Transparent Photo Widget on iPhone: Your Fave, No Background
Remove the background from your fave's photo and float them on your iPhone wallpaper. How transparent widgets work, setup in BiasBoard, and alignment fixes.
Photo widgets always end up looking like a grid of square pictures. What if only your fave showed up, standing right on top of your wallpaper?
With the Transparent Wallpaper feature in the BiasBoard photo widget app, you can remove a photo's background and place your fave directly over your wallpaper. This guide explains how it works, how to set it up, and what to check when things don't line up.
How it works: the widget uses the same piece of your wallpaper
iPhone widgets can't actually be transparent. So BiasBoard takes a screenshot of your Home Screen, cuts out the part of the wallpaper where the widget will sit, and uses it as the widget's background. Because the pattern lines up with the wallpaper around it, the widget looks see-through.
On top of that goes a photo of your fave with the background removed. Background removal runs on your iPhone, and your photos are never uploaded. Put the two together and you get your fave on the Home Screen without a square frame.
What you need
Setup takes about five minutes. Before you start, make sure you have these four things.
- BiasBoard Premium (one-time purchase): Transparent Wallpaper and background removal are Premium features
- An iPhone on iOS 17 or later: background removal requires iOS 17+
- A photo of your fave: photos with a little space above the head, where the hair and shoulders are not cut off by the edge, look best
- A screenshot of a Home Screen page with no icons (you will take it in step 2)
Step 1: Remove the background from your fave's photo
Create an album in BiasBoard and add photos of your fave. You can also use an album you already have.
- 1Open the album and long-press the photo you want to cut out
- 2Tap Remove Background in the menu
- 3A new photo with only the person is added to the end of the album (the original stays as it is)
- 4If the display mode is Fixed, tap the circle at the top left of the new photo to choose it for the widget
Step 2: Take a screenshot of a Home Screen page with no icons
You need a screenshot that shows only your wallpaper. Touch and hold an empty spot on the Home Screen until the icons jiggle, then swipe all the way to the right. An empty page with no icons appears. Take a screenshot there.
Take it on the Home Screen, not the Lock Screen. Even with the same wallpaper, the Lock Screen can be blurred or positioned differently, which makes the widget background look off.
Step 3: Choose Wallpaper in Transparent Background
Go back to the album from step 1 and tap **Transparent Background**.
- 1Select Wallpaper in the switch at the top
- 2Tap Set Wallpaper
Step 4: Pick the screenshot and the widget position
The Wallpaper Cutout screen opens. Choose three things from top to bottom.
- 1Tap Select Screenshot and choose the screenshot from step 2
- 2Choose the widget size (Small, Medium or Large)
- 3Tap the spot where the widget will go, check the preview, and tap Apply
Step 5: Place the widget in the same spot on your Home Screen
Touch and hold an empty spot on the Home Screen, tap Edit → Add Widget, choose BiasBoard, and add a widget of the same size you picked in step 4. Put it in the same spot you tapped.
Finally, touch and hold the widget, tap Edit Widget, and choose the album from step 1. The widget background now blends into your wallpaper, and only your fave shows.
If it doesn't line up
If the widget background doesn't match the wallpaper around it, check the following.
- Position and size: make sure the widget on your Home Screen matches the position and size you picked in step 4. Even one slot off breaks the pattern
- New wallpaper: take a new screenshot and choose it again from Change Wallpaper
- Icon and widget appearance: if your Home Screen is customized to Tinted or Clear, iOS recolors widgets and they no longer blend in
- Can't remove the background: background removal isn't available on iOS 16 or earlier, and photos where the person isn't clearly visible may not cut out well
Transparent Wallpaper comes with Premium (one-time purchase)
Transparent Wallpaper and background removal are part of BiasBoard Premium. Premium is a one-time purchase, with no subscription.
Premium also unlocks unlimited widgets, photo switching (tap to switch or change daily), any border color, and removes ads. On the free plan you can still put a photo in one widget and try the app.
Summary
Transparent Wallpaper places the matching piece of your wallpaper behind the widget and puts your fave, with the background removed, on top. Remove the background, take a screenshot of an empty Home Screen page, and place the widget in the same spot. That's all it takes to make your fave look like they're standing on your wallpaper.
For the basics of putting your bias on the Home Screen, and for tips on photographing photocards, see the related guides below.
BiasBoard
Display your bias photos
on your iPhone home screen.
Just pick a photo. Set up idol, K-pop, and fan photos as home screen widgets in seconds. No sign-in required. Free download.