By Kenya Smith Updated 09/18/2024

iOS 16, which is coming this fall, will allow you to customize your lock screen to fit your personality and lifestyle thanks to the inclusion of style options. One Lock screen feature is the Photo Shuffle. With Photo Shuffle, your Lock Screen will change photos throughout the day. There are two methods of creating a Photo Shuffle Lock screen: automatic and manual. Here's how to do both methods.

How to Set Up a Photo Shuffle Lock Screen Automatically

Are you wondering how to make photos rotate on your Lock screen? You will be able to create a Photo Shuffle Lock screen when you update your iPhone to iOS 16 when it is released in the fall. If you don't want to wait until then, you can download the iOS 16 beta. For more ways to get the most out of iOS 16, check out our Tip of the Day.

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If you choose to automatically set up Photo Shuffle, photos will be selected for you based on your preferences. This is a great option if you want to see a great variety, including more recently taken photos.

Go to Settings.
Tap Wallpaper.

Tap Add New Wallpaper.
Tap Photo Shuffle.

At the very top, you’ll see some examples of photos that will be included.
If you tap People, Pets, Nature, or Cities to deselect or select them, the previewed photos at the top will change.

Next to People, you’ll be able to tap Choose.
Here you can pick which people you want to appear on your Lock screen. If you don’t see the person you wish to include, you’ll have to add them within the Photos app. Only people with lots of tagged photos will appear as options, so you may only see a few people from your list. This may change with future updates and you can always add them manually.

You can select multiple people or none at all; when you are finished, tap Add.
Next, tap Shuffle Frequency.

Here you can decide how frequently the photos are shuffled.
The options are On Tap, which lets you change photos with a tap.

On Lock changes photos every time you wake your iPhone, this is my favorite option. Hourly changes the photo every hour. Daily changes the photo every day.
Once you are done, tap Use Featured Photos.

Next, you’ll be able to further customize your Lock Screen by swiping to change the photo style. The options are Natural, Black & White, Duotone, and Color Wash.
If you tap the three dots, you can change the Shuffle Frequency.

You can also select or deselect Perspective Zoom.
If you tap on the photo, you will see it shuffle.

If you find a photo you don’t wish to see on your Lock Screen, tap the three dots and select Don’t Feature Photo.
If your photo is in the Duotone or Color Wash style, tap the three dots.

Tap Style Color, and you can pick from 12 colors.
If you want to make more changes to the type of photos you wish to shuffle, tap the stars icon on the bottom left of the screen.

Here you can once again deselect or select People, Pets, Nature, and Cities. You can also choose which people’s photos you’d like to see on your Lock Screen.
When you are finished, tap Done.

You’ll see the Set as Wallpaper Pair and Customize Home Screen buttons.

If you tap Cancel at any point, you will lose all your progress and will have to start from scratch.

How to Create a Photo Shuffle Lock Screen Manually

Another option is to select them manually, which gives you more control over what you see, but it requires you to select the photos, which is quite time-consuming.

Go to Settings.
Tap Wallpaper.

Tap Add New Wallpaper.
Tap Photo Shuffle.

Tap Select Photos Manually.
You can use the Search bar to search for specific people, places, or dates, just like you would in the Photos app.

You can use dictation to search as well.
You can also tap People, Pets, Nature, or Cities to see photos that your iPhone identifies to be in those categories. Please keep in mind that the results may not be perfect.

You can also tap All to see all your photos, including screenshots, in one place.
You can tap Albums.

Here you can browse your photos by album or browse photos from Shared Albums if you have any.
You can also see photos based on media types such as Selfies, Portraits, RAW, etc.

To add a photo, tap it.
Then tap Add.

You’ll be shown how the photo looks on your Lock screen.
Here you can pinch to crop.

Swipe to change the photo style.
Tap the three dots. Here you can select or deselect Depth Effect.

You can also tap to select your Shuffle Frequency.
If using Duotone or Color Wash, you change the color of the Lock Screen by tapping Style Color.

To add more photos, tap the photos icon on the bottom left of your screen.
Tap Add Photos…

You’ll be taken back to the photo browsing menu.
Once you are finished selecting photos, tap Done.

Tap Done when finished with Lock Screen.
Tap Set as Wallpaper Pair or Customize Home Screen to make the Home Screen different from the Lock Screen.

And there you have it! Now your photos will rotate on your Lock screen, depending on whatever preference you have. For more on customizing your iPhone to your needs, learn to set the keyboards you have available.

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