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Ambient New Tab

Living wallpaper for Chrome. A live wallpaper for your browser: paintings, physics and space that follow your mouse and move to your music, on every new tab.

Add to Chrome — free Browse all 54 themes

Five themes free. Pro unlocks every theme we make, plus music sync.

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What it is

Ambient New Tab is living wallpaper for Google Chrome: a free browser extension that replaces the blank New Tab page with a scene that is actually alive. Nothing here is a video. Every theme is generated live on your graphics card, so it never loops, never repeats, and never looks quite the same twice. Move your mouse and the scene answers. Play music in another tab and, with Pro, the scene moves to it.

The page still does its job: a clock, the date, and a search box that uses whatever search engine you already chose are right there. Day and night follow the sun where you live, or you can pin either one.

Think of it as live wallpaper for your browser: here is what living wallpaper means, and why nothing here is a looping video.

The themes

Free, forever

  • Constellation — a star field that drifts, links, and bends around your cursor.
  • Marble — liquid stone you stir with the mouse; it settles when you stop.
  • Synthwave — a neon grid rolling toward a low sun.

Pro, one payment, every theme

  • Bitcoin Rocket — a pixel rocket riding the live Bitcoin price chart.
  • Solar Corona — the rotating Sun with hundreds of magnetic field lines.
  • Black Hole — an accretion disc and jet, ray-traced live.
  • Monet's Garden — an impressionist pond in twenty thousand brushstrokes, with wind, birds and koi.
  • Ladybug Jungle — a paper-cut rainforest lit by the real time of day.
  • Orb Bot, Octopus, Ink Drop, Quantum Orbitals, Reaction-Diffusion, Magnetic Dipoles, Fourier Epicycles, Soap Bubble Sky, Bird on a Wire, Honeysuckle Wall, and more on the way.

Pro is $5.99 a month or $39.99 a year, and you can cancel anytime. Every new theme is included while you subscribe. Rest your mouse on any Pro theme in the Themes panel to try it full screen before deciding.

Every theme

Each theme has its own page with a full-size screenshot and what it reacts to. Five are free; the rest come with Pro.

Constellation New Tab theme: a dark blue starfield of glowing points joined by faint lines, with the clock, date and search boxConstellation FreeFree. Stars that drift, connect and part around your mouse. Marble New Tab theme: swirling blue and navy marbled paint filling the Chrome New Tab page with the clock and search boxMarble FreeFree. Blue marbled paint that swirls under your cursor and settles back. Synthwave New Tab theme: a neon pink and blue perspective grid rolling toward a striped sunset sun with mountains and starsSynthwave FreeFree. Neon grid, striped sun, mountains and stars, 1985 forever. Soap Bubble Sky New Tab theme: large iridescent soap bubbles with magenta, green and gold bands drifting across a blue daytime skySoap Bubble Sky FreeBubbles shaded with real interference physics over a sky that follows the clock. Paper Drop New Tab theme: red beads bouncing down a cream cut-paper peg board with coloured pegs, two pink X paddles and a yellow bonus cup above coral hills, BONUS +500 and +1,000 popups with confetti over the numbered pockets along the bottom, and a score of 13,080 on a paper tag beside the search barPaper Drop FreeRed beads bounce down a cut-paper peg board into score pockets. It plays itself, and a click drops one more. Bitcoin Rocket New Tab theme: a pixel-art rocket riding a live green Bitcoin price chart, with a BTC price panel, clock and search box on a dark starfieldBitcoin Rocket ProA pixel rocket riding the live BTC price. Green up, red down, coins on every up-tick. Ink Drop New Tab theme: clouds of coloured ink spreading through dark water across the Chrome New Tab pageInk Drop ProA real fluid sim: ink blooms through dark water and folds where you swipe. Octopus New Tab theme: a small coral-pink cartoon octopus among blocks, a jar and a bed in a child's bedroom on the Chrome New Tab pageOctopus ProA boneless coral octopus who plays, climbs and tidies a child's bedroom. Magnetic Dipoles New Tab theme: thousands of brass-coloured iron filings on a dark plate tracing the looping field lines of bar magnetsMagnetic Dipoles ProIron filings on a dark plate, aligned to the live field of wandering magnets. Fourier Epicycles New Tab theme: a chain of glowing circles of decreasing size drawing a looping curve on a dark Chrome New Tab pageFourier Epicycles ProCircles riding on circles, drawing a curve that is the music when synced. Reaction-Diffusion New Tab theme: a dense field of dividing cell-like blobs and coral ridges filling the Chrome New Tab pageReaction-Diffusion ProGray-Scott chemistry kept off balance: cells divide, labyrinths fold, nothing freezes. Orb Bot New Tab theme: a silver and a gold pixel spider-orb robot in a dark robotics workshop with pipes, crates and a glowing monitorOrb Bot ProSilver and gold spider-orb robots who climb, swing, play tag and hold grudges. Solar Corona New Tab theme: a gold and black rotating Sun with glowing magnetic field loops arcing off its surfaceSolar Corona ProA procedural Sun in NASA SDO gold, turning forever, field lines and all. The Sun New Tab theme: the red-orange limb of the Sun rising from the bottom-left corner into black space, with prominences along the edgeThe Sun ProThe red 304 Å Sun close up from the corner, prominences and flares on the limb. Quantum Orbitals New Tab theme: a glowing teal and white point-cloud lattice shaped like an atomic orbital with lobes around a bright nucleusQuantum Orbitals ProReal spherical-harmonic orbitals as a streaming lattice of light, morphing shape to shape. Black Hole New Tab theme: a gold and orange accretion disc around a black event horizon with a blue-white jet, on the Chrome New Tab pageBlack Hole ProThe NASA painting, alive: gold accretion disc, white-hot ring, blue jet. Event Horizon New Tab theme: a gravitationally lensed black hole whose bright accretion disc wraps over and under the central shadowEvent Horizon ProThe lensed black hole: the disc wraps over and under the shadow, stars ring it. Monet's Garden New Tab theme: an impressionist painting of a willow, rose arch, white bench and lily pond reflected in waterMonet's Garden ProTwenty thousand brush dabs of Giverny, swaying in the wind and mirrored in the pond. Ladybug Jungle New Tab theme: layered paper-cut rainforest plants in greens and reds with tiny red ladybugs on the leavesLadybug Jungle ProA paper-cut rainforest in seven layers, with seventy tiny ladybugs living on it. Bird on a Wire New Tab theme: painterly robins perched on two sagging telephone wires against a soft pastel sky with treesBird on a Wire ProPainted robins on wires that sag and spring, hanging, chasing, lifting off together. Honeysuckle Wall New Tab theme: rust-red vines with chartreuse leaves and white honeysuckle flowers growing across a deep cobalt blue wallHoneysuckle Wall ProA Morris-style wallpaper that grows forever; bees open the honeysuckle. Nebula Drift New Tab theme: rolling clouds of rose, violet and cobalt nebula dust lit from within, with stars behindNebula Drift ProA seamless forward drift through a volumetric nebula of rose, violet and cobalt. Phthalo Smoke New Tab theme: dense folds of deep phthalo blue smoke with pale highlights filling the Chrome New Tab pagePhthalo Smoke ProUltramarine smoke from a real fluid sim, dragged by your cursor, relaxing back. Lightning Storm New Tab theme: a huge night storm cloud lit amber and violet from inside, a forked lightning bolt striking down to dark hills dotted with town lights, and stars in the open skyLightning Storm ProA towering night thunderstorm over town lights, with forked strikes, sheet flashes and crawlers. Above the Storm New Tab theme: a dark cloud deck at night with a storm tower glowing orange on the right and a white lightning bolt crossing the starry sky on the leftAbove the Storm ProA night storm from above the clouds: a glowing tower, crawling lightning, stars overhead. Gelato Smoke New Tab theme: pink, orchid, orange and lime smoke folding together over a dark teal backgroundGelato Smoke ProPink, orchid, orange and lime smoke on dark teal, never turning to mud. Gelato Light New Tab theme: pastel pink, orchid, orange and lime smoke drifting over a bright aqua-teal background with dark clock textGelato Light ProThe four gelato colours on a bright aqua-teal ground, for a lighter New Tab. Ember Fern New Tab theme: a glowing orange and violet fractal fern fanning out from the bottom-left corner of a dark pageEmber Fern ProA glowing fractal fern that grows from the corner, then breathes through five palettes. Kitten Room New Tab theme: a pastel pixel-art playroom with a cat tree, shelves and a rope bridge, and three small kittens, orange, tuxedo and greyKitten Room ProThree plump pixel kittens who stalk, pounce, zoomie and nap in their playroom. Neon Bricks New Tab theme: a glowing ball and paddle smashing rows of neon-coloured bricks against a deep-space starfieldNeon Bricks ProAn endless neon brick breaker that plays itself until you grab the paddle. Neon Invaders New Tab theme: rows of cyan, lavender, orange and green pixel aliens above four green bunkers and a small fighter, with a score counter and power-up labels on a dark purple starfieldNeon Invaders ProA neon alien shooter that plays itself until you move the mouse and take over. Saffron Palampore New Tab theme: coral-red trunks, indigo leaves, red and pink block-print flowers and a blue scale-patterned serpent vine on a saffron-yellow groundSaffron Palampore ProA saffron tree-of-life chintz whose vines snake and whose blooms breathe. Leman's Garland New Tab theme: large blue daisies, pink roses and red tulips on green stems over cream squared paper with saffron-yellow blocksLeman's Garland ProBig flat-colour blooms on cream designer's paper, in the manner of a 1710s silk design. Living Portrait New Tab theme: Van Gogh's 1889 self-portrait, red beard and pale blue-green suit against a swirling blue-green background, filling the Chrome New Tab pageLiving Portrait ProFour old-master portraits that breathe, blink, smile and follow your cursor. Jupiter New Tab theme: a JunoCam photograph of Jupiter's cloud tops with the curved edge of the planet against black space, an ochre band, pale ovals and swirling slate-blue stormsJupiter ProA real JunoCam photo of Jupiter, set flowing by a live fluid simulation. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill. The Painter's Hand New Tab theme: a hand holding a brush painting Monet's Water Lilies in oils, blue water with green lily pads and pink flowersThe Painter's Hand ProA hand that sketches and paints forty famous pictures, stroke by stroke. Fireflies New Tab theme: glowing amber fireflies over dark green ferns at night, with a column of pale blue moonlight between black tree trunksFireflies ProA hundred fireflies over moonlit ferns, landing on fronds and drawing ribbons of light. Breath on Glass New Tab theme: the words Your peace is priceless written by finger on a fogged pink window covered in water droplets, with heart-shaped dots and a wavy underlineBreath on Glass ProA finger writes kind words on a fogged window. Wipe the glass with your mouse. Leaf Munchers New Tab theme: a rainbow, a mint-green and a violet striped caterpillar on a big green leaf, with scalloped bites eaten out of its edgeLeaf Munchers ProThree caterpillars eat one big leaf bite by bite, then a new leaf unfurls. Leaf photo: Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0. Tightrope New Tab theme: an ink stick figure balancing with arms out on a rope high above a watercolour canyon with a winding river, hazy mountains and white cloudsTightrope ProAn ink stick figure walks a rope over a watercolour canyon. He slips, but never falls. Breezy Grass New Tab theme: a field of green and gold grass seen from above, with pale wind waves rolling across itBreezy Grass ProA field of silver grass from above, with the wind rolling across it in waves. Koi Pond New Tab theme: four koi in gold, black-and-yellow, white-and-red and red swim over rippled pink sand and pebbles in clear sunlit water, seen from above, with water lilies, a school of silver minnows and a red dragonflyKoi Pond ProA clear pond from above: minnow schools, dragonflies, two koi and hermit crabs. Tiny Tanks New Tab theme: a pixel tank on the top edge of a black screen firing a red laser across the page into another tank that explodes, three rockets with smoke trails in flight, a REVENGE callout and a three-way scoreboard under the search boxTiny Tanks ProThree pixel tanks battle around the edges of your screen. First to twenty wins. Liquid Orb New Tab theme: a glossy black liquid sphere hovering in a ribbed hall lit deep red, with red glints on its surfaceLiquid Orb ProA black liquid sphere in a red-lit hall, rippling to each band of your music. The Cozy Ghost New Tab theme: a block-built Halloween living room at night seen from one corner, with a small white ghost beside the jack-o'-lantern it has just carved in front of a lit fireplace, a black cat with a ball of yarn on the plank floor, and candles and lanterns glowing around the roomThe Cozy Ghost ProA small ghost and a black cat keep house in a block-built Halloween living room. Halloween Kart Track New Tab theme: a block-built go-kart circuit at night seen from one corner, with a red kart crashing into the tyre wall in a burst of sparks, a teal kart reaching a row of treat boxes, glowing jack-o'-lanterns and lamp posts around the track, ghost fans in a grandstand and a scoreboard in the top leftHalloween Kart Track ProFour block-built racers on a Halloween go-kart track, with treat boxes, spin-outs and three boards. Highland Loch New Tab theme: a photograph of a loch between steep green and grey hills under a blue sky with white clouds, with rippled shallow water in the left foreground and a bright green grass bank on the rightHighland Loch ProA real photo of a Highland loch with moving water, swaying grass and drifting clouds. Photo: Yousef Espanioly / Unsplash. Block Orb New Tab theme: the shell of a ball of blocks bursting outward in bands of colour, red at the bottom through orange, green and cyan to violet at the top, over a round red rug in a voxel Halloween music room with a pipe organ, speaker stacks, a green cauldron and jack-o'-lanternsBlock Orb ProA black ball of blocks in a voxel Halloween music room, popping in colour to your music. Office Hours New Tab theme: a block-built open-plan office seen from above one corner, with workers gathered between rows of desks and computers, a glass meeting room and a boss's office at the back, a reception desk beside a rubber-duck poster, a kitchen with a checked floor, and a red sofa on an orange rug under string lightsOffice Hours ProTwelve block-built office workers type, take breaks, prank each other, race chairs and now and then party. Lunch Rush New Tab theme: a block-built school cafeteria seen from above one corner, with kids in Halloween costumes and school clothes eating at long coloured tables, a lunch counter with trays of food, jack-o'-lanterns by the kitchen, a purple vending machine and hopscotch squares on the tiled floorLunch Rush ProKids in costumes queue, eat, play and start food fights in a block-built school cafeteria. Saturday Kickoff New Tab theme: a block-built park soccer pitch on a floating island of grass under a blue sky, with kids in red and blue shirts chasing the ball near the centre circle, a keeper in the far goal, parents along the touchline, a scoreboard reading 0 to 2, flood lights, a snack stand and blossom treesSaturday Kickoff ProLadybugs against Blueberries: a block-built kids' soccer match in a park, playing itself goal after goal. Bubble Shooter New Tab theme: a ceiling of glossy red, yellow, green, blue and purple bubbles under a mint striped awning on a pale mint sky with soft clouds, a launcher with a purple bubble and a dotted aiming arrow at the bottom, and a score of 4,550 on Level 2 in the top leftBubble Shooter ProGlossy candy bubbles under a striped awning. It plays itself; move the mouse to aim and click to fire. Love Letters New Tab theme: a black typewriter on a wooden desk by an open window at golden hour, with a finished typed letter rolled up out of the machine, a speckled mug, a potted succulent and a pencil, and a sunlit hillside with a tree outsideLove Letters ProA typewriter by a sunlit window types you a warm, old-fashioned letter, dated today, one key at a time. Eagle Ray Flats New Tab theme: two spotted eagle rays with long whip tails glide over coral-pink sand in clear shallow water, seen from straight above, with schools of small silver fish, mounds of orange, yellow and pink coral, red-orange starfish, scattered shells and nets of sunlight rippling across the sandEagle Ray Flats ProSpotted eagle rays glide over a turquoise sand flat, dig for clams, and now and then leap out of the water.

Music sync

Play music in any tab: YouTube, Spotify's web player, SoundCloud, a radio stream, anything. Click the Ambient icon on that tab once. The extension listens to that tab's audio and measures the bass, the mids, the treble and the beat, entirely on your own computer, and every scene reacts. The music keeps playing normally, nothing is recorded, and nothing is sent anywhere.

Light on your machine

The scene renders only while a New Tab page is on screen. It pauses completely when the tab is hidden or the window is minimised, slows to 30 frames per second on battery, and keeps its resolution under a sensible cap. The moment you navigate away from the New Tab page, nothing is running at all.

Questions

Which browsers does it work in?

Google Chrome on Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS. It is made and tested for Chrome. Other Chromium browsers such as Edge and Brave can usually install it from the Chrome Web Store, but they are not officially supported. It does not install on phones. There is no Firefox or Safari version yet.

Is it really free?

Yes. Constellation, Marble, Synthwave, Soap Bubble Sky and Paper Drop, plus the clock, date and search, are free with no time limit. Pro is optional, $5.99 a month or $39.99 a year, and unlocks everything else.

Does it track me?

Not your browsing, ever. There are no accounts and no ads, and your browsing and your searches never pass through us; the search box hands your query to the browser, which uses the search engine you already chose. The only network request any theme makes is Bitcoin Rocket fetching public prices from Coinbase, and only after you allow it. Anonymous usage stats (which themes and features get used) are sent only if you say yes, and you can switch them off any time. The full privacy policy is a short read.

What is the Bitcoin Rocket theme?

A pixel-art rocket riding the live Bitcoin price chart. Green when Bitcoin is up over the last 24 hours, red when it is down, coins out of the exhaust on up-ticks, and a chart you can switch between one hour and all-time. Prices come from Coinbase's public market data. No account, no wallet, nothing to connect.

Can I use my own wallpaper?

Not in this version. Ambient New Tab is about living, generated scenes rather than still images; an artist marketplace for new scenes is on the roadmap.

Who makes it?

Rainbase Leads Inc., a small independent company in Brooklyn, New York. Questions, ideas and theme requests: [email protected].