TUTORIALS

How to turn GIFs into a wallpaper for your Apple Watch

10/24/2019

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While looking for some new and interesting wallpapers for my Apple Watch, I came across a Reddit post showing Apple Watch wallpaper that had been created from a GIF — and I simply had to create some of my own. Mostly because a) Apple’s default time lapse wallpapers felt a bit boring, and b) Live Photos I shoot with my phone aren’t as interesting as some of the glitch art you can find online.


The process is very simple — you’re basically converting a GIF into a Live Photo. It does take a few steps to get it to work just right. Bear with me, though. I promise it’s worth it.


  • Go to the 3uTools and download an app that lets you turn GIFs into Live Photos. You can use a popular app like Giphy which not only has a lot of GIFs available, but now has a built-in option to save its GIFs as Live Photos. You can, of course, also use your favorite GIF app.

  • Find a GIF or a Live Photo you want to use as your Apple Watch wallpaper and save it to your Photos app.

  • Once you save the photo, go to your Photos library, select your newly saved Live Photo, and hit “Edit” in the top right corner.

  • Make the last frame of the Live Photo your key photo.


How to turn GIFs into a wallpaper for your Apple Watch
Select your saved photo and hit Edit.


 


How to turn GIFs into a wallpaper for your Apple Watch
Make the last frame your key photo.


  • Go to the Watch app on your iPhone in order to create a new watchface based on a photo.

  • Select the second tab named “Face Gallery,” then scroll down until you reach the Photos section. Under “Content” select “Photos.” That will enable you to pick a specific photo instead of a whole album. Pick your desired Live Photo there.

  • Lastly, add the watchface to your watch and test it out.


How to turn GIFs into a wallpaper for your Apple Watch
Use the Watch app to create a new watchface.


 


How to turn GIFs into a wallpaper for your Apple Watch
Add your photo to the watchface.


Note that if the animation isn’t working properly, it probably means that the animation is too long. In that case you can easily trim it using your favorite editing app.


Also, be aware that some GIFs will work better than the others. For example, as I played around with it, I found that Live Photos that have 42 frames, and GIFs with a lot more movement, like fireworks or lightning, all worked better for me.


And that’s it. Enjoy!


Source: The Verge

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3uTools
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V9.0 2025-11-11
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3uTools V3.18
2025-09-18
Please use the 3uTools PC client to install the iOS client:
1、 Install either the Windows or Mac version of 3uTools on your computer
2、 Open the PC client and connect your device to the computer via USB cable
3、 After the connection is successful, wait for the computer to automatically install the mobile app for the device, or locate “Install Mobile App” on the computer and manually click to install.
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