Latest update to iOS 17 put a big gray poster background with white font on each of my contacts. Unless they used a custom photo, it is nearly impossible to read.
For clarification, I’m an older adult and my eyes aren’t what they used to be so most of my settings are set to a black background with a gray font.
Has anyone figured out how to change that gray poster box without having to do it on each contact one at a time?
I found you can select a background color instead of that light gray. Black is not available but I did choose a darker gray, which helps me see the white writing:
Go to Contacts on your iPhone. Select the person whose contact page you want to change. (I guess we need to do each one individually, maybe someone can show us how to change it for every contact at once? )
At your contact's page, select 'Contact Photo & Poster.' Select 'Customize' and a choice pops up. Select 'Poster.'
Now, at the bottom left, select that circle O. And up pops Background Colors. I chose the dark gray all the way at the bottom right. And then below that is a slide bar where you can make the gray lighter or even darker. I slid that right to maximum dark. Then I hit the X to close the background color popup. Finally, at the very top right I selected 'Done.'
Hope this helps!
This would indeed be very very helpful.
In addition to that request it would be nice to have a setting that disables the new default contact ID view that takes a lot of screen space just for style.
I would really prefer the old style where you don‘t have to scroll so much to see all essential contact information on one screen… I use this for business and I think a lot of us would like to have this setting to make it more convenient and practical again.
What were they thinking! The new contact display is both jarring and difficult to read. The choice of font size and brightness/contrast of different elements is terrible. I don't have pictures for most of my contacts, and probably never will, and yet this display design seems to assume that is the normal usage.
My eyes are perfectly fine, so that's not the issue.
This grey on the contact list is awful. Why did it have to be changed? Not to be able to change all contacts to same color at one time is ridiculous! I hate grey and I do not like this change. It was not needed nor helpful. Please put it the way it was or give the coloring on main screen.
I have the iPhone 12 Pro Max when the new update of the 17 came up what the heck were they thinking the contacts phone contacts all of my contacts had photos with their name and number and then when you called them or they called you their picture would be full on my screen Well they screwed it up. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. They’ve covered up the picture with a gray color then when you go to your contacts to call someone, they have a little round picture of them and some of the colors are gray black green brown what the This is crazy they say do a photo or a poster. I had photos with every contact person on my phone I do not like this everyone else didn’t like it and some people said they didn’t want to take hundreds of contacts and change it one by one it needs to go back the way it was this is a real mess. I don’t like it and a lot of other people don’t like it. I like to look at my family my friends , you can keep your gray off of their picture and also on the contact all of these many colors when you go to their name to call them it’s green it’s brown it’s black it’s gray with a little photo there and their name and their number please put it back like it was. I am sick and tired of updates and they are changing stuff I would like to see you people to put it back the way it was and so many other hundreds of people that don’t like it either. Please change it back and if some people like to change, let them have the option to change it to the new look or leave it alone like it is we like it the old way it was this gray covering up the person body on the phone you can’t see them cause it’s smoky grayed out give people a choice leave it like it is or go to the new look.
I feel exactly the same because I have AMD (macular degeneration). I have tried the suggestion about changing the background but the letter just takes on some of the background colour & that’s worse. Pale text is a trendy outrage & shows no awareness of those with vision impairment.
Like everyone else I find this apple update bordering on insane. Do I want a grey background on my contacts ? No I don’t. I am 75 and struggling to read the screen. What is the point of this? Apple please answer this question. Just revert to the screen we had previously. In the words of many others “If it’s not broke don’t fix it”.
vlotfi wrote:
Me too. It is a horrible color. What is wrong with Apple these days! Don't they pretest such changes before pushing them out.
Apple does in-house alpha testing, developer beta testing and public beta testing. Just because you don't like a featured doesn't mean it wasn't carefully considered. And other people may like it. Other people may have submitted lots of feedback requesting something like it.
You can submit your feedback to Apple here:
You can also participate in the public beta releases.
Dostoyevsky2001 wrote:
The design is an absolute mess. No-one uses photos for contacts (except maybe for your wife/gf/bf etc.)
The number, which is the key reason for going into contacts, I now need to scroll down on my phone because 3/4 of the screen is taking up by this giant useless photo thing at the top. Crazy design idea. And not conducive to quick use of contacts as now have to scroll down (just checked my other older iPhone, and the number was instantly available). How can you re-design something, presumably test it, and actually make the functionality 100% worse. Very very odd
Tell Apple:
dezinrtom wrote:
I wonder how long it will take for Apple to figure out and fix this . If you need better designers, please contact me.
Apple does not read here for feedback or suggestions. You can, however, let them know your thoughts here:
If you want to get a job with Apple, start here:
Me too, and hopefully they’ll do an update that fixes this and allows people to choose to put the gray if they want it. Us older Folk needs the darker easily readable screens, and we’re not hanging out on them 24 hours a day. But when we need them we need them and we can’t read them if they’re gray!
I did tell Apple too, for what it's worth (probably nothing). I find it odd that you prefer a design which requires an extra step (scroll down) to access the telephone number, which is the primary purpose of Contacts. If photos are the primary purpose of the Contacts app, then forgive me, I've been using the apps the wrong way around, and maybe I need to start looking in Photos for telephone numbers?? Illogical at best. Terrible design at worst.
I shared this on Facebook and also realized that I could not bulk changed them either. Also when the phone rings the gray background is present and buttons were moved to the bottom. Two rows, three columns that confused me. I’m still confused when people call or I have to call.
To your point, in asking the customers, there have been studies showing that customer centric companies are more successful than those who aren’t.
Unfortunately, the only other option is android which is far worse than apple and they know this. So they do whatever is it they please without any regard to the customer.
Brandnewuserid wrote:
How soon will Apple fully respond with actual programming to this negative feedback regarding IOS 17 Contacts graphics and features? Days? Weeks? Months?
No one here in this user-to-user forum would know the answer to that.
Is there a genuine possibility of very quickly and temporarily reverting iPhone programming to the previous Contacts programming, roughly matching IOS 16 features, and then after that slowly and carefully releasing any further changes to contacts?
If you're asking if you can downgrade to iOS 16, no, you can't. If you're asking if Apple could reverse the changes, I'm sure they could if they decided they wanted to. But, again, no one here would know anything about that.
It's not just older people complaining.
I'm an older person and I have no problem with it. So, not all older people are complaining.
Meanwhile, have you submitted feedback to Apple?
TMoffatt23 wrote:
The initial view of CONTACTS in IOS should be as minimalist as GOOGLE’s home SEARCH page. As untroubled with clutter as possible, and as laser-focused on USE as possible.
You can certainly let Apple know what you would like.
But "should" really doesn't enter into it. This is a matter of taste and preference.
y210 wrote:
The main theme and request is don’t change the aesthetics. Focus on functionality. How hard is that? Evidently too hard for some young fellows or ladder climbing folks who want to impress their bosses with some off the wall coding.
Apple does not read here in this user-to-user forum for feedback or suggestions. You can, however, let them know your thoughts here:
iOS 17 Default Contact Screen Difficult to Read
