we’re just getting started.