iOS 26 keeps adding a lot of new ways to customize your iPhone, but one of my favorites was there in the first 26.0 release: 3D spatial wallpapers. Here’s how to use the feature.
How to apply 3D spatial effect to your iPhone’s wallpaper in iOS 26
Your iPhone’s wallpaper is one of the best ways to personalize the device for you. And in iOS 26, Apple introduced a fun new 3D effect for wallpapers.
Per Apple’s official iOS 26 release notes:
Spatial scenes let you add a new 3D effect to your photo wallpapers, bringing them to life when you move your iPhone
Here’s an example of what this looks like in practice:
The same effect is also baked into the Photos app in iOS 26, and in Photos’ popular Home Screen widget.
In my experience though, this 3D spatial effect truly shines when applied to your iPhone’s wallpaper.
When creating a new wallpaper in iOS 26, you’ll see a row of suggested wallpapers under the heading ‘Spatial Scenes.’ If one of these grabs you, you can tap to select it, and the spatial effect will automatically be applied.
But if you’d like, you can also manually select almost any picture in your Apple Photos library to gain a 3D effect when used as your wallpaper.
Just follow these steps:
- In Settings ⇾ Wallpaper tap the ‘Add New Wallpaper’ button
- Tap ‘Photos’ in the top-left
- Choose the photo you want to use
- Tap the geometric photo icon near the lower-right part of the screen (pictured above)
- After the spatial scene generates, test the effect by moving your iPhone from side to side
- Hit ‘Add’ to save the wallpaper
It’s a small touch, but a fun one for bringing your wallpaper to life every time you pick up your iPhone.
Are you currently using the 3D spatial effect for your iPhone’s wallpaper? If not, why not? Let us know in the comments.
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