iOS 16 update removed all previous wallpapers? Here's how to get them back, but with a catch

Apple’s iOS 16 is undoubtedly the recent talk of the tech world. It brings a ton of new features and improvements including some big changes to its Lock Screen.

Not only does it let you customize the look of your Lock Screen with impressive new wallpapers but you can also change the look of the clock and add Apple Watch-style widgets.

But, it seemingly comes at a cost where iPhone users find themselves unable to access the pre-iOS 16 wallpapers.

iOS 16 update removed all previous wallpapers

It seems that the new iOS 16 update has removed all the previous stock and live wallpapers. Thus, leaving many iPhone users displeased with the upgrade.

All the live wallpapers, stock wallpapers are gone. I kinda liked the 13 pro ones and loved the light/dark mode switch. Is this the gold fish all over again ?
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I can’t seem to find the old ones anymore it I cannot customize my current one right now. I hope this is some sort of mistake
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Some iPhone owners report that the iOS 16 update is missing the light/dark version of stock wallpapers as well, which was previously highlighted by us.

Granted, removing old wallpapers was quite a disappointment for many but those who still want to access their favorite wallpapers can download them from the iOS wallpapers archive.

The downloaded wallpapers from this archive obviously won’t be the same for iPhone users. They will only be able to use them as stills and not as dynamic/live wallpapers.

Likewise, macOS users can visit the macOS wallpaper archive. However, it still doesn’t solve the issue where wallpapers don’t interact with the theme (light/dark) of the operating system.

Archive of all iOS wallpapers
I know this doesn’t solve the problem of the auto light/dark wallpapers, but they’re in there as stills if you want them
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Users who are not satisfied with the static nature of downloaded wallpapers from the archive can use the following workaround.

making a scheduled focus for night time and choosing a dark version from the Google photos is one solution
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That said, we hope that users find some respite from this problem at the earliest. We’ll keep tabs on the issue and update the article accordingly.

Note: We have more such stories in our dedicated Apple section, so make sure to follow them as well.

Featured and in-line image source: Apple

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