iOS 16 Wallpaper Gallery Categories

Apple introduced a redesigned Lock Screen experience in iOS 16, complete with an organized wallpaper gallery that makes personalizing your iPhone fast and intuitive. This article outlines every major wallpaper category available in the iOS 16 gallery, detailing how each option functions and the unique visual styles they provide.

The Featured section sits at the top of the gallery, showcasing Apple’s hand-picked selections. This collection highlights the system's design capabilities by pairing dynamic wallpapers, specialized typography, and complementary widgets. It serves as an instant showcase of what the iOS 16 Lock Screen can look like right out of the box.

Suggested Photos

Using on-device intelligence, iOS 16 scans your personal photo library to recommend high-quality images that work well as backgrounds. This category specifically identifies portraits, pets, nature shots, and cityscapes that support the multi-layered depth effect, which lets the subject subtly overlap the Lock Screen clock.

Photo Shuffle

The Photo Shuffle option automatically cycles through a selection of images from your library throughout the day. You can let iOS intelligently pick photos based on categories—such as people, pets, or landscapes—or manually curate your own album. You can also customize the shuffle frequency to change hourly, daily, on wake, or with a tap.

Weather & Astronomy

This category brings dynamic, real-time data to your background:

  • Weather: Shows a live representation of current local weather conditions, such as moving rain, drifting clouds, or sunshine.
  • Astronomy: Features 3D models of Earth, the Moon, and the Solar System. The Earth and Moon views update in real time to reflect current daylight and cloud patterns based on your location.

Emoji

The Emoji category allows you to design playful, personalized patterns using up to six different emojis. You can arrange your selected icons in various layout styles, including small grid, medium grid, large grid, rings, and spiral patterns, combined with customizable background colors.

Collections

Collections contains iconic Apple designs, including the default iOS 16 ribbon wallpaper, dynamic Pride and Black Unity designs, and nostalgia-inspired releases like the classic Clownfish wallpaper. Many wallpapers in this section animate smoothly when waking or unlocking the display.

Color

The Color section offers a minimalist look using solid colors and gradients. You can pick any hue from a wide palette, adjust its intensity, and apply different gradient styles—such as vibrant, tone, deep, vapor, and bright—to create a clean, non-distracting Lock Screen.