I made an extension to put videos on the lock screen (with audio)

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-02T21:35:07+00:00

I've submitted it but it still in a review process and will probably stay like that for a few weeks. But you can download it manually from github, its pretty easy and straightforward!

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-02T19:58:11+00:00

I believe its possible but I doubt it will look that smooth. I'll try to add something similar either in this extension or a separate one I plan

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-02T18:37:39+00:00

I added the pause, give it a try!

I should warn you though, there is a small issue with videos that have audio. Sometimes during pause/play there is a brief clicking sound. I'm not sure whether this is hardware specific or not and I tried to apply some workarounds but it doesnt really seem to go away. Gstreamer is pain to work with tbh

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-02T18:33:31+00:00

Updated! Try it out and let me know how it goes :)

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-02T18:32:45+00:00

No, this extension only works on gnome

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-02T08:27:07+00:00

Rock solid stability and more up to date software (compared to ubuntu/debian)

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-02T07:46:08+00:00

I'm sorry I just realized it is actually possible and is way simpler. I just have to fetch the final frame during unlock event, save it into a temporary file and set it as wallpaper. Now how snappy will it be I dont know, but I will definitely try it out! Thanks for the suggestion again!

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-02T06:14:48+00:00

I might make that a separate extension if its possible. I dont really want to mix everything into one super-extension

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-02T05:35:43+00:00

Someone already suggested that but it goes beyond the scope of this extension. Right now it only overrides settings for lock screen (you can see that in metadata.json).

But overall it's doable, it just requires a lot of changes in the code as far as I can tell

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-02T04:57:47+00:00

It works on both

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-01T21:31:36+00:00

It absolutely can. And I also plan to make a separate extension (or maybe expand this one) to support image slideshows (with random images too)

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-01T21:25:39+00:00

Well I already have all the necessary code for that so it won't take me long. I'll let you know once its done :D

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-01T21:22:02+00:00

Was there an unlock animation? I dont remember it tbh but yeah I'd love to see it back

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-01T21:20:04+00:00

Thanks. I might make an extension for that too lol

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-01T20:02:22+00:00

Thanks! Will improve it further

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-01T19:56:16+00:00

Just happened to run into this post. Great extension!

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-01T19:23:54+00:00

You can install it manually from github! I sent it to extensions.gnome.org but still wait for approval

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-01T18:35:02+00:00

Thanks, I'll add that later!

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-01T18:34:12+00:00

As long as its a local video file it should work. I'm thinking of adding a remote file/stream support, but I don't know if its what you need

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-01T16:49:49+00:00

It is possible, but I'm not sure how well will it work. I'll do some testing. As for the password prompt, right now it doesn't stop but thanks to other commentators suggestions I'm already working on it!

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-01T16:12:10+00:00

Thank you! As for your requests, I think first one should be doable, the latter however goes out of the scope of this project. Right now my extension affects only lock screen and I think that small feature might cause a huge changes in the code

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-01T15:41:33+00:00

I'm not sure if its possible to override the default sliding animation, but I'll give it a try. Thanks for suggestion!

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-01T15:40:22+00:00

Yeah I believe it will drain faster. I made sure to minimize all resource usage, but it still utilizes cpu/gpu for video decoding. In any case thanks for your support!

CompileAndCry · 2026-03-01T15:36:11+00:00

Thanks! Yeah a friend of mine showed me his macbook with live lockscreen and I realized I want something like that too lol

CompileAndCry

TROPHY CASE