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Tips on creating Live Wallpaper for iOS 17

Updated: Nov 26, 2023

Not all videos can be made into working Live Wallpapers in iOS 17. Keep reading to find out why.


iOS 17 Live Wallpaper is still very new, buggy and quite different from the previous Live Wallpapers. Seems like a lot of people are still confused.


There is no official document from Apple regarding the specifics of the new Live Wallpaper. Here are some tips on creating Live Wallpaper for iOS 17 and some of the thing I was able to figure out.

  • Video has to be short. Optimal/Maximum length is 3 seconds.

  • Cover photo has to be the middle of the video. VideoToLive automatically picks the cover photo from the middle of the video. Please use the lock button above the right trimmer handle to make this easier. Once it's locked the video preview will show the cover photo.

  • When setting the Live Wallpaper, you often get Motion Not Available message and all you have to do is tap Cancel and set it again. This is probably a bug. You can read more about it here, How to fix Motion Not Available Message.

  • There seems to be some processing going on by iOS trying to add motion effect. If it is unable to apply the motion effect for whatever reason, it will not work. I am not sure why iOS doesn't just play the Live Photo as is. Motion effect looks really bad anyway.

  • Motion is very short. It starts from about 1 second prior from the middle of the 3 second video and ends at the middle of the 3 second video which is the position of the cover photo.

  • Try to pick a part of the video where the subject is shown continuously up until the cover photo. This will make it easy for iOS to try to add the motion effect.

  • You can also try changing the video position slightly. You can use the end button.

  • Create a new video by speeding up provided that the original video is long enough. If the video is too slow you won't see much motion. You can speed up a video by tapping the S button until you see 2x or 1.5x and make a video.

  • If the vidoe is not long enough and when you use the lock duration you are unable to select the cover photo at the desired location, you can make a longer video by appending some other clip at the end.


This video shows the newly added Lock button to help with creating the Live Wallpaper. Tapping on the lock button will lock the duration to 3 seconds. After locking, you can drag the right handle and move it to the desired position. Video preview will automatically show the cover photo.


Here is resulting Live Wallpaper.

Hope this cleared up some of the questions you had. Let's make some cool Live Wallpapers!


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