Are Live Wallpapers Still Supported in iOS 26?

Yes. Live wallpapers are still supported in iOS 26. The lock screen can play a short looping motion clip that animates when you touch and hold it, and iOS 26 also expands the still-image Depth Effect into a richer multi-layer version. What did change over the years is which kind of motion wallpaper is supported, and that is the part most people are actually asking about.

The short history behind the confusion

There have been two different “live wallpaper” features on iPhone, and mixing them up is why people think the feature was removed.

Old-style Live Photos as wallpaper (the discontinued one)

On older models with 3D Touch, you could set a Live Photo as a wallpaper and press the screen to play it. Apple dropped this when 3D Touch hardware was retired. So if you remember “press the screen and the photo moves” and it stopped working, that specific implementation is gone.

The current lock-screen motion wallpaper (the supported one)

Since the iOS 16 lock-screen redesign, the system uses a different model. Wallpapers are built as customizable lock screens, and certain types animate on the lock screen. This is the path that carries forward into iOS 26, and it is alive and well.

What works in iOS 26

In iOS 26 you can:

• Set animated/motion lock-screen wallpapers that play on touch-and-hold.
• Use the still-image Depth Effect, where iOS layers the subject in front of the clock. iOS 26 adds a multi-layer Depth Effect, so more than one element of the image can sit at different depths relative to the clock and time.
• Keep multiple lock screens and swap between them, each with its own wallpaper and widgets.

Animation pauses in Low Power Mode, which is expected behavior and helps conserve battery. It resumes once you turn Low Power Mode off.

Why some “live” wallpapers don’t animate

If you saved a file that looks animated but it sits there as a still on your lock screen, the issue is almost always the file type. A still JPEG cannot animate no matter what it is labeled. Motion wallpapers need an actual motion source the system recognizes. This is where a dedicated app helps, because it packages the wallpaper in the format iOS expects rather than handing you a flat image.

The Wallpaper Hub live wallpaper collection is built specifically for the current iOS motion format, so the animation plays on touch-and-hold instead of silently falling back to a still.

Setting one up

The flow in iOS 26 is straightforward: touch and hold the lock screen, tap the plus button to add a new lock screen, pick a motion wallpaper, then position the clock and any widgets. For a step-by-step walkthrough see How to set a live wallpaper on iPhone 16.

Will it hurt my battery?

Not meaningfully. Because the motion only plays during interaction and pauses in Low Power Mode, the cost is small. The dedicated question is covered in Do live wallpapers drain iPhone battery?.

Key takeaways

• Live/motion wallpapers are supported in iOS 26; the old 3D Touch Live Photo wallpaper is the only thing that was retired.
• iOS 26 adds multi-layer Depth Effect on top of existing animation support.
• Animation plays on touch-and-hold and pauses in Low Power Mode.
• A still image file can never animate; you need a real motion wallpaper.

Related reading

• How to set a live wallpaper on iPhone 16
• iOS 26 wallpaper customization guide
• Do live wallpapers drain iPhone battery?

Browse motion wallpapers built for the current iOS format: Get Wallpaper Hub on the App Store