If you’re one to constantly change the background of your iPhone’s screen, you’d appreciate the ease of being able to automate this process. Prior to iOS 14, you had to set this up manually. That’s why it’s great that you can now set your iPhone to automatically change its wallpaper, opening up a world of customization options.
In this helpful guide, we’ll walk you through automatically changing your iPhone’s wallpaper. Pay close attention to the instructions, then you can apply the settings to your device and achieve the results you desire.
Change iPhone Wallpaper Automatically to Random Pictures
In iOS 14, when a certain trigger—like the time of day or battery level—is engaged, automations in the Shortcuts app can run in the background. You can also take advantage of this to automate your wallpaper change. You’ll have to create a shortcut that selects a random photo, and then an automation that executes it at a specified time each day.
Setting up the Shortcut
The first step is to develop a shortcut that carries out the following three tasks:
- Retrieve the specific Photos album.
- Pick a random picture from the collection.
- Make that image your desktop background.
To create a shortcut that changes the iPhone’s background image:
- Launch the Shortcuts app, go to the bottom menu, choose My Shortcuts, then All Shortcuts. Finally, hit the Plus icon in the top right corner.
- Near the center of the screen, tap the large blue Add Action button.
- Look for the action Find Photos.
- Tap on it when you come across it to include it in the shortcut. You can also drag it out of the list and put it onto the blank automation as an alternative.
- You’ll observe that this action has a few extra choices. To configure a certain album, tap Add Filter.
- Tap Recents, then pick the desired album from the list. You might wish to arrange your iPhone pictures so that you can make a specific album in Photos for wallpapers.
- Next, look for and include the Get Item from List action.
- The parameters will be filled out automatically using shortcuts such that it says “Get First Item from Photos.” You’ll need to change “First item” to “Random item.”
- Add your third action, then Set Wallpaper; do this by looking it up.
- Make sure to select Show More and deselect Show Preview. The wallpaper on the Lock screen, Home screen, or both can also be changed at your discretion.
All that’s required are those three steps. The shortcut will launch and successfully change the wallpaper on your iPhone if you press the Play button in the lower right corner. Name your shortcut, for instance, Random Photo, at the screen’s top by tapping Next.
Setting Up the Time of Day Automation
In the Shortcuts app, automations are located in their own tab. If you’re creating an automation for the first time, the list will be empty when you tap Automation to access them in the bottom bar. Tap the Plus button at the top to begin.
Afterward, adhere to these guidelines to develop an automation:
- Click on “Create Personal Automation”
- From the list of triggers, select “Time of Day”
- Select “Time of Day” from the list of options you see next, then set the time to 12:00 AM.
- Afterward, select Daily in the Repeat section.
The blank Actions view that displays will look familiar to you because it is identical to the shortcut builder. The shortcut you just created could have been set up right here, within the automation.
Automations, however, are limited to the Automations tab. Because of this, they cannot be duplicated, reused, or shared—features of standalone shortcuts that you will likely grow to value over time.
Instead, you’ll only execute the automation’s shortcut. This is how:
- Choose Add Action from the menu.
- Look for the action called “Run Shortcut” and add it.
- In the action block, tap the vacant Shortcut field.
- Locate your Random Photo shortcut in the list that displays and click it.
There is nothing else to configure because everything has already been set up in the shortcut. On the screen, tap Next at the top.
An overview of your new automation will be displayed. There is one more crucial step left: deactivate the “Ask Before Running” option. You’ll see an alert that your automation will operate without your permission, which is what you want. To enable your wallpaper to adjust in the background, choose Don’t Ask.
To dismiss the display, simply hit Done. Automations are automatically identified and grouped depending on the trigger and actions; you won’t need to give them names or select icons.
At this point, you’re all done! Your iPhone will randomly select a new image to serve as your wallpaper each day at midnight.
In summary, it’s now pretty easy to change your iPhone’s wallpaper automatically. You’ll just need to create a shortcut and set up the time of day when you’d like the wallpaper to change. We’ve provided instructions for both processes in this guide, so follow them carefully to achieve the desired results.
We’ll also encourage you to share or recommend this guide to others; it’ll benefit them considerably, and they’ll have you to thank.
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