FydeOS isn’t the most feature-rich operating system available, but there are some things you can do to customize the look and functionality of your FydeOS desktop.
Ready?
Customise your FydeOS’s wallpaper
First, let’s start with the basics of your desktop’s appearance:
- Go to the “Settings” and click “Wallpaper”.
- There are a number of pre-made wallpapers there for you to pick and choose from.
- If you want your wallpaper to vary every day, click the “Daily Refresh” toggle on the first thumbnail of any of the categories.
Customise your browser’s background
You can also personalise the page that comes up every time you open a new tab in your browser:
- First, go to the “Settings” and change the default search engine from Bing to Google.
- Open a new tab in the browser and click the “Customize” button (or the pencil icon) in the browser’s lower right corner.
- Choose “Chrome backgrounds” to select an image from Google’s library or “Upload an image” to select an image from your own local storage, then follow the prompts to locate and confirm the image you want.
Customize your browser’s theme
If you want to change the look of your browser, you can do so by visiting the Chrome Web Store.
For the time being:
- Navigate to the Chrome Web Store’s “Themes” section.
- Choose a theme you like, then click the “Add to Chrome” button.
Customise your App shelf
Finally, take command of the FydeOS shelf, which is a dock-like row of shortcuts at the bottom of your screen. Begin by deciding which icons should appear in that area:
- Go to your app drawer (by clicking the circle icon in the lower-left corner of the screen and then clicking the upward-facing arrow on the partial drawer that appears). Select “Pin to shelf” from the context menu when you right-click any item in the list.
- To add a website, open it, click the three-dot menu symbol in the upper right corner of the browser, and then select “More tools” followed by “Create shortcut.”
- Click the “Open as window” option in the “Create shortcut?” pop-up window that displays if you want the site to open in an app-like window without the typical browser elements on top. Then, on the right, click the blue “Create” button.
- Drag and drop any of the icons on the shelf to reposition them.
- Have you decided that you no longer want the icon on your shelf? Select “Unpin” from the context menu when you right-click on the icon.
- And here’s one more set of options: If you want your shelf to show on the left or right side of your screen rather than at the bottom, right-click anywhere within it, choose “Shelf position,” then choose “Left” or “Right.” If you want your shelf to be hidden by default and only appear when you hover your mouse over it, right-click it and pick the “Autohide shelf” option.