When Apple released iOS 17.1, it included a new Lock Screen personalization option for iPhones. Here's how to make your Lock Screen wallpaper shuffle through photos from a specific album in your photo library.

shuffle photos lock screen
In recent versions of iOS, Apple has made it possible for users to customize the Lock Screen in ways that were simply not possible in earlier versions of its mobile software, and one feature in particular that has proven popular is the ability to shuffle photos on your Lock Screen wallpaper at specific intervals or whenever you wake or tap the screen.

In iOS 17.1 and later, Apple has extended this feature so that you can now shuffle pictures from a specific album from your photo library, rather than having to manually select individual photos or rely on Apple's preset options of People, Pets, Nature, and Cities. The following steps show you how it's done.

  1. Wake your iPhone and use Face ID to unlock it, but don't swipe up on the Lock Screen.
  2. Press and hold on the Lock Screen until the wallpaper gallery appears, then tap the blue + button in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
  3. Select Photo Shuffle from the wallpaper menu.
    Lock Screen

  4. Tap the new Album option, then choose the album of photos from your library that you'd like to shuffle between.
  5. Next, choose a Shuffle Frequency: Daily, Hourly, On Lock, or On Tap.

  6. Tap Use Album to move on.
    shuffle

  7. Tap the screen to preview the photos in your chosen album as they will appear on your Lock Screen, and tap the clock to adjust the font style and color so that the time, date, and any widgets remain legible against all of your pictures.
  8. Tap Done in the top-right corner to finish, then choose either Set as Wallpaper Pair to finish or Customize Home Screen to tweak its look separately, then tap Done.
    photo shuffle

Tap your new album-specific photo shuffle wallpaper in the gallery to make it live. Then you can tap or wake your iPhone's screen to change the photo, or wait for it to change automatically, depending on your chosen option.

Top Rated Comments

ned1 Avatar
26 months ago
I foretell …….17.1 users experience battery drain…..Apple’s response - turn off photo shuffle to optimise battery life between charges!?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
darngooddesign Avatar
26 months ago

I left my bride at the altar for nothing.
You got out of marriage so not for nothing. ?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
antiprotest Avatar
26 months ago

Daaaang.... I took a day off, ordered pizza, opened a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, lit some candles and yet the iOS 17.1 didn't show up ?‍?
I left my bride at the altar for nothing.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Martin Schlender Avatar
26 months ago
The problem is that our only cycles through 16 pictures of the album. I tried it with a 70 picture album and it only shows the same 16 and starts over. So no use in my opinion. The same on iPad by the way
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tomas1988 Avatar
26 months ago
Hello battery drain ???
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
freezah Avatar
26 months ago
Daaaang.... I took a day off, ordered pizza, opened a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, lit some candles and yet the iOS 17.1 didn't show up ?‍?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

M5 MacBook Pro

Apple Announces New 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M5 Chip

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:07 am PDT by
Apple today updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, which is also available in updated iPad Pro and Vision Pro models. In addition, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro can now be configured with up to 4TB of storage on Apple's online store, whereas the previous model maxed out at 2TB. However, the maximum amount of unified RAM available for this model remains 32GB. Like...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

Apple Debuts New iPad Pro With M5 Chip, Faster Charging, and More

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple today announced the next-generation iPad Pro, featuring the custom-designed M5, C1X, and N1 chips. The M5 chip has up to a 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. It features a next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerator in each core, allowing the new iPad Pro to deliver up to 3.5x the AI performance than the previous model, and a third-generation ray-tracing ...
maxresdefault

Here's Everything Apple Announced Today

Wednesday October 15, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We didn't get a second fall event this year, but Apple did unveil updated products with a series of press releases that went out today. The M5 chip made an appearance in new MacBook Pro, Vision Pro, and iPad Pro models. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up our coverage and highlighted the main feature changes for each device below. MacBook Pro M5...
iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
Vision Pro M5 Announcement

Apple Updates Vision Pro With M5 Chip, Dual Knit Band, and 120Hz Support

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:14 am PDT by
Apple today updated the Vision Pro headset with its next-generation M5 chip for faster performance, and a more comfortable Dual Knit Band. The M5 chip has a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and a 16-core Neural Engine, and we have confirmed the Vision Pro still has 16GB of RAM. With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro offers faster performance and longer battery life compared...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

New 14-Inch MacBook Pro Has Two Key Upgrades Beyond the M5 Chip

Thursday October 16, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with an M5 chip, and there are two key storage-related upgrades beyond that chip bump. First, Apple says the new 14-inch MacBook Pro offers up to 2× faster SSD performance than the equivalent previous-generation model, so read and write speeds should get a significant boost. Apple says it is using "the latest storage technology," ...
MacBook Pro M5 Screen

New MacBook Pro Does Not Include a Charger in the Box in Europe

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:59 am PDT by
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 chip does not include a charger in the box in European countries, including the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, and others, according to Apple's online store. In the U.S. and all other countries outside of Europe, the new MacBook Pro comes with Apple's 70W USB-C Power Adapter, but European customers miss out....
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday October 14, 2025 8:43 am PDT by
Apple's AirPods Max have now been available for almost five years, so what do we know about the second-generation version? According to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new AirPods Max will be lighter than the current ones, but exactly how much is as yet known. The current AirPods Max weigh 0.85 pounds (386.2 grams), excluding the charging case, making it one of the heavier...
macbook pro blue

Apple's M5 MacBook Pro Imminent: What to Expect

Tuesday October 14, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by
Apple is going to launch a new version of the MacBook Pro as soon as tomorrow, so we thought we'd go over what to expect from Apple's upcoming Mac. M5 Chip The MacBook Pro will be one of the first new devices to use the next-generation M5 chip, which will replace the M4 chip. The M5 is built on TSMC's more advanced 3-nanometer process, and it will bring speed and efficiency improvements. ...