How To Fix Live Wallpapers Not Working On iPhone (5 Ways)
How to fix Live Wallpapers on iPhone
Are you having problems with live wallpapers not working on iPhone in iOS 14? No worries, this issue is quite common because there are numerous settings that could prevent your device’s background from animating.
The first and most obvious one is the wallpaper itself. Double-check that you’re actually using a Live wallpaper and not a Still one. Open Settings and browse for Wallpaper. Tap on Choose a New Wallpaper and go for the ‘Live’ category. Select a wallpaper, tap & hold the screen to review the animation and use the Set option, available at the bottom of the screen to save the new wallpaper.
5 Ways To Fix Live Wallpapers Not Working
If you’ve set a live background but the wallpaper is still not animating on your iPhone, here is how to troubleshoot:
1. Disable Reduce Motion
An iOS 14 setting that stops Live Wallpapers from animating is Reduce Motion. When enabled this setting stops animations on your device such as the parallax effect for icons and more.
How To: Open Settings -> Accessibility -> Motion -> Reduce Motion. Use the toggle to disable the feature if active.
2. Enable 3D Touch
If 3D Touch isn’t enabled on your iPhone, live wallpaper animations won’t be triggered when you long-press the lock screen.
How To: Browse for Settings -> Accessibility -> Touch -> 3D & Haptic Touch -> 3D Touch. Tap the ON/OFF toggle to enable if the option is disabled.
3. Disable Low Power Mode
iPhone Live wallpapers might not work when the device is running in Low Power Mode. You can either wait until you reach a power source or manually disable Low Power Mode.
How To: Swipe for Control Center and use the Low Power Mode toggle to turn off the battery saving mode. You can also do this in Settings -> Battery -> Low Power Mode.
4. Reboot iPhone
Sometimes a force restart might be restarted to allow the new settings to take effect and to flush potential minor glitches.
How To: Click and quickly release Volume Up, followed by Volume Down and press & hold the Side Button until the Apple logo is displayed on the screen.
5. Use A Live Photo
If you performed all the fixes provided above and the Live wallpaper is still not animating, your next option is to change the Live wallpaper. You can pick a Live Photo from the Photos app and see if it animates.
How To: Open Photos. In the Albums tab, scroll for Live Photos. Swipe for the photo that you want to set as Live Wallpaper. Tap the Share icon (bottom=left corner). Go for ‘Use as Wallpaper’. Press & hold on the screen to review the animation. If the image doesn’t animate make sure that the Live Photo setting is ‘On’. Tap Set -> Set Both and check the result!
Important: In iOS 14 Live Wallpapers don’t animate if Face ID isn’t enabled. If you disabled Passcode and Face ID to make unlocking easier while wearing a face mask, you have to configure Face ID to allow the live background to animate.
iPhone Live Wallpaper Tips & Facts
– Are you aware that Live Wallpapers animate only on Lock Screen? Live backgrounds aren’t meant to work on Home Screen. So, if you’re not getting an animation when the iPhone is unlocked, don’t try to troubleshoot it because there’s nothing to fix.
– Even on Lock Screen live wallpapers don’t animate automatically when you wake the iPhone’s screen. You have to press & hold the screen for the live photo to be triggered.
– Live Wallpapers aren’t available on iPads and iPods, this currently is an iPhone exclusive feature.
– iPhone SE (1st gen) models aren’t able to play Live Wallpapers due to hardware limitations.
– Adjust 3D touch sensitivity to ‘Light’ to trigger Live Wallpapers easier on Lock Screen.
How To: Settings -> Accessibility -> Touch -> 3D & Haptic Touch -> 3D Touch Sensitivity
Live Wallpapers vs Dynamic Wallpapers
Also make sure that you don’t confuse between Live and Dynamic Wallpapers.
- The Live ones require manual action to animate. They only work on Lock Screen and you can create custom wallpapers from the Photos app. On the iPhone Home Screen these wallpapers act like the Still ones.
- Dynamic backgrounds are animations that play on a loop on both Home and Lock Screen. You don’t need to touch the screen to trigger the playback. They’re only found in the Wallpapers section and you can’t create your own ones.
Fact: Dynamic wallpapers are significant battery consumers!
Did one of the above troubleshooting tips helped you to fix Live Wallpapers on your iPhone? Let us know with the help of the comments section available below.
Related: Check out the new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro wallpapers!
