New Tab Widgets is now simply Tab Widgets. Read more about the rebrand in our blog post.

Tab Widgets v1.15.2 - Video Backgrounds, Wallpaper Effects & GIFs

Tab Widgets v1.15.2 adds video backgrounds, wallpaper effect controls, GIF background support, smarter weather summaries, and more reliability improvements.

By
Published:

Tab Widgets v1.15.2 is a polish release focused on making your dashboard feel more personal, more responsive, and easier to tune. It adds video backgrounds, expanded wallpaper effects, support for animated GIF backgrounds, smarter Weather widget summaries, and a collection of smaller accessibility and reliability improvements.

This release builds on v1.15.1 without changing the core dashboard workflow: open a new tab, see the information and tools you care about, then get out of your own way.

Video Backgrounds

You can now use video files as your dashboard background.

If a still wallpaper is not quite the mood, upload a short loop, ambient clip, or motion background and let your new tab feel more alive. Video backgrounds work alongside the same customization controls as image wallpapers, including entrance animation, zoom, exit animation, and blur.

Supported uploaded video formats include:

  • MP4
  • WebM
  • OGG
  • MOV

Wallpaper Effects

v1.15.2 adds a new Wallpaper effects section to General settings for picture and video backgrounds.

You can now adjust:

  • Entrance animation duration
  • Entrance zoom
  • Exit animation duration
  • Background blur

By default, backgrounds start without blur, so your wallpaper stays sharp unless you choose to soften it. Background blur is applied after the Welcome Screen is dismissed, so the Welcome Screen itself still shows your wallpaper clearly.

Animated GIF Backgrounds

Uploaded wallpaper images now support GIF files.

Most uploaded image formats are optimized before being saved, but GIFs are preserved as GIFs so their animation remains intact. If you want motion without using a full video background, GIFs are a simple option for subtle loops, pixel art, or a tiny bit of personality.

Supported uploaded picture formats now include:

  • JPG and JPEG
  • PNG
  • GIF
  • BMP
  • WebP

Weather Improvements

The Weather widget has a cleaner top section and smarter secondary summaries.

Weather messages now do a better job of choosing the most useful detail for the current conditions. Current rain, snow, storms, and fog are prioritized over generic probability messages, daytime UV is handled more carefully, and wind summaries are easier to read.

The layout now keeps the current temperature, high and low, icon, and description in a more balanced arrangement across widget sizes.

More RSS News Options

The RSS widget library adds a pre-configured FOX News feed, joining the existing news shortcuts for sources like Reuters, BBC, Associated Press, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, ABC, SBS, ESPN, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

RSS fetching also gets a small consistency fix for feed requests.

Other Improvements

  • Background settings now update animation and blur values live while you adjust them
  • Widget dragging is more reliable
  • Selected iframe widgets are easier for the app to identify internally
  • Alerts and background controls include improved accessibility labels and roles
  • Custom CSS formatting is more consistent
  • Build and developer tooling has been updated for better long-term maintenance

Upgrade now

Video backgrounds, wallpaper effects, GIF backgrounds, weather improvements, and reliability fixes are available to all users. Pro unlocks unlimited widgets, pages, cloud sync, premium widgets like Gmail, Calendar, RSS, Spotify, Google Drive, and full design control with custom CSS.

Related