13 Cartoon Fall Phone Wallpaper Ideas Autumn

Fall starts on the evening of September 22 in the US Eastern time zone, and your phone screen can join in. Cartoon wallpapers are a fun way to do it. They use flat colors, round shapes, and clean outlines, so your icons stay easy to read. This list has 13 cartoon fall ideas, from pumpkin patches to sleepy hedgehogs. Every idea is drawn in a cartoon style, and each one comes with a note on where it looks best. You will also find quick steps for iPhone and Pixel, plus a look at whether dark art saves battery.

Quick Answer

The best cartoon fall phone wallpaper ideas are a pumpkin patch, a squirrel with acorns, a fox in a leafy forest, and a cottage with a glowing window. Pick simple art with calm space at the top for the clock. Save the image to your photos, then set it from your wallpaper settings.

Key Fact	Answer
Art style	Cartoon
Number of ideas	13
Fall starts (US Eastern)	Sept 22
Android steps	Varies by brand
Battery savings	OLED screens only
Depth Effect with widgets	Not allowed

1. Cartoon Pumpkin Patch

Picture a rolling orange field dotted with round, smiling pumpkins under a soft yellow sky. Cartoon pumpkins are simple shapes, so they read well even when they are small. Keep the tallest vines near the bottom so the top stays clear for the clock. Deep orange, sage green, and cream make a calm mix. This is the classic first pick for fall, and it suits both the lock screen and the home screen because the wide sky gives your icons room.

2. Squirrel With a Pile of Acorns

A cartoon squirrel with a big fluffy tail hugs a heap of acorns. According to Our Happy Corner, a cheerful squirrel gathering acorns against colorful leaves is a favorite fall phone design. The character is the star here, so place it low on the screen. Brown fur, red leaves, and a pale tan background keep the mood soft. Try it on the lock screen, where the busy little squirrel matches the way you check the time in a rush.

3. Fox in an Autumn Forest

A small orange fox sits between round-topped trees drawn in red, gold, and brown. Illustrated foxes show up again and again in fall wallpaper collections, and they are easy to draw as a cartoon: pointed ears, a white tail tip, and big eyes. Choose a version where the fox sits in the lower third. Leave the treetops light and hazy so app labels stay readable. This one belongs on the home screen.

4. Cozy Cottage in the Woods

Draw a tiny cottage with one glowing yellow window under a roof of orange leaves. Smoke curls from the chimney. A woods cottage is one of the illustrated favorites in Margaret Bourne’s fall wallpaper list. In cartoon form the house stays small, which leaves the rest of the screen open. Warm window light against a dusky purple sky adds contrast without noise. It looks best on the lock screen at night.

5. Sweater Weather Coffee Cup

Start with a big cartoon mug wrapped in steam swirls and resting on a knit blanket. Add a cinnamon stick and one rust-colored leaf. Sweater weather art with a hot drink and knit texture is a common fall phone look, as Our Happy Corner notes. Keep the mug centered low and let the steam fade out before it reaches the top. Cream, caramel, and rust colors work well. Either screen is fine.

6. Falling Maple Leaves Pattern

Cartoon maple leaves in red, orange, and mustard drift across a cream background. Small repeating shapes give the pattern no single center, so nothing fights your icons. Space the leaves wide apart. Tiny dots between them add a hand-drawn touch. If your home screen is packed with apps, this is the safest choice on the list. Pair it with the pumpkin patch on the lock screen and you get a matched set that still feels fresh.

7. Friendly Scarecrow in a Cornfield

A smiling scarecrow in a patched hat stands among golden corn stalks. A few round crows sit on the fence, and they look silly, not scary. Keep the scarecrow to one side so it does not hide behind the app grid. Harvest gold and a soft blue sky make the scene bright without being loud. Pick this for a home screen that needs a smile. Kids and grown-ups both tend to enjoy the goofy face.

8. Harvest Moon Over Cartoon Hills

A big round moon glows behind soft hills, with a few tiny birds crossing the sky. The Almanac says the full moon closest to the autumn equinox is called the Harvest Moon, so this idea follows the season’s own calendar. Navy and deep orange keep the sky dark. Dark art also helps a little on OLED screens, which you can read about below. Use it as a night-time lock screen.

9. Apple Picking Orchard

Rows of round apple trees hold red fruit, and a wooden ladder leans on one trunk. A basket waits in the grass. Harvest and apple picking is one of the themes in Bourne’s list, and it works well as a cartoon. The tree rows make clean horizontal bands, which gives your icons tidy places to sit. Red, leaf green, and warm brown are the main colors.

10. Hedgehog in a Leaf Pile

A round hedgehog peeks out of a heap of leaves, with a few stuck to its back. Big eyes and a tiny nose make it very cute. Woodland creatures are all over fall wallpaper lists, and a hedgehog is one of the easiest to draw in cartoon style. Use tan, rust, and moss green. The small character works on both screens if the leaf pile sits at the bottom. It is a gentle pick for anyone who likes soft, sweet art over bold scenes.

11. Rainy Day Umbrella and Boots

A red umbrella and yellow rain boots stand beside a puddle full of floating leaves. Gray-blue clouds sit high in the sky. Gloomy, rainy days are part of the fall mood, and Bourne’s list includes rainy scenes for that reason. The bright red and yellow pop against the gray. Save this one for the days when the sky matches the screen.

12. Sleepy Owl on a Branch

A chubby owl with half-closed eyes rests on a branch with a few gold leaves. Tiny stars dot a purple-navy sky. Owls are simple in cartoon form. Two circles make the eyes, and a heart shape makes the face. The dark background suits the lock screen. It also pairs well with a white or cream clock font, which stands out against the dark sky. On an iPhone you can change the clock font by tapping the time while you customize the Lock Screen.

13. Cute Ghost With a Pumpkin

A small smiling ghost holds a glowing jack-o’-lantern in a leafy yard. Halloween belongs to fall, and the cute side of spooky is popular. Style Your Occasion points out that you do not have to pick just one wallpaper, and you can change it around the holidays. Make this your October swap. Bright orange on plum purple gives it a playful pop.

Which Cartoon Fall Wallpaper Leaves the Most Room for Icons?

The pumpkin patch, woods cottage, maple leaf pattern, harvest moon, and sleepy owl leave the most room. Their main art sits low or spreads out evenly, so the top stays calm. The rainy boots and the ghost carry big, bold shapes, so check them behind your app grid before you commit.

Idea	Main Colors	Icon Space
1. Pumpkin patch	Orange, sage, cream	Plenty
2. Squirrel and acorns	Brown, red, tan	Some
3. Fox in the forest	Orange, gold, brown	Some
4. Woods cottage	Yellow, orange, purple	Plenty
5. Coffee cup	Cream, caramel, rust	Some
6. Maple leaf pattern	Red, orange, mustard	Plenty
7. Scarecrow	Gold, blue, brown	Some
8. Harvest moon	Navy, deep orange	Plenty
9. Apple orchard	Red, green, brown	Some
10. Hedgehog	Tan, rust, moss	Some
11. Rainy day boots	Gray-blue, red, yellow	Little
12. Sleepy owl	Purple, navy, gold	Plenty
13. Ghost and pumpkin	Orange, plum	Little

How Do You Set a Cartoon Fall Wallpaper on Your Phone?

Save the image to your photos, then open your wallpaper settings and choose it. On an iPhone, Apple Support says the Settings app path is Wallpaper, then Add New Wallpaper, and lock screen customizing works on iOS 16 and later. Here are the steps.

1. Save the cartoon wallpaper to your Photos app.
2. Open Settings and tap Wallpaper.
3. Tap Add New Wallpaper, then tap Photos.
4. Pick your image, then pinch and drag to crop it.
5. Tap Add, then tap Set as Wallpaper Pair.
6. Tap Customize Home Screen if you want a different Home Screen wallpaper.

Pixel phones work a little differently. According to Google, you touch and hold an empty space on the home screen, tap Wallpapers and style, then tap More wallpapers and Change wallpaper. You can pick the lock screen or home screen on its own, so a cartoon owl can sit on one and a maple leaf pattern on the other. Other Android brands use different menu names, so look for a Wallpaper option in Settings.

Do Dark Cartoon Fall Wallpapers Save Battery?

Only on OLED screens, and the savings are small. How-To Geek explains that a black pixel on an OLED or AMOLED display simply does not light up, so the screen makes less light. It also notes that many iPhones since the iPhone X in 2017 use OLED, and so do most mid-range and high-end Android phones, including Samsung Galaxy models.

On an LCD screen, a backlight stays on behind every pixel, so a dark wallpaper saves almost nothing. If your phone is OLED, night scenes like the harvest moon, the owl, and the cottage give the best chance of a small gain. Pick the art you love first. Battery is a bonus, not the main reason.

Can You Rotate Several Cartoon Fall Wallpapers?

Yes, on an iPhone you can. Apple Support says Photo Shuffle rotates a set of photos, and you can set it to change On Tap, On Lock, Hourly, or Daily. Save five or six of these cartoons in one album and your screen changes with your mood. One catch: Apple notes that Depth Effect, the layered look that tucks the clock behind a subject, cannot be used on wallpapers that have widgets.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does fall start in 2026?

Fall starts on the evening of September 22 in the US Eastern time zone. The Almanac lists the equinox at 8:04 p.m. EDT, which is 00:05 UTC on September 23.

Can I use a different wallpaper on my lock screen and home screen?

Yes, you can on both iPhone and Pixel. On an iPhone, tap Customize Home Screen after you set the pair, and on a Pixel you choose lock screen or home screen when you set the image.

Do cartoon wallpapers use more battery than photos?

No, a cartoon wallpaper does not use extra battery by itself. On an OLED phone, darker art draws a little less power than bright art, and on an LCD phone the difference is close to nothing.

When do leaves start changing color?

Across the US, leaves are expected to start changing from late September through mid-October. That makes the first weeks of fall a good time to swap in a leafy cartoon wallpaper.

References

1. Apple Support, “Change your iPhone wallpaper” (2026)
2. Google Pixel Phone Help, “Change wallpaper on your Pixel phone” (2026)
3. Almanac.com, “When is the First Day of Fall? Autumnal Equinox 2026” (2026)
4. EarthSky, “2026 September equinox: All you need to know” (2026)
5. Tempo.co, “Fall Equinox 2026: When Is the First Day of Autumn?” (2026)
6. How-To Geek, “Does a Plain Black Background Wallpaper Really Save Battery?” (2023)
7. Margaret Bourne, “60+ Beautiful Fall Wallpapers For IPhones: Autumn Aesthetic” (2024)
8. Our Happy Corner, “Free Fall Wallpapers To Transform Your Phone This Autumn” (2025)
9. Style Your Occasion, “24+ Cozy Aesthetic Fall Wallpaper Backgrounds” (2026)