Skip to Content

Set Different Wallpapers on iPhone Lock Screen and Home Screen

by

Apple took Lock Screen customization to a whole new level with iOS 16, allowing you to change the font and style of the clock, add widgets, and apply dynamic weather and astronomy wallpapers. As a result, it also changed the way you go about setting a different Home Screen background to that of your Lock Screen. Keep reading to learn how it's done.

iOS 16 Lock Screen Customization
When you customize the Lock Screen for the first time, you'll notice that iOS 16 suggests you use the same wallpaper for the ‌Home Screen‌. This is because Apple applies dynamic transitions to some wallpapers when switching from the Lock Screen to the ‌Home Screen‌ if the backgrounds are the same.
set wallpaper pair
If you initially went with this suggestion to "Set as Wallpaper Pair" when creating your Lock Screen, but have since decided you want to have a different ‌Home Screen‌ wallpaper, you can do so. Simply follow the steps below.

  1. Unlock your ‌iPhone‌ with Face ID or Touch ID
  2. Swipe to a previously customized wallpaper, then tap Customize.
  3. Choose the Home Screen option.
    Lock Screen

  4. Tap the Color and Gradient buttons to access color swatches and customize the background, or tap the Photos button to select another image. You can also Blur the image if you want.
  5. If you selected a new image, you can swipe to preview filters, Pinch to Crop the image, and tap the ellipsis button to apply the Depth effect option as desired.
  6. Tap Done in the top-right corner.
  7. Tap Done again on the editing screen to finish and save your selection.
    Lock Screen

Note that you can customize the current Lock Screen and ‌Home Screen‌ selection at any time: Simply invoke the gallery view from the Lock Screen with a long press, tap Customize, then select Lock Screen or Home Screen. Alternatively, you can edit wallpaper pairs by going into Settings -> Wallpaper and swiping between wallpapers in your gallery and customizing them.

Popular Stories

Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

Apple Planning 'MacBook Ultra' With Touchscreen and Higher Price

Sunday March 8, 2026 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch an all-new "MacBook Ultra" model this year, featuring an OLED display, touchscreen, and a higher price point, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Gurman revealed the information in his latest "Power On" newsletter. While Apple has been widely expected to launch new M6-series MacBook Pro models with OLED displays, touchscreen functionality, and a new, thinner design...
imac video apple feature

Apple Unveils Seven New Products

Friday March 6, 2026 11:48 am PST by
Apple this week unveiled seven products, including an iPhone 17e, an iPad Air with the M4 chip, updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models, a new Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, and an all-new MacBook Neo that starts at just $599. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as the iPhone 16e, but it gains Apple's A19 chip, MagSafe for magnetic wireless charging and magnetic...
ios 26 4 yellow

Everything New in iOS 26.4 Beta 4

Monday March 9, 2026 3:50 pm PDT by
Apple is continuing to test the iOS 26.4 beta, and the latest update is now available for developers and public beta testers. As testing goes on, there are fewer new features in each beta, but today’s release adds new emoji characters and a few other changes. New Emoji Apple added new emoji characters, including trombone, treasure chest, distorted face, hairy creature, fight cloud, orca,...