What is My Life Dots?

My Life Dots is a free online wallpaper calendar builder for your iPhone lock screen. Choose a grid style — daily habit tracker, monthly calendar, year progress, or life in weeks — and it generates a custom wallpaper image. It updates automatically every midnight using iOS Shortcuts. No app download, no account, no subscription required.

What is a wallpaper calendar?

A wallpaper calendar is a phone wallpaper that displays a live calendar grid — showing days, weeks, or year progress — directly on your lock screen or home screen. Unlike a widget or an app, a wallpaper calendar is always visible the moment you pick up your phone. My Life Dots creates wallpaper calendars that show your habits, year progress, or entire lifetime as a simple dot grid.

What is a year progress wallpaper?

A year progress wallpaper shows all 365 days of the current year as a dot grid on your iPhone lock screen — completed days fill in, remaining days stay open. My Life Dots generates a year progress wallpaper that updates automatically every midnight via iOS Shortcuts, so every morning you see exactly how far through the year you are without opening any app.

How does a habit tracker wallpaper work?

A habit tracker wallpaper places your daily habit streak directly on your iPhone lock screen as a dot grid. My Life Dots generates this as a wallpaper image — not a widget — so it is visible every single time you pick up your phone without any taps. The wallpaper updates automatically at midnight via iOS Shortcuts to reflect the new day’s progress.

What is “life in weeks” and why does it matter?

The “life in weeks” concept — popularised by Tim Urban of WaitButWhy — visualises your entire lifespan as a grid of small boxes, each representing one week. Most people have around 4,680 weeks in a lifetime. Seeing how many are already filled in, and how many remain, creates a calm but powerful sense of time-awareness. My Life Dots turns this into a live wallpaper that updates every week automatically.

Is My Life Dots free?

Yes. My Life Dots is completely free to use. You can create and download a wallpaper calendar at mylifedots.com with no account required and no subscription. Optional premium themes and styles are available for users who want more customisation options.

Does My Life Dots require an app download?

No. My Life Dots runs entirely in your browser at mylifedots.com — nothing to download from the App Store. You create your wallpaper in the browser, download the image, and set it on your iPhone. The automatic daily update uses iOS Shortcuts, which is pre-installed on every iPhone, so no third-party app is ever needed.

Is My Life Dots a Pretty Progress alternative?

Yes. My Life Dots is a free, browser-based alternative to Pretty Progress and similar habit tracker wallpaper apps. Unlike Pretty Progress, My Life Dots requires no App Store download, is completely free, and combines daily habit tracking with year progress and life-in-weeks views in one wallpaper. It works on any iPhone via iOS Shortcuts with no subscription.

Wallpaper vs widget — which is better for habit tracking?

A wallpaper is better for passive awareness. It is visible every single time you pick up your phone — before you open anything. A widget requires you to actively look at your home screen. For habits you want to stay top-of-mind throughout the day without active effort, a lock screen wallpaper like My Life Dots is more effective. You check your phone 80–150 times a day — your wallpaper gets all of that attention.

How is My Life Dots different from Left or WeeklyDots?

My Life Dots is the only tool that combines all four modes — daily habit tracker, monthly calendar, year progress, and life in weeks — in one free web tool with no app download. WeeklyDots offers life-in-weeks only. Left is a widget app (not a wallpaper) that requires an App Store download. My Life Dots works instantly in any browser, is completely free, and produces a wallpaper rather than a widget.

How do I set up the automatic wallpaper update on iPhone?

After creating your wallpaper on mylifedots.com, open the iOS Shortcuts app, create a Personal Automation triggered at midnight daily, add a “Get Contents of URL” action using your My Life Dots wallpaper URL, then add “Set Wallpaper Photo” set to both Lock Screen and Home Screen. Disable “Ask Before Running” so it runs silently. The entire setup takes about 5 minutes and runs automatically every night forever.

Does My Life Dots work with iOS 26?

Yes. My Life Dots is fully compatible with iOS 26. The wallpaper creator works in Safari on iOS 26, and the iOS Shortcuts automation for automatic midnight updates works with iOS 26’s Shortcuts app without any changes to your existing setup.

Setup guide

How to Set Up Your Wallpaper on Android and iOS

A simple walkthrough for applying your MyLifeDots wallpaper to your phone. Image-based instructions will be added later; this UI is ready for the full setup flow.

Create wallpaper View steps

09:41

Today

LifeDots

Your wallpaper preview will appear here later.

Works on both platforms

Separate steps for iOS and Android keep the flow easy to scan.

Image slots are ready

The layout includes placeholders for screenshots or guide images.

Built for lock screens

The guide emphasizes readability, widgets, and daily visibility.

Step by step

Choose your phone and follow the setup path

These cards are intentionally text-first for now. We can attach platform screenshots or animated previews when the assets are ready.

iPhone and iPad

iOS

Use the saved wallpaper image from Photos, then apply it to your lock screen or home screen.

Step 1
Save the wallpaper
Create your wallpaper in MyLifeDots, then save the generated image to Photos.
Step 2
Open Photos
Find the image, tap the share button, and choose Use as Wallpaper.
Step 3
Set the lock screen
Position the wallpaper, keep perspective settings simple, and tap Add.
Step 4
Choose where it appears
Use it as a wallpaper pair or customize the home screen separately.

Android phones

Android

Set the image from your gallery, wallpaper picker, or the long-press home screen menu.

Step 1
Download the image
Create the wallpaper and save it to your phone downloads or gallery.
Step 2
Open wallpaper settings
Long press your home screen or open Settings, then choose Wallpaper.
Step 3
Pick the saved image
Select the MyLifeDots image from Gallery, Photos, or Downloads.
Step 4
Apply to screens
Set it for lock screen, home screen, or both depending on your phone.

Before you finish

Quick wallpaper tips

Small setup choices make the wallpaper easier to read every time you unlock your phone.

Use the lock screen for habit and year-progress visibility.
Keep widgets minimal so the dot grid stays readable.
Regenerate the wallpaper anytime you change goals or style.

How to Set Up Your Wallpaper on Android and iOS

Setup highlights

Works on both platforms

Image slots are ready

Built for lock screens

Choose your phone and follow the setup path

Save the wallpaper

Open Photos

Set the lock screen

Choose where it appears

Download the image

Open wallpaper settings

Pick the saved image

Apply to screens

Quick wallpaper tips