Why is half of my iPhone screen blank?
For several non-native apps, the lower half of the screen is blank. I believe this began happening when I upgraded to iOS26 a few weeks ago.
iPhone 16 Pro, iOS 26
It worked. Thank you. 👍🏼
Question marked as
Ok so my issue resolved. I had to turn off “reduce transparency” under the accessibility settings.
Accessibility->display & text size-> toggle “reduce transparency” off.
Hasn’t happened again.
27 replies
After checking a couple of apps that were having the symptoms, upgrading appears to have fixed them. Thanks for the heads up on the 26.1 release, as it didn't show up on my phone until I checked for updates.
This started when I updated to 26.1, so it’s not fixed. As mentioned previously, the app content scrolls behind the blank lower part of the screen.
It happens when I switch from one app to another, then back to the first. In Notes, if I press the back arrow and reopen the note, it’s gone.
I regularly experience the same 1/2 blank screen but ONLY for Messages.
1) I have restarted my phone.
2) I am running 26.1
The glitch occurs inconsistently. Sometimes at iPhone startup. Sometimes after lack of Messages app use for short or long periods.
It occurs regardless of having an unread message or no unread messages.
It resolves itself if I touch the Search field at the bottom or if I touch a pinned contact at the top.
Super irritating. Also super irritating is that one person’s response that the OP didn’t include any “really” helpful info.
That response wasn’t really helpful. Do better.
Ok, perhaps one more thing: If you scroll the app content up/down, the blank area acts like a mask (the content disappears behind it).
Did you restart your phone?
Press and release volume up then volume down, then press and hold the side button until you see the Apple logo.
Not sure if it would help but you said you are on iOS 26.0.1. There is a newer version that just came out, 26.1. Try updating to that version.
False..lol It happens in the Mail app.
Does not seem to be app-specific, but from the size and position it seems like it might be tied to the onscreen keyboard.
This happens in every app on my iPhone running iOS 26.1 - 1P and 3P apps. This includes: messages, safari, and mail.
This is not true. It happens on the messages app and the Mail app.
Wow, thanks for the tip, this was driving me nuts. Seems to be resolved. As others have said, this is not limited to third party apps. Occurred for me with all searches in native mail app.
Why is half of my iPhone screen blank?