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CyberGene

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 3, 2011
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I’ve been using an automatic light/dark mode switching depending on time of the day and up until iOS 15 the stock wallpapers had corresponding light and dark versions that would switch. I’m on the latest iOS 16 beta and I don’t see something like that anymore. I like the greenish/yellow oval wallpaper that Apple advertise for iOS 16 (the one in the middle)

Apple-iOS-16-WWDC-2022.jpg


However it’s always the same regardless of what mode is used and is kind of too bright when in dark mode.

Is Apple abandoning that idea for iOS 16. Would be such a shame. I’ve never really understood the idea of breaking a working functionality.

And while at it, why should I be on the Lock Screen to be able to switch between the wallpapers? If I’m in the settings I can’t see all my wallpapers or switch between them, I can only see the current one and there’s the following there:

1662023002227.png
This is awkward to have to lock my phone to be able to switch between wallpapers and customize them. I hope that will be changed for the final version.
 

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I was confused by this as well. My first thought is they removed the feature because of the customizable text/widget color. Say you customize the screen using light mode and dark text, but then the text/widgets could be hard to see when it switches to dark mode.

I peeked at the Weather wallpaper since that one can change throughout the day. They only give us two color options there for the text/widgets, so it seems they have thought of that issue by giving us options that will look good no matter what is in the background.

Maybe they'll figure it out for the final release, but I don't have high hopes. iOS 16 is pretty much complete by now. (It's still available in iPadOS, which doesn't have the new Lock Screen.)
 
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I'm hoping Apple adds this to the final release of iOS 16 once it's released to the public. Alternatively, you can set an automation (via Shortcuts app) to have the wallpaper change depending on the time of day (you'd just need to have both the light and dark wallpaper downloaded to your device).
 
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In an earlier beta I noticed that there actually is wallpaper dark/light switching in iOS 16 and it's actually improved from previous versions. It now lets you choose between light or dark versions regardless of dark mode being enabled. See the attached photos.

The problem is Apple hasn't expanded this functionality to any wallpapers other than ones like the one in the pictures. It would be nice to have the old stock ones available, as well as allowing you to do this with custom photos as well.
 

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In an earlier beta I noticed that there actually is wallpaper dark/light switching in iOS 16 and it's actually improved from previous versions. It now lets you choose between light or dark versions regardless of dark mode being enabled. See the attached photos.

The problem is Apple hasn't expanded this functionality to any wallpapers other than ones like the one in the pictures. It would be nice to have the old stock ones available, as well as allowing you to do this with custom photos as well.
That’s pretty cool, I didn’t know it, thanks. It does what I want it to, so I switched to the blue one. I’d prefer if they had similar bi-color versions for the other wallpapers such as abstract ones and not just the bubbles but these bubbles are also nice enough 👍🏻 Apple should make them default because having that bright wallpaper at night defeats the purpose of the entire focus and well-being thing.
 
The default green wallpaper moves when you unlock the device with layers, unlike the one on iPad where it has a dark mode, it’s just a basic picture.

It’s possible that Apple doesn’t have the resources to make a layered dark mode for iPhone or the device isn’t capable of it.
 
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Create a new focus mode and choose the dark version of wallpaper. Set the time for the focus same as the dark mode timing. The dark wallpaper will automatically change with dark mode.
 
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Create a new focus mode and choose the dark version of wallpaper. Set the time for the focus same as the dark mode timing. The dark wallpaper will automatically change with dark mode.
The problem with this is if you want to actually use a Focus it interferes.
 
CarPlay have the light/dark wallpapers funnily enough when you open up wallpaper settings in CarPlay from your car.
 
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Does this only apply to iOS 16 or does it also hold true for iPadOS 16?

I'm still on iPadOS 15 and I don't want to lose this functionality:

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iPadOS 16 still has light/dark wallpapers. funny enough, they even have the light dark versions of the official ios16 wall
 
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