On a Mac, one Aurora wallpaper can follow the day by itself. iPhone and iPad don’t let an app change the wallpaper, and Shortcuts has no trigger for Dark Mode turning on, so the way to do it there is by the time of day: the light picture at sunrise and the dark one at sunset. Once it’s set up, it runs on its own.
Save both pictures
In Aurora, open the wallpaper and choose Save to Photos. It adds two pictures to your library, one light and one dark. See Use a wallpaper on each device.
Make a Lock Screen for each
- Touch and hold the Lock Screen until the wallpapers appear, then tap +.
- Choose Photos and pick the light picture. Set it as a wallpaper pair, so the Home Screen matches.
- Do the same again with the dark picture.
You now have two Lock Screens, one for each picture. It helps to give them the same clock and widgets, so only the picture changes.
Switch at sunrise
- Open Shortcuts and go to the Automation tab.
- Tap + and choose Time of Day.
- Choose Sunrise, then Run Immediately, and tap Next.
- Add the Switch Between Wallpapers action and choose the Lock Screen with the light picture.
Switch at sunset
Make a second automation the same way, choosing Sunset and the Lock Screen with the dark picture.
If it doesn’t switch
- Check that both automations are set to Run Immediately. Otherwise iOS asks before each switch.
- Sunrise and sunset come from your location. If Shortcuts can’t use Location Services, choose a fixed time instead.