How To Fix Live Wallpapers Not Working On iPhone (5 Ways)
Are you having trouble with live wallpapers not working on iPhone running iOS 14? No worries, this problem is quite common as there are many settings that can prevent your device’s background from animating.
The first and most obvious is the wallpaper itself. Check that you are actually using a Live Wallpaper and not one Again a. Open Settings and search Wallpaper. Press on Choose a new wallpaper and go for the ‘Live’ Category. Select a wallpaper, touch and hold the screen to review the animation, and use the Together 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 still won’t animate on your iPhone, here’s how to fix it:
1. Turn off motion reduction
One iOS 14 setting that prevents live wallpapers from animating is Reduce Motion. When enabled, this setting stops animations on your device, such as parallax effect for icons, etc.
How? ‘Or’ What: Open Settings -> Accessibility -> Movement -> Reduce movement. Use the toggle to deactivate the function if it is active.
2. Activate 3D Touch
If 3D Touch is not enabled on your iPhone, live wallpaper animations will not be triggered when you long press the lock screen.
How? ‘Or’ What: Search Settings -> Accessibility -> Touch -> 3D & Haptic Touch -> 3D Touch. Press the ON / OFF button to activate if the option is disabled.
3. Disable low power mode
IPhone live wallpapers may not work when the device is running in low power mode. You can either wait until you reach a power source or manually turn off low power mode.
How? ‘Or’ What: Swipe for Control center and use the Low Power Mode toggle to turn off battery saving mode. You can also do this in Settings -> Battery -> Low consumption mode.
4. Restart the iPhone
Sometimes a forced restart can be restarted to allow the new settings to take effect and to eliminate possible minor issues.
How? ‘Or’ What: Click and release quickly Turn up the sound, followed by Lower the volume and hold down Side button until the Apple logo appears on the screen.
5. Use a live photo
If you have made all of the fixes provided above and the live wallpaper still does not animate, your next option is to change the live wallpaper. You can choose a live photo in the Photos app and see if it comes alive.
How? ‘Or’ What: Open Pictures. in the The albums tab, scroll to Live Photos. Slide your finger over the photo you want to set as live wallpaper. Press the Share icon (bottom = left corner). Go for ‘Use as wallpaper’. Tap and hold on the screen to review the animation. If the image does not come alive, make sure that Live photo the setting is ‘Sure’. Tap Define -> Define both and check the result!
Important: In iOS 14 Live Wallpapers do not animate if Face ID is not enabled. If you have disabled passcode and facial ID for easy unlocking while wearing a face mask, you must set up Face ID to allow the live background to come alive.
Tips and Facts about iPhone Live Wallpaper
– Do you know that live wallpapers only animate on lock screen? Live backgrounds are not intended to work on the home screen. So if you don’t get animation when the iPhone is unlocked then don’t try to troubleshoot it because there is nothing to fix.
– Even on lock screen, live wallpapers do not automatically animate when you wake up iPhone screen. You need to press and hold the screen for the live photo to be triggered.
– Live wallpapers are not available on iPads and iPods, this is currently an exclusive feature for iPhone.
– iPhone SE (1st generation) models cannot play Live Wallpapers due to hardware limitation.
– Set the 3D touch sensitivity to “ Light ” to more easily trigger the live wallpapers on the lock screen.
How? ‘Or’ What: Settings -> Accessibility -> Touch -> 3D and haptic touch -> 3D touch sensitivity
Live wallpapers vs dynamic wallpapers
Also be sure not to confuse Live and Dynamic wallpapers.
- Live requires manual action to animate. They only work on the lock screen and you can create custom wallpapers from the Pictures app. On the iPhone home screen, these wallpapers act like the Still.
- Dynamic backgrounds are animations that loop on the Home screen and Lock screen. You don’t need to touch the screen to trigger playback. They are only found in the Wallpapers section and you cannot create your own.
Made: Dynamic wallpapers are heavy battery consumers!
Did any of the above troubleshooting tips help you fix Live Wallpapers on your iPhone? Let us know using the comments section available below.
Related: Check out the new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro wallpapers!