iOS 17 gray call screen

OK.......then make sure you use the Feedback link which has been posted multiple times in this thread. We are all users like you on this user to user only forum. Arguing why it's an issue for you or not, makes no difference here as there is no one from Apple here and ONLY Apple can change this, if they want to change this. That's up to them.

Apart from caller screen problem there is one more problem is that in dark mode the Color blue in dialer app it's so dark tht it's difficult to read bcaz of the Color contrast..it give strain to our eyes. Hope someone has notice it ..also in dark mode they HV switched to pitch dark black which is causing strain in our eyes..we want our iOS 16.5 back bcaz there is nothing new in this iOS 17 .. it's just an gimmick..

On that note since I started this conversation, there is one good thing about IOS 17 which is new, I love the new voicemail. We don’t need to go into the actual voicemail and input a password anymore to check our messages, and it shows a nice little text and also gives you the option to listen to it as well, great job on that Apple.

[Edited by Moderator]

Yes they should avoid very dark colored text on a dark background. However, the background in Dark Mode is supposed to be pitch dark black - all pixels off. That saves power and presents a crisp clean image with no noise in the background. Only display elements communicating data should be emitting light. This really takes advantage of how sharp OLED displays can look. Blacks are completely black, with no backlight shining through. This is actually easiest on your eyes and is as comfortable as looking up into a night sky. Only objects of interest are illuminated - stars, planets, etc. You wouldn't want any light pollution there, like city lights cause.

Does anyone know if this gray call screen and Contacts issue has been corrected by Apple in the iOS 17.1 release posted this week? After the whole gray call screen experience, I've made it my practice now to know as much as possible about any upgrade before applying it, since upgrades are always a one-way street (there's never any going back - not even to what you had just a few days before an update).

There were no changes made in iOS 17.1, but then Apple never suggested there were supposed to be any changes in the release notes. To me, this is just a non-issue and I've grown quite accustomed to both.

If it's a big deal to you, you're right, once you update, there's no going backwards as Apple has never supported downgrading iOS.

Well the release notes don't always cover every single item they fix. I just thought it would be easier to ask here instead of calling Apple support before upgrading to find out. None of my friends have updated yet, so there's no one I can ask. Apple have posted an update almost every week now since iOS17 was released, so I guess they have their hands full fixing things, which unfortunately decreases the chances they have gotten to this issue. But it would be good to know for sure before updating my phone. If this has been fixed, it would certainly encourage me to update right away.

Also Lobster, I'm glad this is a non-issue for you, but you likely have better vision than I do. It is very difficult for me to read my display in bright light when a gray background is showing, even with my display brightness turned up all the way. So it's an accessibility issue for me. Dark mode works perfectly for my needs, but I need it to be applied uniformly across the interface.

Thank you Lobster, I have already provided feedback to Apple. My original post today was simply asking anyone who might have upgraded to 17.1 if this issue has been corrected yet. I thought that's what this forum is for - to be able to ask questions and exchange information with other Apple users. It was only after you shared with me that you personally are not having an issue with the gray screen that I shared my vision handicap with you so that you might understand where I'm coming from. Please be compassionate and tolerant of those who are not as enabled as you are, rather than telling us to just get used to something which accentuates our disability.

It is and I answered your question. It has not been changed. I'm not without compassion. I get it's an issue for you. It's just not an issue anyone here has any ability to do anything about.

While I don't dislike the new colors, if Apple agrees with you and others it should be changed, I'm sure I'll do just fine with whatever other colors they may choose, if they decide to do that.

Take care

Hello WheelieNick. Well I would certainly take green over gray, as the text might be more readable against a green background (white text on blue would be even better if we can't get the proper black background of Dark Mode). How did you manage to do that? Please tell us! I will set my phone to do the same until Apple fixes this or provides a toggle switch for Dark Mode to work again on the call screen and in Contacts.

It’s disgusting grey and i have no clue what a **** is that !?

i’m spending the last few hours trying to do anything to change it but with no vein

it’s impossible to change it contact by contact !!!

why we don’t have options for gradient purple as the iphone 14 promax original theme !? As it’s already my phone !

It is indeed your phone. But you don't own the software running on your iPhone. Apple owns it and you have a right to use it. You don't have a right to change things Apple doesn't give you the option to change. It's that simple.

I just don't get the angst over the button realignment. Works just fine for me and took absolutely no time to get used to it. Are people really this unable to adapt to changes in user interfaces??? I kind of, sort of, get people not liking the gray call screen. It's not an imaginative color, and likely is homage to the new Titanium Gray. But honestly, how long does someone stay on the call screen? Put the phone up to your ear and the phone screen goes black.

Lobster, as people here have pointed out repeatedly, actively using and relying on the call screen during a call is common for many of us using earphones or the speakerphone mode - especially if we are managing a conference call for work. So we are not all pressing our phones against our heads on calls. Many of us are also simply more comfortable having the RF transmitter in our phones at arms length from our brains during calls anyway. For me personally, I have trouble actually reading display text on the gray background, aesthetic considerations aside. That's a functional accessibility issue. Dark Mode should mean Dark Mode.

As for button repositioning - people will put up with interface changes which provide utility without taking too much away. But swapping existing button positions around on such a vital and memorized screen is akin to putting the digits of the keypad in different order. It’s as if the 9 and 7 keys had been swapped for no apparent reason. Sure the 9 is still there, but why create the cognitive burden of learning a new position for it?

Aside from the accessibility issues with the gray call screen, most troubling for me is the End Call button now being crowded together with the others. I’m afraid to have my thumb anywhere near the button cluster during an important business call now. It used to be safely separated from the main cluster at the bottom of the display. That was functional genius - every little detail went into that original call screen design and it was completely thought through. If any of the original iOS designers ever read this, I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart for providing us with such functional design excellence for so many years. I can still look at the iOS4 call screen from some 15 years ago and feel right at home with it. Now I'm just lost in disbelief over needless change.

We are not Luddites here resistant to any change at all. We just need to have back what worked so well for so long. That’s all.