Can't pick one favorite photo? iPhone's Photo Shuffle rotates your Lock Screen through a set of pictures automatically: on tap, every time you lock the phone, hourly, or daily. It's built into the wallpaper settings. Here's how to set it up, following Apple's support pages.
Set up Photo Shuffle
- Open Settings and tap Wallpaper.
- Tap Add New Wallpaper.
- Select Photo Shuffle from the top row of options.
- Choose one or more categories, such as People, Nature, or Cities, or choose an existing album.
- Choose a shuffle frequency: On Tap, On Lock, Hourly, or Daily.
- Tap Use Album or Use Featured Photos when you're done (the button text depends on your choice).
Then finish the same way as any wallpaper: tap Add, and choose Set as Wallpaper Pair or Customize Home Screen.
Pick the photos yourself
If you'd rather curate the set:
- From the Photo Shuffle screen, tap Select Photos Manually.
- Pick your images and tap the checkmark button.
- Tap the ellipsis (...) button to choose a shuffle frequency.
- Tap Add.
Which frequency should you choose?
- On Tap: a new photo each time you tap the Lock Screen. Fun if you like flipping through.
- On Lock: changes each time you lock your iPhone, so you see something new often.
- Hourly: a steady pace through the day.
- Daily: one photo per day, a calm "photo of the day" feel.
Change your Photo Shuffle later
- On the Lock Screen, touch and hold to open your wallpaper gallery.
- Swipe to your Photo Shuffle wallpaper and tap Customize.
- Per Apple's Lock Screen guide, tap the photo thumbnail to change the photo selection, or use the more options button to change the shuffle frequency.
- Tap Done.
Make it look polished
Photo Shuffle sits on a regular Lock Screen, so the usual Lock Screen tools still apply. From the editor you can add widgets, change how the time is displayed, try different styles for your wallpaper image, and swap the controls at the bottom.
A few tips:
- Choose a consistent theme. One album (a trip, your pet, your garden) looks more intentional than your whole library.
- Favor vertical photos. They fill the screen without awkward crops.
- Leave room for the clock. Images with open sky or plain background up top keep the time readable.
Keep several Lock Screens
You can create more than one Lock Screen and switch between them. A Photo Shuffle Lock Screen for weekends and a calmer single-image one for work is a nice combination. From the Lock Screen gallery you can also link a Focus to a wallpaper.
Remove a Photo Shuffle wallpaper
Touch and hold the Lock Screen, swipe to the wallpaper, swipe up, and tap the trash icon.
Troubleshooting
- The same photo keeps showing: check the frequency. Daily changes only once a day.
- Wrong photos appear: switch from a category to Select Photos Manually, or point it at a specific album.
- Can't open the gallery with Face ID: Apple's tip is to touch and hold the Lock Screen again, then enter your passcode.
Going further with ScreenLux
If you want motion on the Lock Screen as well as variety, ScreenLux is the app I built. On iPhone you save its wallpapers as Live Photos (iOS 17 or later). ScreenLux: live wallpapers for iPhone and 4K video wallpapers for Android. 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: ScreenLux on the App Store
Sean McCue, Founder, WatchLux and ScreenLux
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