How to fix Safari search bar gradient haze on iPhone 17?

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Level 1

38 points

How to fix Safari search bar gradient haze on iPhone 17?

With the new iOS 26.1, my wife's phone is having an issue when she goes into a search bar on a web page in safari, where the screen above the keyboard has a gradient haze/faded effect kind of blurring the whole page and area she's trying to search. This also happens when pulling open a drop down menu.

I've tried toggling the Liquid Glass options. Have checked accessibility options. Have looked for anything that could be of help/issue in the display settings.

Granted, she uses the "Display Zoom Larger Text" Display. Admittedly, toggling this off, does eliminate the issue in question. However, that kind of defeats the whole purpose for her needing the larger text display.

This was never an issue on previous iOS builds, or on previous iPhones.

Is there another fix? I'm attaching a screenshot of the issue in question. This does not happen in the Amazon App, for those about ask or suggest. She does need to access similar search bars and drop down menus on her phone for her work needs, from Safari on her iPhone 17.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Safari search bar

iPhone 17

Posted on Nov 15, 2025 12:22 PM

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Answer 1

Mac Jim ID

Level 9

59,270 points

Nov 16, 2025 12:21 AM in response to ACuculich

ACuculich wrote:

So, I did this. And, yes, it did fix the fading screen issue, ONLY when I toggled the option to Top. Thank you for that advice.

However, the downside is, now Compact is no longer an available option to toggle back to.

I have not seen where you were not able to change back to Compact and that does seem odd. Is it only when you are on that website where the option is not available?

In either case, I would consider that to be a bug along with the blur when not using the Top option in certain scenarios. I would suggest sending Feedback to Apple where one of the options for Feedback Type is a Bug Report.

Feedback - Safari - Apple

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Answer 2

Mac Jim ID

Level 9

59,270 points

Nov 15, 2025 1:01 PM in response to ACuculich

Try going to Settings > Apps > Safari > Tabs, and changing to another option then what you have chosen for Compact, Top, or Bottom. It may be related to the way the website displays the larger text size, but changing that may also help too.

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Answer 3

Nov 23, 2025 7:51 PM in response to ACuculich

Same issue. Most likely a bug

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Answer 4

ACuculich Author

Level 1

38 points

Nov 15, 2025 11:09 PM in response to Mac Jim ID

So, I did this. And, yes, it did fix the fading screen issue, ONLY when I toggled the option to Top. Thank you for that advice.

However, the downside is, now Compact is no longer an available option to toggle back to. Is this a known issue? Or change in the whole system? Admittedly, while my wife is happy that she can see the screen when she's having to use a search bar or drop down menu or anything in Safari on her iPhone 17; she's kind of bummed that now the whole user experience has changed with the website information and all that back up at the top of her screen.

Kind of seems like with one bandaid, another issue pops up...

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Answer 5

ACuculich Author

Level 1

38 points

Nov 16, 2025 1:14 AM in response to Mac Jim ID

Yeah, it’s very odd. It’s in the settings—apps-safari settings where it doesn’t allow you to toggle Compact tabs on again. Even after power cycle and reset. Not for just the one webpage.

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Answer 6

Mac Jim ID

Level 9

59,270 points

Nov 16, 2025 7:21 AM in response to ACuculich

When you say you tried a power cycle and reset, did that include the Force Restart?

Press and quickly release Volume up
Press and quickly release Volume down
Press and HOLD side button until the Apple logo appears. This may take up to 15 seconds while holding the side button until you see the Apple logo. Ignore anything else on the screen while holding the button. If you do not see the Apple logo, then try again as it may take a couple of attempts to get the speed and sequence of the key presses correct.

I have tried to reproduce where the tabs will not go back to Compact and I can't seem to make it happen. I even tried on the Amazon website with a larger text size.

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Answer 7

ACuculich Author

Level 1

38 points

Nov 16, 2025 8:28 PM in response to Mac Jim ID

Yes, both just power cycling, as well as trying the force restart.

The issue that I started this thread for, was not exclusive to Amazon. Usually, we will just use the Amazon app. My wife has a couple of websites that she and her team use for work, that are private that I could not use as the example. Google is a white background to begin with. I just used Amazon as the page to screenshot for submitting an example. (this is regarding the original fading of the screen when using the search bar on the webpage, or a drop down menu, or options to select from, to where you can't really see what you're looking at on the screen in said input boxes, when using the Display Zoom/Larger Text option in displays)

As for the Compact tab not being available to toggle back, this is not an option for when you are in safari and looking to toggle it back on. This was following the instructions to go to the Settings App, to Apps, to Safari, then to toggle between Compact, Top and Bottom tabs. Bottom tabs selected does also replicate the faded out/haze filtered screen above the pop-up-keyboard (as seen in photos). The Top Tabs option toggled on did eliminate the situation, making it "normal" for use as especially my wife needs. But, I didn't know (and a general google search with reddit threads, and articles seemingly pointing to this maybe not being a glitch, but an actual permanent move on Apple's part. I'm not sure if that's supposed to be for the Macs, and not iPhones. It's odd that you can see the option to select Compact; but it's almost greyed out and doesn't allow for her phone to revert back to the Compact option.

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