Your iPhone as a photo frame while it charges

Put an iPhone sideways on a charger and iOS switches to StandBy: a full-screen view meant for a nightstand or a desk. Live Frame's photo card shows up there too — which makes the phone a digital photo frame for the hours it would otherwise sit dark.

Setup

1. Settings → StandBy → turn it on (iOS 17 or later; on by default on most iPhones).
2. Start a Live Frame session, or let a scheduled window begin.
3. Connect the iPhone to power and lay it on its side. StandBy appears; the Live Frame card takes the Live Activity slot.

On iPhones with an always-on display (14 Pro and later) StandBy stays visible; on other models it wakes on tap or nudge.

What it's good for

An evening on the sofa with the phone on the side table. A desk during the workday. A kitchen counter while cooking. Anywhere the phone already lies flat and charging, the album you chose runs through the evening — and ends with the session, so the screen goes dark when you go to sleep if you set the window that way.

Old iPhone as a dedicated frame?

It works, with one caveat: a Live Activity session is limited to eight hours, so a spare iPhone in a stand will not run around the clock. With fourteen scheduled windows a week you can cover every day's evening, and the Home Screen widget fills the gaps.

Questions