How to do the viral planet lock screen trend on TikTok

Georgina Smith
Planet next to the TikTok logo

A new viral trend on TikTok has got users turning their favorite pictures of friends and family into ‘planets’ to use as their phone wallpaper with a fun editing trick.

As more users continue to join short-form video platform TikTok every day, people are getting more creative with the ways they use editing software to make their videos stand out from the rest.

This has also led to plenty of people finding new image editing hacks that they go on to share with their followers across the world, such as the beer poster trend and the wildly popular viral editing hack using the iPhone’s built-in options.

The latest trend involves users turning images of their friends, family, and even favorite characters, into ‘planets’ that they are then able to use as their lock screens.

Click here if TikTok doesn’t load

People have been garnering million of views and likes for their videos showing off their finished products, and have inspired thousands to attempt it themselves.

Click here if TikTok doesn’t load

Here’s how to try it for yourself.

How to do TikTok’s planet phone wallpaper trend

To participate in this trend, you will first need to download the third-party app PicsArt (although other editing apps offer similar functions.)

Once downloaded, do as follows:

  1. Launch PicsArt.
  2. Click the plus icon, and select the picture you want to use.
  3. Tap ‘Tools‘ then select ‘Stretch.’
  4. Click ‘Swirl CCW.’
  5. Tap and hold the image while moving your finger around to distort the image.
  6. Go back to ‘Tools‘ and click ‘Shape Crop.’ Select the circle, and adjust its size and position to your liking.
  7. Reduce the border size to 0 using the slider, then press ‘Save.’
  8. Go to the ‘Stickers‘ tab at the bottom, and search ‘crescent moon.’ Select the one that looks as though it’s glowing.
  9. Adjust the size of the moon sticker so the inside line matches up with the outside of your circle. Click ‘Apply.’
  10. Go back to ‘Tools,’ select ‘shape crop,’ and make another circle that lines up with your original circle.
  11. Reduce the border to 0 again, then save the image to your camera roll.
  12. Find an image online of a dark background to put your planet over, and save it to your camera roll. Then, open that image in PicsArt.
  13. Scroll across the bottom list of icons to ‘add photo,’ and insert the image of the planet you just made.
  14. Adjust the planet’s location to your liking, then save the final image to your camera roll.

Although there are a fair few steps involved, the process of making your own planet wallpaper isn’t overly complicated, and can yield some great results. Many are going insanely viral with their creative takes on this fun editing trick.

About The Author

Georgina was formerly an entertainment writer for Dexerto. She covered all aspects of influencer culture on TikTok and more, including creators such as Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae. She also wrote about hit reality shows such as Love Island and Below Deck.