Want to keep your iPhone’s look fresh and exciting? Instead of a static image, setting your wallpaper to change photos automatically can bring a delightful dynamism to your daily interactions with your device. This guide will show you exactly how to make your iPhone wallpaper rotate through your favorite photos, keeping things visually interesting every time you glance at your screen.
Adding a New Wallpaper to Your iPhone
Before you can set up a dynamic, photo-changing wallpaper, you’ll need to know the basics of adding a new wallpaper on your iPhone. It’s a straightforward process:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and tap on Wallpaper.
- Tap Add New Wallpaper. This will take you to the wallpaper gallery where you can choose from various options.
- Here, you can select from Apple’s curated collections like Photos, People, Photo Shuffle, Live Photo, Weather & Astronomy, Emoji, or Color. For a wallpaper that changes photos, you’ll primarily be interested in Photos and Photo Shuffle.
- After selecting your wallpaper type, you can further customize it before tapping Add in the top right corner.
- You’ll then be prompted to Set as Wallpaper Pair to apply the same wallpaper to both your Lock Screen and Home Screen, or Customize Home Screen to set a different wallpaper for your Home Screen.
Changing Your Wallpaper Directly from the Lock Screen
A quick way to switch wallpapers or access your wallpaper gallery is directly from your Lock Screen. This is especially handy for quickly changing to a different photo or accessing your collections:
- When your iPhone is locked, touch and hold the Lock Screen. This action will open up your wallpaper gallery.
- Swipe left or right to browse through wallpapers you’ve already created and saved.
- To create and add a brand new wallpaper, tap the Add button (the plus sign).
Browse wallpaper options and link a wallpaper with a specific Focus setting on iPhone.
From this Lock Screen gallery, you can also link wallpapers to specific Focus modes by tapping the Focus button. This allows for contextual wallpaper changes, for example, a work-related wallpaper when your “Work” Focus is active. You can also customize existing wallpapers or delete them by swiping up and tapping the trash icon. If Face ID doesn’t recognize you immediately, simply touch and hold the Lock Screen again and enter your passcode to access the wallpaper gallery.
Customizing Your Lock Screen Wallpaper
Personalizing your wallpaper goes beyond just choosing a photo. iOS offers rich customization options to make your Lock Screen truly yours:
- Go to Settings and tap Wallpaper.
- Tap Customize below the preview of your current Lock Screen wallpaper.
- Widgets: Tap on the boxes above and below the time to add or change widgets. You can choose from widgets displaying information like Calendar events, Clock, Weather updates, Fitness stats, or Reminders.
- Font & Color: Tap on the time itself to change the font style and color of the time display on your Lock Screen.
- Photo Styles: Swipe left and right across your wallpaper image to apply different photo styles, such as Black & White. Tap the More button (three dots icon) for options like Depth Effect, which creates a layered effect with the subject of your photo.*
- Cropping and Positioning: Pinch and drag to crop and reposition your chosen photo to get the perfect look.
- Lock Screen Controls (iOS 18): In iOS 18, you can customize the controls at the bottom of the Lock Screen. Tap the minus button to remove current controls and the plus button to add new ones like Flashlight, Camera, Ping My Watch, or Quick Note for quick access.
- Wallpaper Options: Tap the Depth Effect button to toggle this feature on or off. Use the Dark Mode button to set your wallpaper’s appearance to Light, Dark, or Automatic based on your system settings.
How to Set Up Wallpaper to Change Photos Automatically (Photo Shuffle)
To achieve a wallpaper that changes photos, the Photo Shuffle feature is your key. This dynamic option rotates through a selection of photos you choose, offering a fresh look at different frequencies:
- Navigate to Settings and then Wallpaper.
- Tap Add New Wallpaper.
- At the top of the options, select Photo Shuffle.
- On the Photo Shuffle screen, you’ll need to set a frequency for how often you want your wallpaper to change. Choose from:
- On Tap: The wallpaper changes each time you tap the Lock Screen.
- On Lock: The wallpaper changes every time your iPhone locks and you wake it again.
- Hourly: The wallpaper changes every hour.
- Daily: The wallpaper changes once per day.
- Next, choose the set of photos you want to be included in the shuffle. You can select People, Pets, Places, or manually Select Photos. Choosing “Select Photos” allows you to pick specific images from your albums, giving you full control over which photos appear in your dynamic wallpaper.
- Tap Done to finalize your settings.
With Photo Shuffle set up, your iPhone wallpaper will now automatically change photos based on the frequency you selected, bringing a personal and ever-changing visual experience to your device. Enjoy a fresh wallpaper every time you use your iPhone!
* Depth Effect is not available when using widgets on your wallpaper.
