iOS 17: Wrong status bar color/contrast. (Light status bar on light wallpaper)

I don’t consider this support for us at all. Doesn’t fix the problem can’t see the time or network status on the top of my pages 🤷🏼‍♂️

This seems like a bug that affects a lot of people. I have seen several threads on Reddit about this. I have had this problem for a long time myself. Does not seem like a problem to contact Apple individually about. More like a bug Apple just needs to fix in general. Been around for a loong time so would be awesome if someone actually fixed this soon.

I am also facing this problem and I was just playing around with my wallpaper and the colour of the widgets etc with the font & colour. By doing this I have noticed that the darker the colour you choose for this the lighter the icons are in the status bar. By choosing a lighter colour it does not change the status bar icons to black but it definitely makes them darker and more visible even though they are still white. The only thing I changed between the 2 was the font colour.

They could and should do it better, because when it is in their interest, they used AI and ML to scan all kinds of pictures to identify a bunch of stuff. But correctly setting the status bar elements color would not sell more HW neither more iCloud services, so it has very low prio.

I am facing the same issue right now and the only thing that works without editing your wallpaper is:

Go to Settings>>Accessibility>>Display & Text Size>>Smart Invert

It does make the other colours a little funky but works.

This happen because ios is actually refering to the bottom part of your wallpaper to decide which color to use for status bar icon. For example, if your wallpaper is completely white from the bottom, the status bar will turn grey which is easily visible; You can try this using the default color wallpaper and adjust it to solid white. If your wallpaper had dark/black part at the bottom, the status bar will use white color. This is silly I had reported to apple before but they did not review. I just summited another one today and hope they’re gonna review it.

I added a thin frame around my wallpaper pic that was a dark color. That was the only thing I found that worked. As much as iPhones cost, the entire status bar should be customizable including being able to make it any color you want & change the icons to what the owner wants. Hope this helps.

Hi ch.ahin,

If you haven't done so yet, restart your iPhone. This may seem like a simple step, but restarting will refresh your device, which could help. It's also a good idea to make sure your iPhone is running the latest version of iOS 17, since this can help with overall performance: Update your iPhone or iPad

If an update is available, be sure to create a backup before installing it.

1. Back up your device using iCloud or your computer.

2. Plug your device into power and connect to the internet with Wi-Fi.

3. Go to Settings > General, then tap Software Update.

4. If you see more than one software update option available, choose the one that you want to install.

5. Tap Install Now. If you see Download and Install instead, tap it to download the update, enter your passcode, then tap Install Now. If you don't know your passcode, learn what to do.

If you’d like to leave feedback on the behavior and have it reviewed by the appropriate teams at Apple, submit your feedback here: Product Feedback

Regards.

Hahaha smart. I set my clock to white (counterintuitive) so that it would go black with the smart invert feature. My status bar text is also black. So that works. Some app do act funky though like the weather app.

Hello ch.ahin,

When this change occurs, does the light or dark mode on your iPhone also change? You can check under Settings > Display & Brightness. In particular, ensure that Automatic is off and leave it set to either Light or Dark.

Details about those settings are at Adjust the screen brightness and color on iPhone - Apple Support

Let us know what happens after adjusting that setting and we'll go from there!

Hi ch.ahin,

Based on the troubleshooting that has been completed up to this point, your best bet will be to Get Support directly from Apple from here on out. You can use the link here to get started.

Take care.

Good luck