iOS 17 wallpapers blurry at top

Figured out how to fix it on my IPhone 11. Go to settings, then Wallpaper, then do New Wallpaper…it lets you pick a photo for the wallpaper…then you can click over on the Home Screen and change it if you want. But at the very bottom right hand corner you should see a raindrop looking image that says “blur”. If you click that it removes the blur from the image.

Just got done messaging with IT from Apple, this is a new “feature” in iOS 17 and this is how it goes, if you zoom out or try to make it look the way you want it to, the image will blur, if you zoom in, it unblurs. As of now he said, there is no known fix to this other than having a wallpaper that perfectly fits the format for the specific iPhone you are using. He said Apple did this to provide a cleaner look in general to the time battery indicator etc. Idk if this is true or not, but knowing Apple, this is most likely the reason.

So, if you want a perfect fit when finding a wallpaper for your iPhone, I recommend what has worked for me so far after this nonsense of a “feature” has been added, this link shows all of the pixel sizes etc for each iPhone up to the 14 Pro Max. I can’t currently find the sizes for 15’s but I’m sure they are out there. https://cnbgear.com/tips-guides/iphone-wallpaper-size/

Found a solution!

Go to wallpaper in setting —> select your wallpaper —> customise —> tapp on the 3 dots on the bottom right —> uncheck the Extend Wallpaper tab. No more blur at the top 👌🏼

I too have spoken with several Apple IT people about this issue and the general consensus has been that this is a new feature that was specifically added to IOS 17. They claim it is so you can see text better especially the time and notification area. This is complete BS to me because I haven't had an issue seeing text before so I don't know why they felt they needed to add this feature. So I was provided with a link during one of the conversations to let Apple know that I don't like this new feature. I was told the more people they get that reports they don't like this feature could possibly lead them in the future to remove with a future update.

I have a solution! Go into photos and find the photo you want as your wallpaper. Click the three dots in the upper right hand corner and select duplicate. This way you have the original picture and the one you will use for your wallpaper. Select crop and click on the premade sizes. One of them is called wallpaper. Pick that one and adjust the picture so it’s centered the way you want it. Now when you go into settings, select that cropped photo as your wallpaper. No blurring!

Here's a workaround form reddit user u/Heavenguard:

• Go to your photos, choose a picture you want.
• Click edit, crop, then the square on the top right hand side with little squares in it, choose "wallpaper", then save the cropped image.
• Find the image in your photos album, then select "set as wallpaper".
• Whatever you do, do not pinch to zoom out otherwise that will cause it to blur.

This is known as extend wallpaper and it’s ideally designed to aid visibility and allow you to set a wallpaper that doesn’t fit the required device aspect ratio. You can actually switch it off by toggling the three dots on the bottom right side of the screen and switching off extended wallpaper. Hope this helped. Cheers.

Open the Settings App

Tap Wallpaper

Tap the Wallpaper you use for your home screen

See Blur at the bottom right hand corner and tap it to turn Blur off

The blur on top is intentional so the photo does not interfere with the data and controls at the top of the poster screen.

However, do let Apple know of your displeasure and they may alter this behavior or offer an option to disable it in the future:

Feedback - iPhone - Apple

I just noticed @dagodinez posted a similar solution. Rather than cropping it to fit the screen…in edit mode, I selected crop, then tapped on the image on the top right that gives you the option for original, Freeform, square, wallpaper, and different ratios. I chose wallpaper and it filled my screen. Then I saved it in Wallpaper. Theres no blur. 😊

I found a temporary fix for this until Apple sorts it out. I go onto the picture in my gallery that I want as my wallpaper, and I zoom on it until it’s roughly the same size / dimensions as the iPhone wallpaper size and take a screenshot. Then use the screenshot as your wallpaper and it doesn’t blur the top. You can still retain more of the width of the photo this way you just have to position it where you want when it comes to setting it as your wallpaper.

Was facing the same issue and found a solution on yt: go into your gallery and click edit photo. There you will see the crop option where multiple dimensions are given. Click the “wallpaper” option. Now when you set it as your lock screen, it won’t blur at the top. Hope this helps :)

The issue was introduced with IOS 17.0.1 the blur they are talking about is not the blur seen on the Home Screen which you can turn on or off. When setting up the Lock Screen picture which seems to have two problems. One is the ability to use Color Backdrop on all new pics I try to use but seems to have stopped working and the second is as you zoom out the top 1/3 of the picture gets artificially blurred. There is no way to turn it off, since I am in IT and deal with iPhone on a daily basis, I am going to say it's a bug that was introduce and not much to be done but not upgrade or wait for the fix.

Temporary Solution: Go to the image in your photos app, go to crop. Click on the third button from the right that looks like multiple screens overlapped. Select 'wallpaper' and adjust the photo from there. Save it and set it as your wallpaper.

I have found a work around, in photos choose crop, select the icon next to Auto, you’ll see some options at the bottom then choose wallpaper. Try setting this pic as wallpaper and there won’t be any blurring at the top.