First, we need to discuss a couple of important things. But if you don't want to read the details, use the table of contents below to jump straight to the list of applications.
Live wallpapers are still relevant
I know you must be wondering why I am talking about live wallpapers for iPhone in 2022 when Apple completely stopped using 3D Touch by introducing iPhone 11 Series in 2022. Well, although live wallpapers are designed for most of 3D Touch, they have easily adopted the long press gesture.
So, while you can't get the same feeling as with 3D Touch, the long-press gesture that exists on the iPhone XR and iPhone 11/12 Series has retained the live wallpaper. Yes, almost alive! This means you can long press the live wallpaper on the lock screen of your iPhone, including the iPhone 11 Series and 12 Series, to trigger the wallpaper.
Which iPhone models support live wallpapers?
Live wallpapers appeared with the release of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus (2015). The whole idea of creating live backgrounds for iPhone was to use 3D Touch technology to animate live images using touch and hold gestures.
With the introduction of the iPhone XR, Apple introduced Haptic Touch, also known as the long-press gesture, instead of 3D Touch. There were rumors that the tech giant wanted to make more space for a larger display and also fit a larger battery by removing the 3D Touch technology.
To use live wallpapers, you will need a 3D Touch-equipped model or a device that supports haptic/long press.
- iPhone models that support 3D Touch: iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, iPhone 7, 7 Plus, iPhone 8, 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone Xs and Xs Max.
- iPhone models supported by Haptic Touch/Long Press: iPhone XR, iPhone 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max.
Live wallpaper forever
One of my favorite live wallpaper apps for iPhone is Live Wallpapers Forever, which offers a healthy selection of live wallpapers, from muted to vibrant. The app is very well designed and contains many categories to help you find your favorite live wallpapers.
Categories include a “For You” section, as well as “Most Popular”, “Free”, “Trending”, “Abstract”, “Animals” and others. The selection of wallpapers here is quite good . The only problem I have with this app is that it's too expensive to unlock the pro version, which removes ads and gives you access to all the premium wallpapers.
Install: (Free, $7.99/month)
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Forever Live Wallpaper
Developer: Takhion Apps, LLC
Price: Free+
Black Lite - live wallpaper
If you have the latest iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11 Pro or iPhone 12 Pro, this could be the best live wallpaper for you.
Since all these smartphones have an AMOLED screen with individually lit pixels, black wallpapers tend to improve battery life and look really good.
Black Lite - Live Wallpapers that I present here are a set of all black wallpapers with a live morphing stone in the middle.
The wallpapers look simply gorgeous on AMOLED screens. There are a few free wallpapers and the rest are hidden behind a paywall. Luckily, the pro version is priced pretty well, so you don't have to spend too much money.
Install: (Free, $0.99)
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Black Lite - Live Wallpaper
Developer: Ronan Stark
Price: Free
WOW Pixel
If you like retro images, then you will like this live wallpaper. WOW Pixel live wallpaper app contains wallpapers showcasing 8-bit adventures . There are several selected heroes, each of whom has their own storyline displayed on the live wallpaper. Live wallpapers here focus on displaying emotions.
Whether you are angry, sad or happy, you have multiple wallpapers to express your emotions . The best part is that these live wallpapers look good not only on the iPhone X line of devices but even on older iPhone 6s and above models including iPhone 7, iPhone 8 and more.
Install: (Free, $29.49/year)
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WOW pixel – Live Wallpaper
Developer: Irina Ershov
Price: Free+
What is live wallpaper
The term Live Wallpaper or “live wallpaper” appeared along with the creation of a dynamic image, usually performed in JPEG format. First, they began to be placed as backgrounds on the computer desktop, and then on the smartphone screen.
Static wallpapers (not moving) contain icons and graphical user interface (GUI) elements that you can scroll through. Live Wallpapers are more advanced because they have animation and interactivity effects. They move on the phone screen without user interaction.
iPhone has built-in dynamic wallpapers, however, if the user is tired of them, he can select any image, video and set it as the screen background.
There is also a slideshow feature that allows you to select multiple images, changing based on the user's set preferences. You can download them from the Internet. Well, if the phone owner wants to create his own “live wallpaper”, he needs to install third-party software.
Before installing dynamic wallpapers, the user must know all the risks associated with installing them.
Live Wallpapers use up CPU resources and this can be a problem, especially if the iPhone owner likes to play video games. In this case, experts recommend turning off such dynamic backgrounds.
If the user has a phone with the latest modifications, such loads will not be a hindrance to him. When installing a third-party program to create unique dynamic backgrounds, you need to pay attention to the fact that many of them are paid, and free ones often offer installation of advertising on the phone, which can also consume resources.
Use the Photos app to choose a wallpaper
The built-in iPhone gallery also allows you to choose the wallpaper option you are interested in. Therefore, if you have a Live Wallpaper template, use the appropriate program:
- Open the Photos app.
- Find the animation you are interested in using any convenient method.
- Click the Share button.
- Select “Set as wallpaper”.
- Specify your use case and confirm installation.
Please note that only files with the MOV extension are used as Live Wallpaper.
This option is perfect for people who want to install not standard wallpaper, but wallpaper downloaded from the Internet. We'll tell you more about how to find and download the Live Wallpaper you like a little later.
How to put live wallpaper on iPhone through Settings
Apple offers nine free "live wallpapers" as options with every new phone. These can be found by going to the Settings app and tapping Wallpaper. Next, click on the “Select wallpaper” function. Then "Live" to see the preset backgrounds.
If a user wants one of their original Live Photos to be used as a background, they must go through the following steps:
- Launch the “Settings” function.
- Click "Wallpaper".
- Click “Select a new wallpaper.”
- Tap Camera Roll to access the Live Photo you want to set as your background.
- Choose a photo. By default, the feature is set to Live Photo, but you can also take a photo from the menu at the bottom of the screen.
- Press down on the screen and see how the photo will look when animated.
- Click “Install” and select the installation location “Lock Screen”, “Home Screen” or “Both”.
Once the user turns on their phone, they will see the animated background installed.
Problems installing live wallpaper
Live Photo button is missing
It happens that there is no button, even if the device supports live images or a third-party application does not help.
The problem could be the following:
⌛️ Outdated version of TikTok Perhaps the application version is simply outdated. It can be updated through the operating system's application store. If the application was downloaded from another source, a file with the latest version will help you update it.
By updating you can fix any problems related to the performance of the application. We recommend switching it to automatic checking or regularly checking for new versions.
