How do I remove the horrible purple colour from Contacts?

You cannot. This is a shame for me because I actually quite like the colour, but you can’t change contact photos to that colour, leaving some grey and some dark blue/purple. I hope there is a fix to put them all back soon.

James Waterston wrote:

Since upgrading to IOS 26, all my Contacts now have a purple colour - same on my MacBook. It's weird. I can't seem to change it back to a plain white background. I don't know why Apple did this because it reduces legibility (especially on the iPhone) and looks horrible - like a 70s disco. Perhaps it is just a bug that they will soon fix. In the meantime, I would greatly appreciate any suggestions you have on how to remove this purple colour.

You can let Apple know what you'd like to see here:

Product Feedback - Apple