After iOS 26 notifications white text on black

Same problem here. I would like to know who Apple has testing these things prior to release…5 year olds? And it seems Apple, for whatever reason, takes away more consumer choices with each update. I try looking on the bright side but this update has really caused much frustration. 😔

With The most recent update it has turned notifications with a black background and white lettering. This is very difficult to read, and I see no way to reverse it back to black lettering with a lighter background. I see there have been a number of complaints from other people Asking the same question. White lettering is too hard to read. I’m surprised that Apple implemented this systemwide without a way to change it. Please advise how to revert back to black lettering. Thank you.

Same for me as well and I agree that it is very difficult to read the notifications now. I am very disappointed with these visual changes in this iOS 26 update. They should AT LEAST offer more options to turn the Liquid Glass effects off.

Smiles-sometimes wrote:

Sorry Apple, but Liquid Glass is not a great user experience for me.

Apple doesn't read here in this user-to-user forum for feedback or suggestions. You can, however, let them know your thoughts here:

Product Feedback - Apple

Upgraded to the ios 26 and do not like the liquid glass. I especially do not like the dark banner notification on the lock screen. It would be much better to have the option to choose the colors on the text and background on the banners. I prefer to have it the way it was before. Newer is not always better.

I have an iPhone 13 and my notifications on the lock screen are black and no longer white since the update. So frustrating. Family members with newer models still have white notifications. I have been in contact with Apple support and they were, after an hour, not able to help me resolve the issue. I now have an appointment booked in store to see if it can be fixed. Keeping fingers crossed. Apple support have reported the issue to Apple.

The white print in the note section of contacts is very hard to read. I did toggle off both reduce transparency and contrast and now all the text in all contacts is white. I do not think your programmers thought of the senior population at all when coming up with all these new features. I feel like it is harder to see everything now than before.

Nubbins wrote:

I do not think your programmers thought of the senior population at all when coming up with all these new features. I feel like it is harder to see everything now than before.

This is a user-to-user forum. No one here had anything to do with this. And Apple doesn't read here for feedback or suggestions. You can, however, let them know your thoughts here:

Product Feedback - Apple

Nubbins wrote:

I do not think your programmers thought of the senior population at all when coming up with all these new features. I feel like it is harder to see everything now than before.

As a member of the “senior population” I resent your implication that somehow age is a factor in understanding technology and adapting to change.

Any solution here? I waited until yesterday to upgrade an now I regret it because I can’t stand the magnifying glass look on the Home Screen. So, I reduced transparency. But now my notifications are black with white text which also hurts my eyes…

rotorone wrote:

Question... If things change every year then why not just turn this page "Dark Mode" and have white text?

You can adjust the settings on your device to make that happen.

Paper is mostly white and fonts are... wait for it.... Black. Thanks for letting me rant.

Computers are not...wait for it....paper.

I feel the same. The glass version suits young people with good eyesight, but definitely not the older population who have to strain to see or read anything without glasses. The black version also hurts my eyes and looks like an obituary. I'm very disappointed that Apple didn't give us the option to choose the background colour, and in general why to changed something that worked perfectly - the black letters on a white background.

IdrisSeabright wrote:

Laupec wrote:

I feel the same. The glass version suits young people with good eyesight, but definitely not the older population who have to strain to see or read anything without glasses.

Please don't presume to speak for anyone other than yourself. I've been wearing reading glasses for better than twenty years. I'm eligible to collect Social Security. I like the new user interface and have no difficulty using it.

We're both in our 70s here and we both wear glasses and we both love the new Liquid Glass effects. I find it sad when someone uses age as a limiting factor.

lobsterghost1 wrote:

We're both in our 70s here and we both wear glasses and we both love the new Liquid Glass effects. I find it sad when someone uses age as a limiting factor.

I am absolutely certain that there are people out there with vision issues that make Liquid Glass problematic. But it's probably unrelated to age!

IdrisSeabright wrote:

lobsterghost1 wrote:

We're both in our 70s here and we both wear glasses and we both love the new Liquid Glass effects. I find it sad when someone uses age as a limiting factor.

I am absolutely certain that there are people out there with vision issues that make Liquid Glass problematic. But it's probably unrelated to age!

Of course. I have a dear friend who has vision issues and chronic vertigo. She was struggling with Liquid Glass, so I made all the changes I detailed in my user top for her and she's as happy as she can be. If people would stop whining and use the tools available to them, they'd likely find out Liquid Glass can be customized to suit most people out there.