Changing your everyday Lock Screen for Halloween and then rebuilding it in November is a chore. There's a better way: iPhone lets you keep more than one Lock Screen and switch between them. Make a Halloween one now, use it through the end of October, and swipe back to your usual setup when the season's over. This guide follows Apple's iPhone User Guide.
Create a new Lock Screen for Halloween
- Press the side button two times.
- Touch and hold the Lock Screen, then tap the Add button to create a new Lock Screen. If you don't see it, touch and hold again and enter your passcode.
- Tap a wallpaper option. A spooky photo from your library, a pumpkin patch shot or a dark Astronomy wallpaper all work.
Apple notes that if you don't see an option you want (for example, Weather or Astronomy), scroll down and tap Get below it.
Make it look the part
Apple lists these customizations; which ones appear depends on the wallpaper:
- Clock: drag the bottom right corner to increase the height, then tap the time to change the font or switch to a more transparent look. A heavy font in orange or white reads well on dark images.
- Widgets: tap your existing widgets or Add Widgets. A Weather widget is useful for trick-or-treat planning.
- Reposition: pinch to zoom and drag with two fingers to frame the photo.
- Depth: for a photo that supports layering, choose Depth Effect so the subject sits in front of the clock.
- Style: swipe left or right to try color filters. Duotone and darker filters suit the season.
- Live Photo: if you choose a Live Photo that can play in slow motion, you can turn on its motion effect.
Save it
Tap Add or Done, then choose Set as Wallpaper Pair to use it on the Home Screen too, or Customize Home Screen to pick a different Home Screen look.
Switch between Lock Screens
- Press the side button.
- Touch and hold the Lock Screen until Customize appears.
- Swipe to the Lock Screen you want, then tap it.
Apple notes that if a Lock Screen is linked to a Focus, switching away from it also switches your Focus.
Optional: link it to a Focus
If you set up a Focus for a party night, you can link it so the Halloween Lock Screen appears whenever that Focus is on:
- Press the side button, then touch and hold the Lock Screen until Customize appears.
- Tap Focus near the bottom of the wallpaper.
- Select a Focus and confirm.
Delete it after Halloween
- Press the side button and touch and hold the Lock Screen.
- Swipe to the Halloween Lock Screen, swipe up, tap the delete button, then tap Delete This Wallpaper.
Or keep it for next year; it doesn't get in the way.
Design tips
- Leave space for the clock. Busy art behind the time is hard to read.
- Check notifications. Look at your Lock Screen with a few alerts showing.
- Keep the Home Screen calm. A dark, simple Home Screen keeps icons readable.
Troubleshooting
- No Add button: touch and hold again and enter your passcode.
- Depth Effect missing: it depends on the photo and the widgets on screen.
- Focus changed by itself: the Lock Screen you switched to or from is linked to a Focus.
Going further with ScreenLux
ScreenLux is the wallpaper app I built, and on iPhone its live wallpapers arrive as Live Photos for the Lock Screen, so a Halloween design can move. You can see the seasonal styles at customphonewallpapers.com. All artwork is created with generative AI tools.
ScreenLux is free to download and preview; subscription unlocks the full catalog and removes ads.
My team specializes in advanced generative AI art and video, and WatchLux and ScreenLux are where we apply it to the watch and the phone.
- iPhone and iPad: ScreenLux on the App Store
Source: Apple Support, "Create a custom iPhone Lock Screen" (support.apple.com/guide/iphone/create-a-custom-lock-screen-iph4d0e6c351/ios)
Sean McCue, Founder, WatchLux and ScreenLux
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