The good news is both the AI wallpaper suggestions and the automatic icon theming are controlled by separate toggles you can switch off in a couple of minutes. This guide walks through exactly where to find them.

Quick Answer

Long-press an empty spot on your home screen, tap “Wallpaper & style,” then turn off “Themed icons” to stop app icons from being recolored to match your wallpaper. To stop personalized wallpaper suggestions pulled from your photo library, open the Google Photos app itself, go to your profile picture > Photos settings > Apps and devices > Google Photos access, and remove access for the Wallpaper & Style (or your phone’s default gallery) app — this permission lives inside Google Photos, not in Android’s system app-permissions screen.

Turn Off Themed (Color-Matched) Icons

Android’s “Themed icons” feature automatically recolors your app icons to match the dominant color pulled from your wallpaper, as part of the Material You system. If you’d rather keep each app’s original, full-color icon, it’s a single toggle: touch and hold an empty area of your home screen, tap “Wallpaper & style” in the menu that pops up, then find “Themed icons” and switch it off. Your icons should revert to their normal colors right away.

This setting lives in the same place across most modern Pixel and Android phones, though some manufacturers (Samsung, OnePlus, and others running their own launchers) bury the equivalent option under a different name, usually something like “Icon style” or “Theme” inside their own home screen settings app.

Stop Personalized AI Wallpaper Suggestions

Separately, newer versions of the Wallpaper & style app can suggest wallpapers curated from photos in your Google Photos library, often pictures of people or pets, alongside an “Effects” sparkle button that applies AI-generated shape, weather, or cinematic depth effects to whatever photo you pick. Neither of these is forced on you, but if the photo-based suggestions are unwanted, the fix is to cut off the access they’re pulled from — and that control sits inside the Google Photos app, not in Android’s regular app-permissions menu.

Open the Google Photos app, tap your profile picture or initial in the top right, select “Photos settings,” then “Apps and devices,” then “Google Photos access.” Find the entry for the Wallpaper & Style app (or your phone’s default gallery/wallpaper app, since some devices route access through that name) and tap “Remove access.” Without that access, the Wallpaper & style app can no longer pull personalized suggestions from your library, though its built-in default wallpapers, colors, and emoji options will still work normally.

If you simply don’t want to use the AI effects (Shape, Weather, Cinematic) on a wallpaper you’ve already set, just avoid tapping the sparkle/Effects button when customizing it — there’s no separate toggle needed since these are applied on demand, not automatically.

Tips / Common Mistakes

Don’t confuse “Themed icons” with Material You’s overall color palette — turning off themed icons only reverts app icon colors; your system accent colors (clock, quick settings, widgets) stay matched to your wallpaper unless you also pick a different color style.

A common mistake is looking for the photo-suggestion toggle in Settings > Apps > Wallpaper & Style > Permissions. That screen only controls whether the app can open your photos when you manually pick one — it won’t stop the curated suggestions. That access has to be removed from inside the Google Photos app’s own settings instead.

These features are rolling out gradually, so the exact menu wording can vary by phone model and software version — if you don’t see “Themed icons” or the curated wallpaper suggestions yet, make sure both Android and the Google Photos app are fully updated.

Removing access doesn’t delete any wallpaper you’ve already applied; it only stops new suggestions from appearing. You can always re-grant the permission later from the same Google Photos menu if you change your mind.

If icons or wallpapers look stuck mid-change after toggling a setting, a quick restart of the Wallpaper & style app (or the phone) usually clears it up.

Explore more: more Android how-to guides.

Android AI wallpaper suggestions FAQs

Will turning off Themed icons affect my wallpaper?

No. Themed icons only controls app icon coloring. Your wallpaper, lock screen, and system accent colors are unaffected and can still be changed independently.

Does removing Google Photos access delete my current wallpaper?

No. It only stops the Wallpaper & style app from suggesting new wallpapers pulled from your photo library. Any wallpaper you’ve already set stays exactly as it is.

Why can’t I find the wallpaper-suggestions toggle in Android’s app permissions screen?

Because it isn’t there. The Wallpaper & Style app’s Android permissions only cover manually opening your photos; the curated-suggestions access has to be removed inside the Google Photos app itself, under Photos settings > Apps and devices > Google Photos access.

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Photo: Google / CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.

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