Best Days Left and Countdown Wallpaper Apps for iPhone in 2026: 6 Compared
Checked 20 October 2026. Every competitor detail below comes from that app's US App Store page and Apple's public lookup data, fetched that day. Left details come from the app itself.
A days left wallpaper turns your Lock Screen into a countdown: the year as a grid of dots with today highlighted, your life in weeks, or the days until a trip. You see it every time you pick up your phone, without adding a widget. The trick is keeping it current. On iPhone, an app can't swap your wallpaper on its own; the apps below generate the image and then use a Shortcuts automation, which you set up once, to refresh it every day. Here are six worth comparing.
Disclosure: we make Left, so we have put it first. Here is why, and when another app suits you better.
Quick verdict
- Best free self-updating wallpaper for the year, your life or a countdown: Left.
- Best for habits plus a year dot grid wallpaper: DailyHack.
- Best for agenda-style Lock Screens with countdowns and days since: Calendarly.
- Best for a schedule or to-do wallpaper with a life progress style: LockScreen Calendar Maker.
- Best for many kinds of progress in one wallpaper app: One Dot.
- Best for a minimal "days left in the year" wallpaper: Today: Year Calendar Wallpaper.
Comparison table
Ratings and counts are from the US App Store, checked 20 October 2026. This category is new: most of these apps were first released in 2026, so the rating counts are small. "Not stated" means the listing doesn't mention it, not that the feature is missing.
| App | Wallpaper shows | How it updates | Price model | Rating (US) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Left | Year, month, calendar, life in weeks, or a countdown to any date | Shortcuts automation, daily | Free (wallpaper) | Not shown (our app) |
 DailyHack | Year progress dot grid, life calendar | Shortcuts | Free; Pro monthly, annual or lifetime | 4.7 (106) |
 Calendarly | Month, year in dots, countdowns, days since, life calendar, agenda | Shortcuts morning automation | Free; Pro monthly, yearly or lifetime | 4.5 (43) |
 LockScreen Calendar Maker | Calendar, schedule, to-do, full year, life progress | Pre-built shortcut | Free; annual or lifetime | 4.8 (35) |
 One Dot | 16 modes, including life, year and countdown | Shortcuts automation, daily | Free; Premium yearly, monthly or lifetime | 4.5 (8) |
 Today: Year Calendar Wallpaper | Year as 365 dots with days left, months, week, season | Shortcuts automation, just after midnight | Free Year wallpaper; Pro monthly or lifetime | No ratings yet |
1. Left: Left Wallpaper
Left is a time awareness app for iPhone, and Left Wallpaper draws the same grids you see in the app onto your Lock Screen.
- Modes: Life (your life in years, months or weeks), Year (in days, weeks or months), Month, Calendar (month, year, month blocks or year blocks) and Special Date, which counts down to any of your Ahead dates.
- Style: pick a symbol, light or dark appearance, a theme color (including a custom one), the layout position and grid size, and a background photo from your library or Unsplash, with blur. A legend can show text such as "73 days left".
- Updating: save your setup in Left, then build a shortcut with Left's Wallpaper action and Set Wallpaper Photo, and run it with a daily Time of Day automation at 12:01 AM. Left's own tutorial walks through each step, and so does our wallpaper shortcut guide.
- Pairs with widgets: the same countdowns, year progress and life views are available as Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets.
Best for: a free days left or countdown wallpaper that matches the rest of your setup, from one app.
Price: free to download, and Left Wallpaper is free. A Special Date wallpaper uses one of your Ahead dates; the free plan includes 2 Ahead dates, counted over every date you've ever created. Left Premium, a subscription or lifetime purchase, unlocks unlimited dates and more. Prices are shown in the app before you buy.
Pros: free; life, year, month, calendar and countdown modes in one place; photo backgrounds; the same countdowns and grids as Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets.
Cons: the Shortcuts setup takes a few minutes the first time; no agenda, to-do or calendar-event wallpaper; iPhone only, with iOS 26 or later.
2. DailyHack
By Pacifiq. Its App Store page describes a habit tracker with streaks, a Life Calendar and Year Progress dot grid, and wallpapers made from your calendar that "Auto-update wallpapers via iOS Shortcuts". It also lists widgets for year progress, habits, a contribution chart and memento mori, an Eisenhower matrix and iCloud sync.
Best for: people who want a habit tracker and a year progress wallpaper in the same app.
Price: free to download, with Pro monthly, annual or lifetime options. Its latest release notes say all widgets are now free.
Pros: 4.7 from 106 ratings, the most of the other apps here; habits and wallpaper together; updated in October 2026.
Cons: the listing doesn't say which features need Pro; its privacy label lists identifiers used to track you.
3. Calendarly Lockscreen Calendar
By Dmytro Katyukha. Its App Store page lists 152 layouts: month, quarter, year, today hour by hour, week, work shifts, Apple Reminders and Todoist, "Countdowns to exams, birthdays and trips, plus days since a date", and "the year in dots and your life calendar". A morning automation in Shortcuts refreshes it.
Best for: a Lock Screen that shows your schedule as well as how many days are left.
Price: free to download, with Calendarly Pro monthly, yearly or lifetime. Its release notes say free layouts now show every event, reminder and task, not just the next three.
Pros: the widest range of layouts here; countdowns and days since; widgets and Live Activities too; supports iOS 16.6 or later.
Cons: more agenda than countdown, so it can feel busy if you only want a number; 43 ratings so far.
4. LockScreen Calendar Maker
By Vinh Vo. Its App Store page describes wallpapers with a calendar, schedule or to-do list, synced from Apple, Google or Outlook calendars and Apple Reminders, in styles including Agenda, Classic Month, Full Year with progress dots, Lunar, Eisenhower Matrix and Life Progress (your life in weeks or months). A pre-built shortcut updates the wallpaper automatically.
Best for: people who want their real schedule on the Lock Screen, with a life progress option.
Price: free to download, with an annual or lifetime purchase.
Pros: 4.8 from 35 ratings; Google and Outlook calendar support; privacy label says Data Not Collected; listed for iPad too.
Cons: the listing doesn't say what's free; countdowns are mentioned for widgets, not as a wallpaper style.
5. One Dot - Lock Screen Calendar
By Daniil Kartsev. Its App Store page lists 16 modes, including Life, Year, Season, Quarter, Month, Week, Countdown, Agenda, To-Do, Journal, Habits and Steps, plus interactive widgets and a journal Live Activity. "Set up the included Shortcuts automation once and your wallpaper can update each day."
Best for: tinkerers who want one wallpaper app for many kinds of progress.
Price: free to download. The listing says the free version includes the Life, Year, Journal and Habits modes and core customization; One Dot Premium (yearly, monthly or lifetime) unlocks all 16 modes and more.
Pros: clear free tier; Life and Year modes free; no account needed; interactive widgets.
Cons: the Countdown mode is part of Premium; only 8 ratings; listed for iPhone only.
6. Today: Year Calendar Wallpaper
By Abbosjon Mamadaliyev. Its App Store page describes a Year wallpaper of 365 dots with today highlighted and "the days left counted", plus Twelve Months, Month, Week and Season designs, drawn at your iPhone's exact resolution. "Add it once, add one daily automation, and your Lock Screen is redrawn just after midnight."
Best for: the simplest, cleanest days left in the year wallpaper.
Price: free to download. The listing says the Year wallpaper and several widgets are free; Today Pro, monthly or lifetime, unlocks every wallpaper and Home Screen widget.
Pros: the Year wallpaper is free; privacy label says Data Not Collected; updated in October 2026.
Cons: no ratings yet; no life or countdown-to-a-date mode is mentioned; listed for iPhone only.
How we chose
- Search first: we searched the US App Store for "days left wallpaper", "wallpaper countdown", "year progress wallpaper", "life calendar wallpaper" and similar terms on 20 October 2026, and checked whether well-known countdown apps offer a wallpaper. None of the four we checked describes a Lock Screen wallpaper (Countdown Star's "wallpapers" are backgrounds inside the app); they focus on widgets.
- Kept: apps whose listing says the wallpaper can update automatically and that were updated in the last few months.
- Left out: apps not updated since 2021 or 2023, photo-only calendar wallpaper apps with no automatic update, and apps whose only listed plan is a weekly subscription.
- Sources: each app's own App Store page and Apple's lookup data. No paid placements, and no developer reviewed this page.
- Small numbers: treat stars as a weak signal here and try the free version first.
Which one should you pick?
- You want the year, your life or a countdown on your Lock Screen for free, with matching widgets: Left.
- You want habits and a year dot grid together: DailyHack.
- You want your calendar and reminders on the wallpaper: Calendarly or LockScreen Calendar Maker.
- You want lots of modes in one app: One Dot.
- You want only the year, as minimal as possible: Today.
Prefer a widget? Our countdown widgets guide covers Lock Screen and Home Screen options, and the Lock Screen widget guide shows how to add one. For today's numbers, try the time left in the year calculator or the date countdown calculator.
See more examples on the Left days left wallpaper page.
Questions
How do I get a days left wallpaper on my iPhone?
Use an app that draws the wallpaper, then a Shortcuts automation to refresh it daily. In Left, set up Left Wallpaper, add Left's Wallpaper action and Set Wallpaper Photo to a shortcut, and run it with a Time of Day automation at 12:01 AM every day.
Can an iPhone wallpaper update itself every day?
Yes, through the Shortcuts app. An app can't change your wallpaper by itself, but a daily Shortcuts automation can generate a fresh image and set it as your wallpaper, so the count stays current.
Is there a free countdown wallpaper app for iPhone?
Yes. Left Wallpaper is free, including a Special Date mode that counts down to one of your Ahead dates (the free plan includes 2). Today: Year Calendar Wallpaper's Year wallpaper and One Dot's Life and Year modes are also free, per their listings.
Can I put my life in weeks on my Lock Screen?
Yes. Left Wallpaper's Life mode shows your life in years, months or weeks, and DailyHack, Calendarly, LockScreen Calendar Maker and One Dot list life calendar styles too.
Is a wallpaper better than a widget for a countdown?
A wallpaper fills the whole Lock Screen and leaves widget slots free; a widget keeps itself up to date without a Shortcuts automation. Left offers both, so you can use the wallpaper for the year and a widget for a specific date.
Start noticing what matters.
Download Left on your iPhone to see the time you have left, dates you are looking forward to, build the habits you want to keep, and become a better version of yourself.
Scan or search "Left" on the App Store.