Apple's wallpaper selection in iOS 11 is just abysmal

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The Live wallpapers selection was gutted in iOS 11. Now there are only three options.

The Live wallpapers selection was gutted in iOS 11. Now there are only three options.

Apple removed the animated fish! This is a real shame, since those fish used to be my favorite wallpapers in iOS 10. If you had an iPhone 6s or later, you could press into the screen and the fish would animate back and forth based on your touch. It's a shame that Apple removed these wallpapers and didn't replace them with anything.

In general though, the wallpaper options in iOS 11 are extremely underwhelming.

Perhaps what's most frustrating is that Apple built some really amazing screensavers for the Apple TV — even showing off those same screensavers at its September 12 event — but has yet to bring any of those to the iPhone, despite the fact there are many more millions of iPhone owners compared to Apple TV owners.

Here's hoping Apple fixes this dire wallpaper situation in a future update.

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But the most disappointing move of all was in the Live wallpapers category. Here's what that category looked like in iOS 10:

But the most disappointing move of all was in the Live wallpapers category. Here's what that category looked like in iOS 10:

There were 9 Live wallpapers in iOS 10, including six exotic fish wallpapers and three wallpapers of various solutions being dropped in liquid, which gives a very cool cloud-like effect.

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Here are those new Apple-themed wallpapers, which take up nearly half of the "Stills" category. They look pretty snoozy to me.

Here are those new Apple-themed wallpapers, which take up nearly half of the "Stills" category. They look pretty snoozy to me.

The very last wallpaper is a simple black screen — a throwback to the original iPhone, which had a black background and didn't let you choose the wallpaper.

And here's the new Stills category in iOS 11 — now 20 options in total.

And here's the new Stills category in iOS 11 — now 20 options in total.

Gone are the wallpapers of other planets, color explosions, and simple color gradients. Instead, Apple added wallpapers of flowers, the Earth and moon, and several Apple-themed wallpapers.

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The "Stills" category saw the most changes. Here's what it looked like in iOS 10, when there were 15 options to choose from:

The "Stills" category saw the most changes. Here's what it looked like in iOS 10, when there were 15 options to choose from:

There were planets, abstract explosions of color, and color gradient wallpapers (not seen here).

In the Dynamic wallpaper category, there have been zero changes from iOS 10 to iOS 11. You still have the same seven options: bubbles bouncing around your screen, with various colors in the background.

In the Dynamic wallpaper category, there have been zero changes from iOS 10 to iOS 11. You still have the same seven options: bubbles bouncing around your screen, with various colors in the background.

These Dynamic wallpapers have always been my least favorite wallpapers, so it's disappointing to see there were no changes or improvements.

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As in iOS 10, Apple has three wallpaper categories: Dynamic, Stills, and Live.

As in iOS 10, Apple has three wallpaper categories: Dynamic, Stills, and Live.