Live Wallpaper is a nice feature of iOS that allows you to give a touch of panache to your iPhone. It is possible to create an animated background on iOS in a few steps but I admit that it is difficult to find a combination of photos that satisfies.
A possible solution to find a nice animated background for your iPhone is to rely on the big cauldron called the Internet. Specifically, you can look for a Graphics Interchange Format, known to all with the acronym GIF. This is a format that can be considered a cross between photos and videos. Unlike images, a GIF is not static because it has more frames but is much lighter than a movie because of the absence of audio and a decidedly lower resolution.
What shows a GIF? Everything and more! Normally GIFs contain pieces of film or TV series, interviews with famous people or cartoons that become real memes.
The Internet is full of places to find high-quality GIFs. The best place, in my opinion, is GIPHY, since platforms like 9gag and Reddit rely on this site for added value. In addition to a website there is also a handy app for iOS, so you have at your fingertips the GIF of the moment.
What you need to know before setting up a GIF as the background of an iPhone
Here are some considerations before proceeding to the actual guide to set up a GIF as a background for iPhone:
- The guide is based on using the iOS app rather than the website. Therefore I advise you to download it before continuing the reading.
- Keep in mind that the background of your iPhone is vertical. Look for a vertically aligned GIF, otherwise, the effect will not be the best.
- The animated wallpapers of iOS, also known as Live Wallpapers, are stationary most of the time. So choose a GIF that has individual frames in good resolution.
- As I mentioned earlier, GIFs often have a lower resolution than a classic video. For this reason, be sure to find a quality animation before setting it as the background of your iPhone.
Steps to set up a GIF as the iPhone background
Open the app and look for a GIF you might like. Do you want some advice? Homer Simpson who hides in the bush or Daniel Ricciardo who dives his chest after the victory of the GP of Monte Carlo are two GIFs that I would like to have as the background of my iPhone.
Once you have identified the GIF of your dreams, open it by tapping on it and press the three points on the bottom right. At this point select “Convert to Live Photo”.
The process will start and you will be asked to choose between two save options. The first, “Save as Live Photo” is the best option as the GIF will cover the entire display of your iPhone. The second entry will propose you to adapt the GIF to the screen. What does it mean? Black bars will be added, horizontally and/or vertically, in order to change the resolution of the animation. Once you have chosen how to save the GIF you will find your animated background under Camera Roll.
At this point, it is really a breeze to change the background. Go to Settings> Wallpaper> Choose New Background. Select ” Live Photos ” and tap the animation you converted a little while ago. iOS will make you place the animated background as you prefer, as well as asking if you want to see the gif as an animated background of the unlock screen, the Home screen or both. Once you have completed this step you will have successfully set up a GIF as the animated background of your iPhone!
