Can my iPhone change its wallpaper every day by itself?

Yes. Use Photo Shuffle on the lock screen with the frequency set to Daily, or build a Shortcuts automation that sets a random picture from an album at a time you choose.

Does changing the wallpaper automatically drain the battery?

Barely. Swapping a still picture once a day, or even once an hour, takes a moment of work. Animated live wallpapers use more, because they keep drawing while they’re on screen.

Can I rotate my own wallpapers on Android without an extra app?

On a Samsung, yes, for the lock screen: choose several pictures and they change each time you turn the screen on. For the home screen, and on most other phones, you need an app such as Muzei.

How to change your wallpaper automatically every day

A wallpaper you see a hundred times a day stops being seen at all. Changing it often brings your screen back to life, and you don’t have to do it by hand. Every major system can rotate wallpapers on a schedule, from a set of pictures you’ve chosen yourself.

First, gather a set

Choose seven to ten wallpapers you like and keep them together.

iPhone: make an album in Photos called Wallpapers.
Android: keep them in one folder or album in your gallery app.
Computer: put them in a folder of their own.

Keep the set to one shape, phone or desktop, and a loose mood, so any of them can come up without jarring. New Athiwalls wallpapers go up every Sunday, so adding one or two a week keeps the set fresh.

iPhone: Photo Shuffle

Photo Shuffle is built into the lock screen on iOS 16 and later.

Touch and hold the lock screen, then tap the + button.
Tap Photo Shuffle.
Choose your pictures: select them yourself from your Wallpapers album, or pick an album directly if your version offers it.
Set the Shuffle Frequency: On Tap, On Lock, Hourly or Daily.
Tap Add, then choose a pair or customise the home screen.

With a pair, the home screen changes along with the lock screen. If you prefer a steady home screen, give it a plain colour or a blurred picture instead.

iPhone: a Shortcuts automation

For a change at an exact time, say 7am every morning, use the Shortcuts app.

Open Shortcuts, go to Automation, and tap the + button.
Choose Time of Day, set the time, choose Daily, and select Run Immediately.
Start a new blank automation and add the Find Photos action. Add a filter so it finds photos where the album is Wallpapers.
Add Get Item from List and set it to Random Item.
Add the action that sets a wallpaper photo, called Set Wallpaper Photo or Set Wallpaper depending on your version, and turn off Show Preview so it runs without asking.

It now picks a random wallpaper from your album at the same time each day.

iPhone: change with your day

You can also link a lock screen to a Focus. Touch and hold the lock screen, tap Focus at the bottom of a lock screen, and choose one, such as Work or Sleep. If your Focus modes switch on by schedule, your wallpaper changes with them: something bright for the working day, something dark for the night.

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Samsung Galaxy

One UI can rotate your own pictures on the lock screen.

Touch and hold the home screen and tap Wallpaper and style.
Tap Change wallpapers, then Gallery.
Select several pictures, up to 15, and set them on the lock screen.

A different one appears each time you turn the screen on. Samsung’s Dynamic Lock screen service works in a similar way, but it uses Samsung’s own pictures rather than yours.

Google Pixel and other Android phones

On a Pixel, the built-in wallpaper picker can change the wallpaper daily, using Google’s own collections: open Wallpaper & style, choose a category, and look for the daily option.

For your own pictures, use Muzei, a free, long-running live wallpaper app. Choose its My photos source, select your Wallpapers folder, and set how often it changes. Muzei blurs and dims wallpapers slightly by default to keep icons readable; you can turn that down in its effects settings. Automation apps like MacroDroid can do the same on a precise schedule if you want more control.

Windows

Open Settings, Personalization, Background.
Under Personalize your background, choose Slideshow.
Browse to your Wallpapers folder.
Choose how often to change the picture, anywhere from a minute to a day, and turn on Shuffle.

If you use a laptop, decide whether the slideshow may run on battery power; the setting is just below.

Mac

Open System Settings, Wallpaper.
Add your Wallpapers folder with the button for adding a folder or album.
Select the folder, turn on rotation, and choose how often: when you log in, when the Mac wakes, every hour, every day and so on.

Keep the set alive

A rotation works best when it changes slowly. Once a week, remove a wallpaper you’ve started skipping past and add a new one. If they keep landing awkwardly behind your clock or icons, the guide to fitting a wallpaper without cropping explains how to frame each one before it joins the set.