The dust has properly settled on Apple's iOS 17 update, with users loving features like StandBy and Contact Posters. But one new feature that it seems people are only just discovering is a series of brand new kaleidoscopic wallpapers.
The iPhone 15 line up has been mocked for eschewing colour in favour of muted tones (it's basically fifty shades of grey), but these wild new wallpapers suggest Apple isn't quite going full monochrome. And with the kaleidoscopes changing colour throughout the day thanks to an algorithm, they're almost as fun as those new Snoopy Apple Watch faces.
Apple's iOS 17 support document claims that the wallpapers use “an algorithm to analyse the photo you pick, find the most interesting elements, and create a beautiful kaleidoscope pattern that moves throughout the day,” and that “multiple styles reveal unique expressions of the same photo.”
Since the wallpapers take a bit of scrolling to get to, it's perhaps unsurprising that it's taken users a while to notice them. But now, Twitter and Reddit are awash with people delighting in how mesmerising they are.
This is wild!! Kaleidoscope wallpapers in iOS 17 are truly a work of art!! 🔥❤️ #iOS17 #apple pic.twitter.com/8Xab8cqRx3September 19, 2023
These kaleidoscope wallpapers on iOS 17 be changing throughout the day like looking in an actually kaleidoscope & I find that so coolAugust 28, 2023
The kaleidoscope thingy on iOS 17 is the nicest thing ever!!!!!July 13, 2023
To find them, all you have to do is update to iOS 17 (if you haven't already), then head to Settings > Wallpaper > Add new wallpaper, and scroll down to the Kaleidoscope section.
Apple isn't the only company that's been dropping some awesome new wallpapers lately. To celebrate its 25th birthday, Google recently released not one, but two sets of delightfully illustrated designs.
