iOS 13.3 Smart Invert Broken

Question

Level 1

13 points

iOS 13.3 Smart Invert Broken

With iOS 13, Smart Invert was spotty at best, but it still worked most of the time. With iOS13.3 it is completely broken.

As someone with low vision, I have been using Smart Invert since it was first introduced as my primary setting, only switching back occasionally.

With iOS13, Smart Invert became unstable. Sometimes it would invert, sometimes I'd need to restart the app to get it to invert. Sometimes I'd be using an app and it would just un-invert itself.

Today I "upgraded" to iOS13.3 hoping the fixes to Dark Mode would include Smart Invert fixes, but the problem is way worse now. Apps won't invert no matter how many times I restart them, whether in Dark or Light mode. It is almost like Smart Invert was removed and turning it on just enables Dark Mode, which is NOT the same thing as Dark Mode doesn't invert content of webpages or emails.

I contacted Apple accessibility support and they said Apple is aware of the issue, but they can't be too concerned if they broke it even further with the latest OS.

iPhone XR

Posted on Dec 11, 2019 10:59 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 28, 2020 5:57 PM in response to rpp124

Folks—I just downloaded iOS 13.3.1 and it looks like it’s working again. Still not working as buttery smooth as it did near the end of the iOS 12 releases, but I’m pretty thrilled that it seems like it’s working much better now. (In Safari, it works as intended unlike the previous build.)

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Answer 2

rpp124 Author

Level 1

13 points

Jan 30, 2020 5:09 AM in response to Janjua43

iOS 13.3.1 does help a lot. It is still a bit quirky, but not nearly as bad as it was. If your clock and status bar at the top or invisible, turn off dark mode. That worked for me.

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Answer 3

kang33

Level 1

4 points

Jan 30, 2020 1:02 PM in response to rpp124

Thanks! The ios 13.3.1smart invert works much better now.

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Answer 4

Dec 21, 2019 7:12 AM in response to rpp124

Hi All,

I just upgraded to iOS 13.3 to find the same—I’ve used Smart Invert now for a long time, even before iOS 13.0, for the lovely benefit of reading on a white text on black background in Safari, etc. without also inverting images.

Now I’m finding that it does not work. When I activate it, I’m again staring into a screen with black text on a white background display. (Albeit, one in which Dark Mode is also activated.)

My interim solution is to activate “Classic Invert” while disabling “Dark Mode”. This of course creates the unfortunate outcome of images that are also inverted. (Which is avoided when Smart Invert is working as intended.)

I’m hoping, along with you all, that this is fixed soon.

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Answer 5

Dec 12, 2019 8:02 AM in response to rpp124

I have the same problem. Pretty super **** disappointed as well. I have been using smart invert with Shortcuts app as well. Suddenly after the upgrade to ios 13.3 it didn't work anymore. I LOVED it when smart-invert worked along side with night shift. Now, it doesn't work anymore. BRING BACK smart-invert functionality that works alongside night shift B4 IOS 13.3. It was working fine already. I am pretty sure everybody is having the same thoughts as I did. Its all broken now. Please fix it. Thanks.

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Answer 6

Janjua43

Level 1

4 points

Jan 30, 2020 4:55 PM in response to amphibious

Yes it happens with dark mode ON... turn it OFF and it won’t flicker invert colors

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Answer 7

robguinn

Level 1

9 points

Dec 17, 2019 6:11 AM in response to rpp124

Smart invert has been broken completely by 13.3 - does Apple even test their releases? This is super amateur programming since it’s gone from working to kind of working to just nada. Will they ever figure out how to stop breaking things?

Total fail.

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Answer 8

Janjua43

Level 1

4 points

Dec 17, 2019 7:27 AM in response to rpp124

Absolutely!!! Apple screwed the smart invert... the main highlight of OS 13 was dark mode but I never liked it as smart invert was much better .... but now Apple has taken it away. The software developer for that must be very close to CEO to have survived after this f**k up.

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Answer 9

odkiley

Level 1

9 points

Jan 6, 2020 4:25 AM in response to rpp124

Same here. Just updated to 13.3 since the patch notes said it fixed issues related to dark mode and smart invert. Apparently not.

Smart invert isn't working at all and my problems are the same as described in the subject post here.

Apple, please fix this! Smart Invert is critical for my ability to use my phone at night.

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Answer 10

kang33

Level 1

4 points

Jan 28, 2020 9:08 AM in response to rpp124

I love the smart invert feature since my eyes get tired easily. Right after I upgraded to ios13.3, smart invert is not working. I tried many options, for example, to turn off dark mode and turn on smart convert, and then... It works for one webpage. If I open a new safari page, the pictures are negative and the background is white. Can you fix it???

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Answer 11

Jan 30, 2020 4:50 PM in response to rpp124

13.3.1 introduces other problems though.

On my iPhone 8, whenever the screen wakes up (manually or due to notifications), it shows inverted colors for ~1 second and then flips back to uninverted color, regardless of whether the phone was displaying inverted color when it was last unlocked.

Power cycling the phone resolves the problem temporarily, but it will start doing it again within a few hours, regardless of whether or not color inversion was ever used in that timespan.

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