iOS 26.3 ― Bug Fixes, Changes, and Improvements

[TheCart]

Can you guys see items under Settings-Storage-Messages-Photos/Other?
For me it is empty even though there are photos shared and Messages sections shows correct storage taken.

 

[Artemiz]

Hi, Thanks for replying. Greatly appreciated. I tried that, I even tried the edit option in the top left corner when you hold down on the screen, when I do that it show my previously used screen background colors and when I select it, my previous screen shows up for 1 to 2 seconds then automatically changes to a black background. I want my Motorola Startac back

That’s weird. I’ve had that blank wallpaper bug after a software update on my 13P for a while now. It was resolved in one of the earlier builds but came back in the next one. Switching to another lockscreen/homescreen wallpaper combo and switching it back fixes it for me.

 

[MOM20xx]

Without a SIM pun, if someone steals your phone, they can put the SIM in another phone and use it, including receiving those idiotic 2FA codes that Apple and others consider to be "improved security".

Yes but that will only work if the thief knows apple account name or other account names that have configured this mobile number in the account for 2fa.

how will you bypass device passcode from the stolen iphone to get apple account info? Yes you can maybe reset the iphone but i think you will not see the full apple account in the remove activation lock dialog.

 

[Trader05]

I bit the bullet and upgraded my 15 Pro from 18.7.2 to 26.3. So far its running smooth. I'm giving it a couple days to judge on the battery life but overall, its ok. Not a huge fan of the liquid glass design but it is what it is.

 

[TigerNike23]

Why do people say "26 is fine for me!" and then others say "this is awful it crashes etc etc etc".

The truth has gotta be somewhere in the middle, right? I can't speak from experience because my iPhone can't run 26.

 

[AdamInKent]

Yes but that will only work if the thief knows apple account name or other account names that have configured this mobile number in the account for 2fa.

how will you bypass device passcode from the stolen iphone to get apple account info? Yes you can maybe reset the iphone but i think you will not see the full apple account in the remove activation lock dialog.

Just as importantly, they would be able to use your unlocked SIM in their phone to make calls on your mobile phone account, including to premium rate and international numbers unless you have blocked them.

 

[GP-SE]

On the iPhone SE 3 the modem firmware was updated from 5.20.02 to 5.40.01. Straight away I had issues with mobile data connectivity. Shows signal but intermittently no data, in locations where no issue previously. Cycling 5G/4G sometimes fixes it at the time.

Anyone else experiencing this?

You could try resetting network settings to see if that resolves the issue.

 

[TimAppleObamna]

Been using it on 13, 13 pro, 14 (not pro), 16 and 16 pro and they all run fine. Expect the same old initial battery drain when updating but it will settle for a few days.
i'm impressed that its running so well on the 13 that only has 4gb of RAM.

The 13, 13 pro and 14 I have tested it on are all pretty clean phones, its testdevices that only has a handfull of apps and data installed. Might be a different experience when storage is filled up, on cellular and loads of apps running in the background. Have a mate that updated his 13 to 26.3, fairly heavy user, especially on socmed, and he seem pleased with the update.

I have a iPhone 13 on 26.3 and everything is okay, EXCEPT for RAM management. Apps are sometimes closing just after a few seconds of switching out and generally the phone sometimes just hangs if you have a lot going on simultaneously.
Other than that, the chip is still powerful enough and apps are launched quickly. Let‘s see if further updates make it at least a little bit more efficient at RAM usage again.
I miss 18.7

 

[TheIntruder]

Is Ventura supported by iOS 26?

iPhone 17s have official support dating back to Mojave and iTunes 12.9. And I can say from experience, it works!

Just have to make sure the Mobile Device support framework is up to date, and there should be a prompt to install, if it isn't.

iOS 26 continues to get worse for me, just updated to 26.3 and my home and Lock Screen background colors are now black and I cannot get the set colors I had previously to return.....I am getting VERY exhausted with Apple chasing their tail with bad updates, VERY VERY exhausted!

Turn off Reduce Transparency, and it should display properly. I didn't see this appear until 26.3, and it doesn't seem to affect photos used as wallpapers. Nice tradeoff, eh? Legibility or having your chosen wallpaper color.

Apple keeps making UX decisions that put them deeper and deeper into a hole -- introduce an unpopular feature, then when they actually take user feedback into account and backtrack, their solution is to add yet another preference setting to the mix.

I can't imagine how many permutations there are in the Settings app now, for display elements alone. They clearly can't, and don't, test for all those scenarios.

I'm not a dev, but have been around enough to know that user questions like "why can't you just add a pref?" is not a prudent way to go about addressing issues, or dislikes.

But, Apple keeps on digging that hole, and tossing dirt on itself in this respect.

 

[kenta_]

I had files 2 bugs since launch of iOS 26, and every update since. Still not fixed. One is slow icon redraw on springboard, other is photo search crasher. Both 100% reproducible. Guess new emojis are more important.

 

[suxov]

I bit the bullet and upgraded my 15 Pro from 18.7.2 to 26.3. So far its running smooth. I'm giving it a couple days to judge on the battery life but overall, its ok. Not a huge fan of the liquid glass design but it is what it is.

What is the battery life?

 

[bogdanw]

Yes but that will only work if the thief knows apple account name or other account names that have configured this mobile number in the account for 2fa.

how will you bypass device passcode from the stolen iphone to get apple account info? Yes you can maybe reset the iphone but i think you will not see the full apple account in the remove activation lock dialog.

Apple "Recover Your Apple Account"
"Enter your email address or phone number that you use with your account to continue."
https://iforgot.apple.com/password/verify/appleid
"What is a trusted phone number?"
https://support.apple.com/en-us/122621

 

[MOM20xx]

Apple "Recover Your Apple Account"
"Enter your email address or phone number that you use with your account to continue."
https://iforgot.apple.com/password/verify/appleid
"What is a trusted phone number?"
https://support.apple.com/en-us/122621

Ok i forgot that Apple includes the phone number also as Loginname and not only the e-mail. So time to switch to e-sim

 

[MOM20xx]

Just as importantly, they would be able to use your unlocked SIM in their phone to make calls on your mobile phone account, including to premium rate and international numbers unless you have blocked them.

They are already blocked on provider side. But an issue will be Apple Account Recovery as the phone number nowadays is also an apple account name additional to the e-mail address. so i will enable SIM Pin again or switch to e-sim

 

[rotvaldi]

Already passed 3 days. It’s draining my battery still

 

[JoeSilver]

Why do people say "26 is fine for me!" and then others say "this is awful it crashes etc etc etc".

The truth has gotta be somewhere in the middle, right?

26 is fine, for me. It's not awful, it doesn't crash etc etc etc, for me.
It's not half fine and half awful.

So your question doesn't make much sense.

 

[Trader05]

What is the battery life?

So far similar battery life from 18. I'll know more end of day tomorrow as a full work day.

 

[bogdanw]

Keyboard on iPhone 1/iPhone OS 3.1.3 (2010) vs keyboard on iPhone SE 2 / iOS 26.3 (2026)

 

[Chomp81]

With 26.3, my wallpapers started appearing upside down

I have a folder with my favourite photos, and every 15 minutes it changes the wallpaper. I had this for the past 10 years, and in 26.3, some of the photos started to appear upside down.

Anyone else is having this issue?

 

[dk001]

New one….
Turned off the switch that limits Safari to 60hz and am encountering failed touch responses in Safari.
Turn the limit back on, hard reboot and all is fine.

Did not have this issue during the betas.

 

[thomm]

15PM how do I see the problem please?

In the photos app, tap the ‘Collections’ tab in the bottom left corner, Then tap the ‘…’ icon in the top right corner, select ‘Reorder’.
Proceed to not be able to reorder anything(weirdly, it worked for me one time, and then never again). Also watch as the ‘…’ button jankily merges into the checkmark button.

 

[JoeSilver]

In the photos app, tap the ‘Collections’ tab in the bottom left corner, Then tap the ‘…’ icon in the top right corner, select ‘Reorder’.
Proceed to not be able to reorder anything

I can’t drag a collection from the 3 lines on the right, but it works when dragging the bar from the text.

weirdly, it worked for me one time, and then never again). Also watch as the ‘…’ button jankily merges into the checkmark button.

What’s the problem with that.

 

[Faerlina]

I can’t drag a collection from the 3 lines on the right, but it works when dragging the bar from the text.

Yes, here it is the same. 👍


After resetting my iPhone and setting it up as new without restoring a backup, everything is running much smoother now.

• There’s no more stuttering at all.
• The bug where the screen would lock after half the set time is gone as well — or rather, it only happens now when I’m on the homescreen. As soon as I open any app, the configured time is accurate again.
• The akku is much more better now!!
• My screen used to dim itself (since 26.3) when I opened the Facebook app — that’s gone now as well.

So if you’re experiencing too many bugs or your phone isn’t running smoothly anymore, you might want to consider setting it up as new without restoring a backup. 😬 Even though it took me several hours to do everything again, it was definitely worth it.

 

[Winterpark]

iPhone 17s have official support dating back to Mojave and iTunes 12.9. And I can say from experience, it works!

Just have to make sure the Mobile Device support framework is up to date, and there should be a prompt to install, if it isn't.



Turn off Reduce Transparency, and it should display properly. I didn't see this appear until 26.3, and it doesn't seem to affect photos used as wallpapers. Nice tradeoff, eh? Legibility or having your chosen wallpaper color.

Apple keeps making UX decisions that put them deeper and deeper into a hole -- introduce an unpopular feature, then when they actually take user feedback into account and backtrack, their solution is to add yet another preference setting to the mix.

I can't imagine how many permutations there are in the Settings app now, for display elements alone. They clearly can't, and don't, test for all those scenarios.

I'm not a dev, but have been around enough to know that user questions like "why can't you just add a pref?" is not a prudent way to go about addressing issues, or dislikes.

But, Apple keeps on digging that hole, and tossing dirt on itself in this respect.

Thanks for your reply, and I totally agree with you. I've used a Mac (intosh) since the 80's and will continue to use MacBook Pros, but I am very close to giving up on the iPhone and giving one of the flagship Androids a try. Also, I did turn off Reduce Transparency and my old Home Screen wallpaper came back, but I hate the look of Reduce Transparency setting, so now it looks like I'm stuck with solid black wallpaper that Tim Cook has crammed down my throat....Thanks Tim!!! you idiot!!

 

[James6s]

Well it’s been pretty much a week since the release of 26.3 and using it on my iPhone 17, coming from 26.2.1.

Overall this has been the best version of iOS 26 since its debut in September 2025. It’s taken them some time to get this to a decent level!

Performance overall is superb with a noticeable improvement in device speed and smoothness. (higher benchmark numbers) It’s lighting fast and how i’d expect a device to operate with the A19, it can keep up with how fast I want things to happen and get things done.

Smoothness and fluidity across the board is excellent. No stutters, lag, flickers, glitches etc, which is very nice to finally see.

Battery life has seen a small increase which is also welcome.

It’s not all perfect as twice now since updating, the photos app has randomly closed itself while I’ve been editing photos.

Overall very happy and the iPhone 17 has been a pleasure to use on this update, much better than 26.2 & 26.2.1.