Animated lock screens are a cute gimmick. Your phone comes loaded with a few default options. But if you want to make your own on Android or iOS, you'll need a third-party app.

The problem with using a picture of your significant other as your phone wallpaper is that it's awkward to ever change it away. Luckily my wife just changed her lock screen from a photo of me to a photo of a baby we like, so I'm changing mine to one of the cool maps offered by Alvar Carto.

Android: If the return to work has you longing for summer days by the ocean, this home screen will get you in the mood.

Every week, we feature customised desktops and home screens submitted by readers that show off beautiful wallpapers and great customisation and UI tweaks. Sometimes they're fun, sometimes they're functional, and sometimes they're both, but 2015 was a great year for all of them. Here's a look at your favourite ones.

Today's design, built for Themer, is a single-page home screen that puts your most important information on one slick-looking page.

Most home screens are simple pages of icons, but rarely venture out to gestures. This design has bright, vivid widgets with a slide-in sidebar on the left side of the screen.

If you like bold, high contrast designs, today's home screen is for you. This design uses a primarily black base (which makes it great for AMOLED displays), accented with stark greens for an attractive display.

It's springtime, so why not put a little colour in your home screen? This design comes with bright, vividly coloured home screens, separated into four different sections.

Despite the wide array of apps you can get on your phone, you probably only use a few. This design puts the few apps you use most on a slick-looking home screen with few distractions.

When it comes to single-page home screens, you want something that looks good and gives you all the information you might need at once. This home screen manages to do both in a slick design.

8-bit designs may have been a technological necessity back in the day, but now they have a nostalgic charm. This 8-bit landscape, by reddit user Esrahaddon, can actually animate a retro city on your home screen when set up properly.

Your home screen is the first thing you see when you open up your phone. You may as well make use of that space. This home screen design places a subtle news feed on a minimal home screen to keep you up to date without being invasive.

It's the middle of winter which means you're probably a little down in the dumps. You know what would feel great, though? Autumn. Autumn rocks. Until we learn to accelerate time or control the weather, this Autumn-inspired home screen will have to do.

No, not that one. This home screen design aims to bring some calm to your hectic home screen. It includes several minimal widgets and a neutral grey-based colour scheme.

Everyone needs a little vitamin C in their diet. You're not going to get any from this home screen of course, but perhaps the heavy use of orange-on-black will help remind you to drink more juice. Or to watch more Netflix original shows. One of the two.

If you enjoy a splash of colour, and also find musical notes aesthetically pleasing, then this home screen design has at least two things that you like.

Android: Geometry is cool. If you're just wild about basic shapes, particularly those with no more or less than three sides, this home screen design called Ofinity has you covered.

Back in the ancient days of yesteryear, calculators were physical devices with buttons. Now they have been replaced by the phone in your pocket. If you miss those days, but still like your phone, this calculator home screen will take you back in time.

Just in case you weren't satisfied with Marvel in every movie theatre, news feed and piece of merchandise on the planet, this design puts classic comics from the superhero behemoth right on your home screen.