How to Use Your Photos As Apple Watch Wallpaper
Most Apple Watch owners already know that you can switch between different watch faces by swiping your finger across the screen. But did you know that you can use your own photos and images as wallpaper on your Apple Watch? You can display one photo as wallpaper or a collection of photos that change every time you touch the watch or lift your wrist, and this setting works on any Apple Watch – from older models to Series 4. It takes a few steps, but once when you’re done, your watch will have a more personalized look.
First, be sure to transfer the photos you want to use as your background from your iPhone to your watch. To do this, open the Photos app on your iPhone. Browse your Camera Roll and other albums. Open any photo you want to put on your watch and click on the heart icon to mark it as a favorite. You can mark as many photos as you like as favorites, and they all appear on your watch in this one sync album.
Then open the Watch app on your iPhone. Click on the icon below to open the face gallery. Swipe down to the Photos section and tap the Favorites album. On the Photos screen of that album, tap Add to add the album to your watch.
Lift your wrist and see that the face of your Apple Watch is now your new synced album of your favorite photos. Click on the watch face and the photo will move to the next image in the album. Each time you raise your wrist to look at the watch, the display also changes to the following.
You can also customize the photo face on Apple Watch by tapping on the current watch face and swiping left until you see New. Click on it and rotate the Digital Crown until you see the entry for photos. Tap the displayed photo and your favorite photos become your new watch face.
Like most Apple Watch faces, you can customize the information displayed on your new Photos face. Open the Watch app on your iPhone. Swipe down to My Faces and tap the face you want to change. In the Position in Time section, you can change the position of the time between the upper and lower parts of the face. In the Complications section, you can click on each of the current complications and change it to other information such as alarm, heart rate, stocks, stopwatch, timer, or weather.
If you want to create a watch face from any photo on your iPhone, not just the ones marked and synced as favorites, you can use one photo or multiple photos (up to 10). To get started, open the Watch app on your iPhone and tap the Face Gallery icon. Then swipe down to the Photos section and tap the album for Favorites. In the Photos section, choose the Custom option instead of the default Synchronized Album and browse your albums looking for the photos you want to add. Click to add them and then click Finish when ready. Back at the Face Gallery screen, click Add at the top. This customized face will now appear on your Apple Watch. If you have selected multiple photos, you can tap the screen to view all of them.
To create a photo face on Apple Watch (without using the iOS Watch app), open the Photos app on your watch. Keep flipping through the photos until you find the one you want to use to create your new face. Click on the screen. Click on the icon to create a watch face. On the next screen, tap on the “Photos Face” option to turn that image of your choice into a new watch face.
You can also use the color or pattern of the photo to create the kaleidoscope dial. Instead of choosing Face Photo from the previous screen, choose Kaleidoscope Face. The dial of the Kaleidoscope will take on the look of your photograph, so be sure to choose something bright and fun.
You can customize the designs of your kaleidoscope’s faces via the Watch app. On your iPhone, open the Watch app. On the My Watch screen, click on the newly created kaleidoscope face. You can now switch between faceted, radial, and rosette styles.
One final way to create a watch face is to open the Photos app on your phone and select the photos you want to use. Tap the Share icon and select the Create Watch Face option, then on the Watch Face screen, tap Add to generate a new watch face.
To reorder or remove some of your customized photo watch faces, open the Clock app on your phone and click the Edit link under My Faces. Tap the minus sign and then tap Remove for all the faces you want to remove. Move the hamburger icon up or down to move the remaining watch faces higher or lower in the list.