A countdown wallpaper that updates every day

A widget shows your countdown in a corner of the screen. A wallpaper makes it the screen. Every time you lift the phone, the number of days left is the first thing there, bigger than the clock if you want it to be.

The catch is that a picture of "30 days left" is wrong by tomorrow. A countdown wallpaper is only useful if it redraws itself every day without you doing anything. This guide explains how that works on an iPhone, and then how to set it up in about two minutes with Doom Count for iPhone.

Why apps can't do this on their own

Apple doesn't let apps change your wallpaper directly. An app can make a picture and save it. It cannot put that picture on your Lock Screen.

The one thing on your iPhone that can is the Shortcuts app. It has an action called Set Wallpaper Photo that takes an image and sets it for the Lock Screen, the Home Screen or both. Every "dynamic wallpaper" trick you have seen on an iPhone goes through that action.

So a wallpaper that updates daily always has the same three parts:

1. Something that makes today's picture. For a countdown, that is an app that can draw "29 days left" today and "28 days left" tomorrow.
2. A Shortcut that asks for the picture and passes it to Set Wallpaper Photo.
3. A Time of Day trigger that runs the Shortcut every day, so you never have to.

If any part is missing, nothing happens. A Shortcut that makes the picture but has no Set Wallpaper Photo step makes a picture and does nothing with it. A Shortcut with no daily trigger sets the wallpaper once and never again.

The ready-made Shortcut in Doom Count

You could build those three parts by hand. Doom Count gives you a Shortcut that already has them: it gets today's wallpaper from the app, sets it, and carries its own daily trigger for 12:02 AM.

The Shortcut is the same for everyone and never needs editing. The app decides what the wallpaper shows (which countdown). The Shortcut only fetches the picture and sets it.

The wallpaper follows the countdown's own style and colours, so a Day grid countdown becomes a grid of days and an LED countdown becomes a large LED number. Under the picture is one small line with the name and the due date.

Set it up

You need at least one countdown. Open it, and tap Set as wallpaper at the bottom.

1. Check the preview

The first page shows two phones side by side. The Lock Screen has the clock and the flashlight and camera buttons drawn on top, so you can see what will cover the picture. The Home Screen gets the countdown's colours and glow, with no number. Tap Set as wallpaper.

2. Add the Shortcut

1. Tap Add the Shortcut. The Shortcuts app opens.
2. Tap Add Shortcut, then go back to Doom Count.

The guide moves on by itself when you return.

3. Set your wallpaper

1. Tap Set my wallpaper now. This runs the Shortcut once, so you see it work instead of waiting for the night.
2. Answer the three questions iPhone asks (next section).

That's it. Every night at 12:02 AM the Shortcut sets a fresh wallpaper by itself, with one day less.

On earlier versions of iOS, an added Shortcut does not keep its 12:02 AM trigger, so the app's guide shows a second step in its place. In Shortcuts, tap Automation, then +, choose Time of Day, set 12:02 AM, keep Daily, choose Run Immediately, tap Next, and pick the Doom Count Shortcut.

The three permission prompts

The first time the Shortcut runs, iPhone asks three questions in a row. They look alike, and the third one decides whether the wallpaper keeps updating.

Prompt	Tap
Allow the Shortcut to run actions from "Doom Count"?	Allow
Allow the Shortcut to set a wallpaper?	Allow
Allow the Shortcut to output 1 wallpaper?	Always Allow

The third prompt has three buttons: Don't Allow, Allow Once and Always Allow. Allow Once looks like the careful choice, and it breaks the setup. With Allow Once, iPhone asks again on the next run. The next run is just after midnight, when you may be asleep, so the wallpaper stays on yesterday's number.

Tap Always Allow. You are giving permission to one Shortcut to do one thing: hand a wallpaper image to the wallpaper setting.

Troubleshooting

The wallpaper didn't change overnight

Work through these in order.

1. Run it by hand. Open the countdown and tap Update wallpaper. If a permission prompt appears, that was the problem. Choose Always Allow this time.
2. Check the Shortcut still exists. If you deleted it, tapping Update wallpaper fails, and the app opens the guide on "Add the Shortcut" so you can add it again.
3. Check the trigger. Open the Shortcut. The block at the top should read "At 12:02 AM" with Automation switched on. If it shows another time, tap it and set 12:02 AM. If you are on an earlier iOS and set up the Time of Day automation yourself, check that it is set to Daily and Run Immediately.
4. Check there is something to draw. The wallpaper needs a running countdown. If you deleted your countdowns, or they have all finished, there is nothing to show.

If you are not sure what state things are in, the first page of the guide has Set up again, which walks through the steps from the start.

I want a different time

Open the Shortcut in Shortcuts and tap 12:02 AM at the top. Just after midnight works best: widgets change at midnight, so the wallpaper changes with them, and it is ready before you first pick up the phone.

I want a different countdown on the wallpaper

Open the other countdown and tap Set as wallpaper. The app saves the choice and runs the Shortcut straight away. You don't touch the Shortcut itself.

I want to stop

Delete the Shortcut in the Shortcuts app (and the automation, if you made one). You can do that at any time. Your wallpaper stays as it is until you choose another in Settings. Doom Count never changes your wallpaper on its own.

What the wallpaper shows

• The number and the picture, in the countdown's style and colours, with the name and due date in one small line.
• A Behind marker, if your last check-in answer was Behind. It stays until the next checkpoint. See how checkpoints work.
• On the Home Screen, only the colours and glow of the countdown. The glow rises and warms as the deadline gets close.
• A small "DOOM COUNT" mark along the left and right edges in the free version. Pro removes it.

The daily wallpaper is free and stays free. The setup above is identical with or without Pro.

Wallpaper or widget?

They do different jobs, and you can use both.

	Daily wallpaper	Lock Screen widget
Size	The whole screen	A circle, a rectangle or one line
Setup	A Shortcut and three prompts	Touch and hold, Customize, tap to add
Updates	Every night at 12:02 AM	By itself at midnight
Countdowns shown	One	One per widget

If the Shortcut setup is more than you want today, start with a widget: how to add a countdown widget on iPhone. If one deadline matters more than the rest, give it the wallpaper.

Questions