iOS 26 continues to add many new ways to customize your iPhone, but one of my favorites was the 3D spatial wallpapers featured in the initial 26.0 release. Learn how to use this feature.

How to Apply 3D Spatial Effects to Your iPhone Wallpaper in iOS 26?

Your iPhone wallpaper is one of the best ways to personalize your device. In iOS 26, Apple introduced a fun new 3D effect for wallpapers.

According to Apple's official iOS 26 release notes:

Spatial scenes allow you to add a new 3D effect to your photo wallpapers, bringing them to life as you move your iPhone.

Here’s an example of what this looks like in practice:

The same effect is also available in the Photos app in iOS 26 and in the popular Photos Home Screen widget.

However, in my experience, this 3D spatial effect really shines when applied to your iPhone's wallpaper.

When you create a new wallpaper in iOS 26, you'll see a row of suggested wallpapers under the ‘Spatial Scenes’ heading. If one of these catches your eye, you can tap on it to select it, and the spatial effect will be applied automatically.

But if you want, you can manually select almost any image from your Apple Photos library to use as your wallpaper and still get the 3D effect.

Follow these steps:

  1. In Settings ⇾ Wallpaper, tap the ‘Add New Wallpaper’ button.
  2. Tap ‘Photos’ in the top left.
  3. Select the photo you want to use.
  4. Tap the geometric photo icon in the bottom right of the screen (as shown above).
  5. Once the spatial scene is created, test the effect by moving your iPhone side to side.
  6. Press the ‘Add’ button to save the wallpaper.

A small touch, but a fun way to bring your wallpaper to life every time you pick up your iPhone.

Are you currently using the 3D spatial effect for your iPhone wallpaper? If not, why? Let us know in the comments.

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