I updated my iPhone 16 Pro Max to iOS 26. I noticed when I looked at my contacts, each contact background is like a purple color. I don't like this as I can't see the contact info; I need more light. I don't even run my computers in dark mode as I can't see that well. I would like all of my contacts to have the white background like it used to be before updating to iOS 26 so I can see the contact info. Any ideas how I can change the background color back to white? Thank you.
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iOS 26 Change Contacts Background Color
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You'll have to customize each individual contact poster to change the background.
Or for something a bit quicker, you can go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size and turn Increase Contrast on (if you haven't already). This is a system-wide setting but you can enable it per-app if you'd prefer.
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@Paddle1 Thank you for the reply. Well, this is rather unfortunate. I wonder if Apple, in their infinite wisdom to make choices for me without thinking or asking, especially for the aging demographic, actually understands whether the user can see the information being displayed on the screen when they need light to see? Any type of mode for those that cannot see as well in the dark is not ideal. I, as well as others I know, need light to be able to see their screens better. Anyway, I digress... Yes, I did some searching before posting and couldn't find anything. Hmmm, with over 500 contacts in my phone, I seriously doubt that I'm going to change the background of each contact individually. Yes, I did some poking around in Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size with no joy. How do I ask Apple to change all of my contacts background back to white with black text/lettering/numbering? Any thoughts on how I can do this would be great. Thank you!
You can submit feedback at this link, whether they will respond to it I'm not sure. https://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone/
Issues with legibility is a common complaint with iOS 26 so hopefully it's something they're working on.
Same issue, which was really bad when I had Reduce Transparency turned on. I don't like the Liquid Glass look generally though, so I left Reduce Transparency on for the system but then went used Per-App Settings under Accessibility, added Contacts and then turned off Reduce Transparency just for that app & now it's better.
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Same issue here.It's annoying. I cant read notes inside any contact bcs of the purple bkground and wording in white. It's ridiculous to change that. You can give the option to people change it but keep the standard with white
bkground and black wording.
bkground and black wording.
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If you think this is bad, the Contacts app in macOS is worse - it hasn't undergone the most basic of testing - and is a total embarrassment.
For example:
- You can't even copy/paste the information from the Contacts app properly anymore - such as their name, let alone the details.
- When you use any of the Menu functions, the screen will flicker all over the place
- When you click "Share Contact" on the "Me" contact and click away to cancel that.. it'll randomly open up Maps to show you your address on a map, if it exists.
Whoever is behind this app needs their employment terminated.
For example:
- You can't even copy/paste the information from the Contacts app properly anymore - such as their name, let alone the details.
- When you use any of the Menu functions, the screen will flicker all over the place
- When you click "Share Contact" on the "Me" contact and click away to cancel that.. it'll randomly open up Maps to show you your address on a map, if it exists.
Whoever is behind this app needs their employment terminated.
Yep same issue and I hate it. I set my phone to dark mode for a reason....
Thank you, 53719o773y! (May I call you 53?) This is not a great solution, but it at least makes the Contacts app usable again.
The only way to clearly read info in Notes is by clicking Edit. Then it pops up the standard view. Therefore, you cannot read yr notes properly witou clicking Edit. It's a shame and I've been an Iphone user since the beginning.
For me the most important app is Phone, I do not use contacts app, but I could put is in Per-App list. Great fix for now... it makes things easier, thanks! LLM's couldn't give me this solution, by the way! Old Google is still king.
Apple is getting worse, I don't understand how to do something like this, without any option for a clean white background with black letters. Stupid thing to do...
I have eye issues and the Contacts app is a problem. It's definitely hard to read with the default background. I am still trying out various background choices to figure out which one would be the clearest. I will modify each contact whenever I find it hard to work with. I'm not going to proactively alter all my contacts.
The problem is that they have a feature that presents a poster behind each contact. It's a fun gimmick, but not being able to turn it off seems insane. I've yet to find a poster that makes things really easy to read. I'll keep playing until I find one.
The problem is that they have a feature that presents a poster behind each contact. It's a fun gimmick, but not being able to turn it off seems insane. I've yet to find a poster that makes things really easy to read. I'll keep playing until I find one.
To my eyes, this is still unacceptable with the change. I've turned off automatic updates and will wait to update when they fix this. It's stunning that this new design got through the vetting process. It's not just the liquid glass that's the problem. The faint, sans serif font is also hard to read. I want an OS that allows me to find things at a glance, instead of having to stop and squint.
Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text is a poor workaround for the purple background color in Contacts because it doesn’t actually fix the issue. I also totally agree that individually customizing each of your contact’s avatar and poster backgrounds from the limited selection of colors will be a most frustrating and time-consuming project. I’ve tried that method myself but gave up, then spoke to 3 different Apple Support personnel and an in-store Representative. None of the nice folks had a clue why or when a fix might be available but all said that in time ‘maybe’ Apple will offer a software update or solution in the future.
By total accident though I’ve discovered a great option so here’s my suggestion.
While you may have ~500 contacts how many do you regularly contact or call? Of those you do, ie; family members, friends, clients, etc. I’ll bet you’ve got photos of them don’t you? So for now here’s a great hack….
Go directly to the Photos app, select your favorite shot of any friend, assign it to that contact as you normally would, pinch to crop the shot, then Save.
Now go to your Contacts app and see what just happened. Not only has the background color changed, but the predominant colors of the photo itself blend from an infinite palette of colors not even available if you tried individually doing so. Best of all, everything’s 100% more legible!
This 1-step method will result in totally amazing backgrounds for each contact you assign their photo to. You’ll probably even enjoy assigning more photos just to see the beautiful results you might not have created yourself.
Apple’s current software which requires 5-10 clunky steps seems so opposite to the seamless designs they’ve historically given us. Somewhere along the way they’ve missed the mark on this one though.
Hopefully you like my tip, but be sure to give Apple your feedback too. Maybe they’re listening.
By total accident though I’ve discovered a great option so here’s my suggestion.
While you may have ~500 contacts how many do you regularly contact or call? Of those you do, ie; family members, friends, clients, etc. I’ll bet you’ve got photos of them don’t you? So for now here’s a great hack….
Go directly to the Photos app, select your favorite shot of any friend, assign it to that contact as you normally would, pinch to crop the shot, then Save.
Now go to your Contacts app and see what just happened. Not only has the background color changed, but the predominant colors of the photo itself blend from an infinite palette of colors not even available if you tried individually doing so. Best of all, everything’s 100% more legible!
This 1-step method will result in totally amazing backgrounds for each contact you assign their photo to. You’ll probably even enjoy assigning more photos just to see the beautiful results you might not have created yourself.
Apple’s current software which requires 5-10 clunky steps seems so opposite to the seamless designs they’ve historically given us. Somewhere along the way they’ve missed the mark on this one though.
Hopefully you like my tip, but be sure to give Apple your feedback too. Maybe they’re listening.