Weather Wallpaper Switcher (GNOME)

Set your desktop wallpaper/background based on the weather at your current location (GNOME).

Explanation & Setup

• The way the script works is quite simple: it curls the wttr.in free weather API using the command curl --silent wttr.in?format="%C". The API responds with a single line of output describing the weather at your current location, for example:

[sam@samantha] λ curl --silent wttr.in?format="%C"
Light Rain

• Based on the weather condition, the script sets the wallpaper to any one of 6 images (it's up to you to download/save these).
  • The names of these files, as well as the directory they are located in needs to be specified in the User Settings section of weather.sh:

#==========================================#
#               USER SETTINGS              #
#==========================================#

# Path to weather wallpapers directory
WEATHER_WALLPAPERS_DIRECTORY="/home/sam/Pictures/weather-wallpapers/"

# Wallpaper filenames and their corresponding weather conditions
HEAVY_RAIN_WALLPAPER="Rain.jpg" # Rain, Heavy Rain, Thunderstorm
LIGHT_RAIN_WALLPAPER="Light Rain.jpg" # Light Rain, Drizzle, Shower In Vicinity
CLOUDY_WALLPAPER="Cloudy.jpg" # Cloudy, Overcast, Mist, Fog
CLEAR_WALLPAPER="Clear.jpg" # Clear
SUNNY_WALLPAPER="Sunny.jpg" # Sunny
SNOW_WALLPAPER="Snow.jpg" # Snow
FALLBACK_WALLPAPER="Fallback.jpg" # Fallback: In case of no Internet access or other error

DOW_MODE_ENABLED=false # Selects the pictures from a different folder depending on the day of the week

#==========================================#
#             END USER SETTINGS            #
#==========================================#

• This script simply has to be added as a cron job to execute every 5 minutes (or however often you want to query for weather updates).

  1. crontab -e
  2. Add the following line to the end of the the file (adjust according to the path to your weather.sh)

  */1 * * * * /home/sam/.rc/weather.sh
  

• You may need to chmod +x weather.sh as well as restart cron sudo service cron restart.

Day of the Week Mode

• You can optionally enable the day of the week mode, this will look for your pictures in a different folder depending on the day of the week.
• Day of the week mode is enabled in the USER SETTINGS section by setting

DOW_MODE_ENABLED=true # Selects the pictures from a different folder depending on the day of the week

• The folders this script will look in for depending on the day of the week are configured in the DAY OF THE WEEK SETTINGS section:

#==========================================#
#         DAY OF THE WEEK SETTINGS         #
#==========================================#

if [ "$DOW_MODE_ENABLED" = true ] ; then
	DOW=$(date +%u)
	case $DOW in
		1) WEATHER_WALLPAPERS_DIRECTORY="/home/sam/Pictures/weather-wallpapers/monet/" # Monday: Monet
			;;
		2) WEATHER_WALLPAPERS_DIRECTORY="/home/sam/Pictures/weather-wallpapers/matisse/" # Tuesday: Matisse
			;;
		3) WEATHER_WALLPAPERS_DIRECTORY="/home/sam/Pictures/weather-wallpapers/friedrich/" # Wednesday: Friedrich
			;;
		4) WEATHER_WALLPAPERS_DIRECTORY="/home/sam/Pictures/weather-wallpapers/chagall/" # Thursday: Chagall
			;;
		*) RPIC=$(find /home/sam/Pictures/weather-wallpapers/ -not -type d | shuf -n 1); # Fridays & Weekends: Randomized picture
			echo "Random picture: $RPIC"
			gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri "file://${RPIC}"
			gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver picture-uri "file://${RPIC}"
			exit;
			;;
	esac
fi

#==========================================#
#       END DAY OF THE WEEK SETTINGS       #
#==========================================#

• Note: I've set up Fridays and Weekends to select a completely random picture from any of your 'days of the week folders' for a bit of fun, tweak to whatever suits your needs