iOS 17 gray call screen

Allik64 wrote:

Lobsterghost CLEARLY didn’t bother to read ALL of my post.

The last line I wrote CLEARLY stated I had already contacted Apple and left feedback. Actually did that prior to my post.

You're absolutely right. I missed the last line and apologize for that. When you posted a note to Apple, which said "Apple, at least give us the option to change the layout back," that is is more what prompted me to comment. Because this is a user to user only forum and Apple isn't here (which has been pointed a number of times), nor do they participate (with the exception of moderators). So asking Apple to do anything here won't get you any result.

The thing that's looking like a bug is the photos blurring on top when you try to scale them both in contact poster and in wallpapers, so I've submitted that as a bug, while the grey default background of the phone call screen that can't be changed and the small images instead of the monograms like in the old IOS 16 submitted as features request

Allik64 wrote:

Yep. I’ve posted many things which are ignored. Maybe I’ll find the time to contact them a few more times.

If you mean they didn't respond to you, they simply don't respond to feedback via the feedback link. But they DO read what people send to them using the link. It's made clear at the top of the form:

"Use the form below to send us your comments. We read all feedback carefully, but we are unable to respond to each submission individually. If you provide your email address, you agree that we may contact you to better understand the comments you submitted."

If this isn't what you meant, please explain.

I use my phone for business and have hundreds of contacts. That would take a very long time for me to do, and it would not help with incoming/outgoing call to numbers not in my Contacts. How is this a problem solved?

Thanks for posting this evan405, I very much agree. Nice to know there are many of us concerned about what has happened to the call screen we rely on so much. Dark Mode should mean Dark Mode - everywhere in the interface. It's not just an aesthetic issue - I find the lack of contrast between the gray background and text makes it very hard to use my phone in daylight, so I have the brightness up all they way which wastes battery. The call screen buttons being rearranged and all crammed together at the bottom of the screen with lots of wasted empty space in the middle is also difficult for me. I used to be able to confidently press the End Call button at the bottom of the screen when on the go. Now I accidentally press other buttons when walking down the sidewalk in bright daylight when meaning to end a call.

Hey Evan, I have indeed submitted feedback - once for the lack of contrast issue with the gray background, and a separate time for the awkward repositioning of the call buttons. I really hope other users do the same and that Apple is listening to our heartfelt concerns. Please do create another post concerning the smallness of the digits of the in-call keyboard. That is yet another issue which needs attention. All this gives me even more appreciation for just how much the original iOS designers got right. It's so easy to mess things up by not thinking through how most people actually use their phones - especially in a business setting. Cheers!

Hello Dogcow-Moof. I appreciate your response and that you like the new screen. Aesthetic preferences aside, it's a functional issue for me. Maybe my vision is not as good as it used to be, but the lack of contrast between the text and gray background means I have to have my brightness on max to have any hope of reading the display in daylight, and that drains my battery faster in addition to causing me unnecessary anxiety. Plus the gray pixels are wasting energy by being needlessly energized at all on OLED displays - dark backgrounds are more energy-efficient on OLED.

Apple used to pride themselves on accessibility - allowing users without perfect 20-something vision to still enjoy the Apple experience. Dark mode was a huge advance - allowing the full color of the OS to be experienced while still maintaining excellent contrast (without having to go to some sort of ugly monochrome high contrast mode). So for me personally, Apple has degraded the usability of my beloved iPhone. It's like an old friend who for no good reason had a radical personality change and is now difficult to interact with. It didn't have to be this way. A simple user-selectable toggle switch to optionally get the old look and functionality back would make everyone happy I think. I hope you would be open to that and could advocate for it.

Hello LobsterGhost1. It's not the lock screen we're talking about - it's the call screen. I would be very happy if my lock screen were to be used universally when making and receiving calls. It looks a lot like yours - mostly dark but with a star field and distant nebula. But whenever I make or receive a call, the dysfunctional and ugly grey background appears.

I think Lobster knows it's the wrong thread BUT yes that black is looking very good on the iPhone it's really black black, and as you said if you could use the Lock Screen also as a default background for the phone calls that would be something for Apple feedback...

Yes I sent feedback to Apple about this using the official feedback link. I hope others will as well. I tried to keep feelings out of my feedback, and stuck to the objective truth that it is more difficult for me to use my phone due to the decreased contrast the gray screen causes, along with the reduced battery life I experience from now having to keep the brightness on max to only partially compensate when I'm outside in bright light. I understand people with better vision may not have this issue, but it is indeed functional in nature for me more than it is about like or dislike - though I also dislike it very much. From an Interface consistency point of view, it also breaks with Dark Mode. I'm a software engineer, and I understand the importance of a consistent user interface experience. Apple is normally very good at that.

LobsterGhost1 - it's not just for a few seconds. It's for as long as the call is active, and it's everywhere, including on the in-call keyboard. At least that's what's happening on my phone. It's also on the Contacts screen. I'm on iOS 17.0.3.

Patrick Weisser wrote:

LobsterGhost1 - it's not just for a few seconds. It's for as long as the call is active, and it's everywhere, including on the in-call keyboard. At least that's what's happening on my phone. It's also on the Contacts screen. I'm on iOS 17.0.3.

When I speak on the phone, it's up against my ear. And the proximity sensor stops the screen from being on at all. Or, I may be using Bluetooth earbuds, and the screen goes dark and I'm not even looking at the screen. In either case, I don't see the screen, so I'm sticking with my comment it's on the screen briefly as it was designed to be.

I use the phone for business and have headphones. I'm often out in the daylight or in brightly lit areas on business calls, and need to navigate the call screen actively during a call to add additional people to calls, and hope I don't hang up on anyone by mistake because the buttons have also changed positions. I don't hold the phone against my head at all, so proximity sensor is not engaged. Aesthetics aside, it is a serious functional issue for me.