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Wallpaper disappears

After the upgrade to ios 16.1.1 (20B101) wallpaper has started disappearing; my iphone 11 just shows black screen with all tiles for apps. Same is true for library screen too.

  1. Restart phone, original wallpaper temporarily appears, and within minutes disappears leaving dark background
  2. settings - wallpaper seems to indicate current wallpaper as the correct one, however it is not showing on the real screen (vs implied settings)
  3. from time to time, especially on calls, screen turns black and nothing can be done to retrieve the phone ui or see numbers or call info; it is as if phone is locked with a call ongoing in the background.


I sincerely hope that Apple is not forcing us to ditch iphone 11 and upgrade to a newer one.


iPhone 11

Posted on Nov 16, 2022 4:09 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 18, 2022 8:50 AM

This is an ongoing problem with the IOS 16 updates. I am hoping Apple will fix this problem. I tried restarting as well. The wallpaper will come back but only for a few minutes. I also chatted with Apple support. But they were not able to fix the problem. I wish whoever wrote these updates would test it out before launching it. It is making a lot of customers very unhappy.

50 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 18, 2022 8:50 AM in response to AnilHS71

This is an ongoing problem with the IOS 16 updates. I am hoping Apple will fix this problem. I tried restarting as well. The wallpaper will come back but only for a few minutes. I also chatted with Apple support. But they were not able to fix the problem. I wish whoever wrote these updates would test it out before launching it. It is making a lot of customers very unhappy.

Feb 17, 2023 12:24 AM in response to AnilHS71

This is definitely an iPhone iOS update bug. Turning the iPhone off and back on again and also updates work, but both only temporarily. The best thing to do, is to report it to Apple, (I’m not entirely sure if there’s a report for iOS issue easy option). I’m surprised Apple haven’t fixed this issue already, it seems they’re defaulting to assuming it a user issue. But from all of our experiences, following iOS update, it’s clearly a bug and none of us can fix this. Apple, please get on board.

Feb 20, 2023 9:31 PM in response to AnilHS71

It's been happening on my 14 pro max & at every upgrade released I think that Apple will finally fix this & at every upgrade I do I'm disappointed & super frustrated. 16.3.1 has been the best yet in terms of length of time the wallpaper has stayed on the phone, but that's only been a few days!!! It disappeared again today. Restart does very little for my phone. Weirdly, the wallpaper usually comes back in the evening - almost like it's on a timer 🤷‍♀️

Jan 7, 2023 3:01 PM in response to AnilHS71

This has been an issue for months. 16.1.1 was supposed to correct it. And it did for several weeks, then the problem resurfaced. That Apple has not corrected something so "in your face" - and irritating - is not reflecting well on Apple. Interestingly, 16.2 launched Dec 13, 2022, yet my iPhone did not prompt me to download, nor even inform me there was a new update to download. I only discovered 16.2 was available today (Jan 7, 2023) because my wallpaper is disappearing again. Downloading 16.2 it as I type this. Let's hope 16.2 actually puts the issue to bed, unlike 16.1.1.

Jan 31, 2023 4:06 PM in response to AnilHS71

I didn’t have this problem until upgrading to iOS 16.3, but I DEFINITELY have it now!


The black background is ugly, and the only way to get my wallpaper back is to restart my phone. Then my wallpaper disappears again, and again, and again. It’s a huge PITA!


I can’t believe Apple is not fixing this issue, which I just learned has been around for a while.

Feb 25, 2023 8:45 AM in response to AnilHS71

I just upgraded to 16.3.1 yesterday and my wallpaper (pic of me and my wife when we married 33 years ago) has started to disappear. I was on 15.something before yesterday and never had this happen. It is disconcerting for sure. In wallpaper settings, my actual wallpaper pic is displayed properly … but my iPhone background is just black. When I do a hard restart, my wallpaper pic comes back, but only temporarily. My phone is a iPhone 11 Pro Max. This seems to have been an issue for a while now, but I’ve just started to experience it when I upgraded to 16.3.1 yesterday.

Mar 26, 2023 3:36 PM in response to ChuckLT

How long has this worked for now for you? I’m tempted to try it but does it matter when I customize the wallpaper setting? If I say customize current setting when my wallpaper is currently black will it customize that or do I need to have the disappearing wallpaper on there currently to customize it? Soooo frustrating! I feel like I should just find a new wallpaper that stays but I have dug in so far at this point but want it fixed to work correctly! Lol!

Wallpaper disappears

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