The recent iOS 26 update has brought with it a new feature to the iPhone Photos app which allows almost any photo to be converted to a ‘spatial scene’, described as a dynamic three-dimensional picture.

The AI-powered feature ‘brings to life’ any photo, including those captured spatially or as mono images. It works by separating the foreground and background in the image using automatically generated depth maps, and can be used with iPhone models 12 onwards. As you may expect, some images work better than others, and they recommend to have a clear subject, but it’s still exciting to have almost a ‘Looking Glass’ on your iPhone without having to pay fees for each conversion.

I’ve tried a few photos, and, so far, have found most of the Spatial-captured images seem to work better than the mono, maybe mostly due to composition, but every now and then there are some which are amazing (especially cat ones). Once converted, you tilt your iPhone side to side or up and down to get quite a subtle three-dimensional effect (in the videos below, I moved a bit too fast sorry, but as you tilt it, there’s a delayed response as the three-dimensional image’s subject moves towards the tilt). Like with stereoscopic photography, some scenes work better than others, and as usual with AI, it can struggle sometimes with the foreground confused with the background, but at least it’s an exciting start.

Macrumors enjoy that this feature can be used with the iPhone’s lock screen wallpaper, and I totally agree with them. See below for the tutorial.

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Step-by-Step Guides to Using ‘Spatial Scenes’

1. To Make a ‘Spatial Scene’ from any photo:

• Update to iOS 26 (this is supposed to be possible with iPhone models 12 onwards).
• Open your ‘Photos’ App.
• Open a suitable image.
• Click a little icon near the top right to select ‘Spatial Scene’
• Tilt your phone around to see the three-dimensional image.

Ironically, if you’re trying to use a stereoscopic side-by-side image, you’ll either need to use just half of it, or convert it to a ‘Spatial’ photo, which can be done using the i3DSteroid App. Using the compatible version of the app, just open the stereoscopic photo, and save as a Spatial Photo (bottom save option).

If you’d like to make a side-by-side stereoscopic image from a converted ‘Spatial Scene’ image, you can carefully take screenshots of the ‘Spatial Scene’ as you tilt your phone side to side, and then use the i3DSteroid app to make a stereo-pair from the screen shots.

Mono Image Example

Please note in the video below, I’m holding the phone in the portrait orientation, but this will also work in landscape.

Spatial Image Example

2. To Set a ‘Spatial Scene’ on your Lock Screen:

• Update to iOS 26.

Then, either:

• Go to your Photos, click on an image.
• Press share (bottom left).
• Click on ‘Use as Wallpaper’.
• Click on the Hexagon shape on the right to generate a Spatial Scene.
• If you’re happy with the image, click ‘Add’ (top right).
• You can also now ‘Set a Wallpaper Pair’ to set a matching background.

Or:

• Go to ‘Settings’ then ‘Wallpaper’.
• Click ‘Add New Wallpaper’.
• Click ‘Photos’.
• Here, you can scroll across the top list to ‘Spatial Scenes’ to see ones the phone has pre-chosen, or click on a photo on your camera roll below to select one.
• Click the hexagon shape on the right of the screen to convert to a Spatial Scene.
• If you’re happy with the wallpaper, click ‘Add’ (top right).
• You can also now ‘Set a Wallpaper Pair’ to set a matching background.

You can also do the above steps from the Lock Screen itself by pressing and holding to add, edit or switch between different wallpapers and widgets.

Video tutorial:

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I’ll be interested to hear what others think of this new feature, if it’s something you’ll use regularly beyond the initial ‘that looks cool’, and also see if Apple has plans to do anything besides wallpaper with this feature.

I hope you have lots of fun with it if you’ve not tried it already.

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