How to Change to Dark Mode Wallpaper on Your iPhone & iPad

By Leanne Hays on Fri, 11/15/2019

* This post is part of iPhone Life's Tip of the Day newsletter. . *

Changing the wallpaper or background on your iPhone and iPad is a great way to update the appearance of your device, and now there are cool new Dark Mode wallpaper options to choose from. To use this tip, be sure you've updated your device to iOS 13 or iPadOS 13 so that you can turn on Dark Mode and find the new Dark Mode wallpaper selection. Let's get started finding and changing our device's wallpaper to a Dark Mode option. 

Related: iPad & iPhone Wallpaper: How to Change Your Home & Lock Screen Backgrounds

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How to Get Dark Mode Wallpaper on Your iPhone

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Scroll down and tap Wallpaper.

    open iphone settingschoose an iphone wallpaper
     
  3. Tap Choose a New Wallpaper.
  4. Tap Stills.

    choose an iphone wallpaerios wallpaper
     
  5. Tap one of the wallpaper options with the Dark Mode icon at the bottom-right corner.
  6. Leave Perspective Zoom on if you'd like the wallpaper to shift as you change the angle of your screen; tap the Perspective Zoom icon to turn it off if you prefer that your wallpaper be static. (If you don’t notice this option, that’s because you’ve probably turned on the Reduce Motion option on your iPhone. To turn it back on, go to Settings > Accessibility > Motion and toggle Reduce Motion off.)

    dark mode wallpaperperspective zoom wallpaper
  7. Tap Set to confirm the choice of your wallpaper and settings, or Cancel if you'd like to see the look of a different Dark Mode wallpaper.
  8. Tap Set Lock Screen, Set Home Screen, Set Both, or Cancel.

    set or cancel iphone wallpaperset wallpaper on iphone

I've heard a bit about third-party Dark Mode wallpapers, but haven't tried any yet. Let me know in the comments if you've downloaded any, and how you liked them.

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Topics: 
How-To
Tip of the Day
Lock Screen
Wallpapers
Leanne Hays's picture
Leanne Hays

Leanne Hays is an SEO Content Strategist and Feature Writer at iPhone Life, and has written hundreds of in-depth how-to and troubleshooting articles. She's a former Associate Editor for iPhone Life magazine, and has written for the Iowa Source, as well as web content for education marketing. Leanne has an associate's degree in education, with a focus on curriculum development, as well as a bachelor's degree in science. She has over nine years of experience with SEO, social media management, and web development and writing. Despite years of web work, Leanne is by no means an early adapter; she's only owned a smartphone for five years, which makes her highly sympathetic to the learning curve of new iPhone owners. She enjoys making reader's lives easier and putting her education experience to work by walking them through the most practical ways to use Apple devices, step-by-step.

In off-work hours, Leanne is a mother of two, homesteader, audiobook fanatic, musician, and learning enthusiast.