Windows Phone 8.1 will reportedly support custom backgrounds

Windows Phone 8.1 may still be a month away from its official debut, but the rumor mill is making the wait easier today by leaking some new details of the update. The latest Windows Phone 8.1 leak claims to be screenshots that show the update’s Start screen with custom images. It’s said that WP8.1 will have a setting that, when toggled, will allow the user to make the Live Tiles transparent and use a custom image as the background for the tiles.

Images that surfaced on Windows Blog Italy show that custom wallpaper images will be shown as an overlay across live tiles themselves, rather than the background of the phone. The feature has been rumored for some time and this is the first time we’ve actually seen it in action. It might not be quite what Windows Phone enthusiasts were hoping for, but it’s a nice twist on the traditional background wallpaper look. Windows Phone 8.1 is expected to be unveiled at Microsoft’s BUILD conference this April.