Level 1

23 points

Unable to change Contacts background color on iPhone 16 after iOS 26 update

What steps? All my Contacts records suddenly showed up with a light purple background.

And there is no global setting that allows the user to change that.

In addition, the font in the Notes field is set to white. There is no way at all to change that color to something more readable on a color background.

Why is it that we can't have a white background and black text for our contact information?

This is an unnecessary complication.

Please fix it.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: iOS 26 Contacts app

iPhone 16, iOS 26

Posted on Sep 18, 2025 2:44 PM

Top-ranking reply

alexpm77

Level 1

44 points

Posted on Sep 24, 2025 10:07 PM

Per 9/24/25: The white font in the Notes field in Contacts set against the current default light lavender background in the first release of iOS 26 does make legibility difficult and extremely frustrating. This appears to be a widespread current complaint among users after upgrading to iOS 26.

I have found that taking the following steps will increase the contrast for all Contacts by darkening the background color from the currently default lavender to a darker purple. The font will uniformly turn white across all fields in Contacts, but the legibility increases noticeably. I'd consider this a workaround until Apple fixes the contrast problem (which never should have been allowed to slip through quality control in the first place):

Settings > Accessibility > Per-App Settings
Add App: Contacts
Reduce Transparency: Select"ON," then select "OFF"; (Leave "OFF")

OK to back out to Settings.

Your Contacts background color should have turned a darker purple and all fields should be populated with a white font. Visibility should be noticeably better than the default pending a fix by Apple.

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30 replies

mo3bear

Level 1

19 points

Oct 14, 2025 4:23 PM in response to donna0m

With the new background colors on my contacts, it is really hard to see as I have vision problems. Is there a way it can be changed back to black letting on the white background? Very confusing and hard for me to read my contacts to read and use. If I want to edit a contact it turns white with black lettering and it makes it readable. The blue/purple background is very frustrating.

Oct 14, 2025 11:06 PM in response to donna0m

I have the same problem and it is a major issue for me. The new ios is a nightmare for me as i have an eye disorder. Accessibility doesn’t help, rather the opposite.

I can’t use my phone outside anymore.

im so disappointed by Apple after. 40 years as a loyal customer.

please consider the real needs of your users.

still with iphone14 promax because it is the most rugged case. I won’t buy iphone17, my family neither.

Oct 15, 2025 6:18 AM in response to Transvideo

Transvideo wrote:

I have the same problem and it is a major issue for me. The new ios is a nightmare for me as i have an eye disorder. Accessibility doesn’t help, rather the opposite.

I can’t use my phone outside anymore.

im so disappointed by Apple after. 40 years as a loyal customer.

please consider the real needs of your users.

still with iphone14 promax because it is the most rugged case. I won’t buy iphone17, my family neither.

You seem to be under the impression anyone here works for or is associated with Apple? Apple isn't here, nor do they read here for user feedback. Use the feedback link I provided above if you want to send your feedback to Apple.

LD150

Level 10

100,095 points

Nov 1, 2025 11:27 AM in response to donna0m

I have had no problem with the white print either on default background or when using the lightest background (ie contact poster & photo) because the wording is on default dark backgrounds. Not sure where you are coming from, but you can choose a dark poster colour.

l certainly have never seen white font on Notes as a default. It is not even an optional color in the Aa setting.

Nov 1, 2025 1:23 PM in response to LD150

LD150 wrote:

I have had no problem with the white print either on default background or when using the lightest background (ie contact poster & photo) because the wording is on default dark backgrounds. Not sure where you are coming from, but you can choose a dark poster colour.

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/2c9b9698-e2a7-4267-a4b6-5a1c93dbb4e7

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/87e39d37-ec3a-42d2-bfe7-f16191eb882d

l certainly have never seen white font on Notes as a default. It is not even an optional color in the Aa setting.

I have no issues at all reading the text on notes or contacts. Some people simply cannot handle change at all.

Nov 17, 2025 7:17 AM in response to donna0m

How can I get out of ios26. I don’t see one thing good. It is complicating everything I do. I see I’m not the only one. I could just scream. Please give me iOS 16 or 18 or whatever I had before this awful awful update.

Nov 17, 2025 7:22 AM in response to jeanfromsrq

jeanfromsrq wrote:

How can I get out of ios26. I don’t see one thing good. It is complicating everything I do. I see I’m not the only one. I could just scream. Please give me iOS 16 or 18 or whatever I had before this awful awful update.

Downgrading has never been supported, so you can't "get out of iOS 26."

Dec 9, 2025 8:17 AM in response to jeanfromsrq

I absolutely agree. I would so like to revert back to the way by iPhone was this is awful. This is for children good for them perhaps but I'm not a child and I don't like it. It's not useful in fact I hate it.

donna0m Author

Level 1

23 points

Sep 18, 2025 3:21 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

I was hoping that, in spite of their lack of participation, they would have some interest in what is said here. Perhaps I'm tilting at windmills.

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

236,291 points

Sep 18, 2025 3:23 PM in response to donna0m

Nope. This is left to we volunteer users. They handle the real support page.

Oct 13, 2025 6:16 AM in response to donna0m

Back to black copy on white background PLEASE!

Oct 14, 2025 6:49 PM in response to buck spiecker

Another issue is copying info that is in white and pasting it anywhere and it is not visible because of the white text color. Hoping an update will fix this by giving users options.