iOS 26.2 Messages keyboard turns solid white and letters disappear — hidden feature?

Question

Level 1

12 points

iOS 26.2 Messages keyboard turns solid white and letters disappear — hidden feature?

Since updating to iOS 26.2 (public release), the keyboard in the Messages app sometimes goes completely white, making the letters disappear.

I’ve tried resetting and restarting, but it’s still happening.

I understand that Apple never releases buggy software to the public and everything is intentional and crafted to perfection. So is this a hidden iOS 26 feature where Apple is testing our ability to type blindly and training users for the future of keyboard-less typing?

See screenshots below.

Before you start typing, everything looks normal:

As soon as you start typing, all the keys become solid white:

When you empty the text field, everything turns back to normal:

iPhone 15 Pro, iOS 26

Posted on Dec 26, 2025 11:03 AM

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Answer 1

TT123B

Level 1

104 points

Dec 26, 2025 11:57 AM in response to jespa

It's something configured within Accessibility. Try testing out individual features.

All the best 👍🏻

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Answer 2

Dec 26, 2025 1:20 PM in response to jespa

bug

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Answer 3

jespa Author

Level 1

12 points

Dec 26, 2025 12:41 PM in response to TT123B

TT123B wrote:

It's something configured within Accessibility. Try testing out individual features.

All the best 👍🏻

Oh ok. I wasn’t aware that making the letters disappear was meant to help people type and make the keyboard more accessible. That’s new to me. Would you know which users this accessibility feature is designed for?

By the way, I’ve gone through all the accessibility settings and can’t find this one. What do you think it’s called? Invisible Keys Mode?

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Answer 4

MrHoffman

Level 10

146,467 points

Dec 26, 2025 12:56 PM in response to jespa

Make sure you’re not pressing and holding on the spacebar here, as that will trigger the cursor-positioning mode.

iOS 26.2?

Do you have any third-party keyboards loaded?

If this isn’t a bug with a third-party keyboard, and is not cursor-positioning mode, this looks like a bug in iOS.

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Answer 5

jespa Author

Level 1

12 points

Dec 26, 2025 1:39 PM in response to MrHoffman

MrHoffman wrote:

Make sure you’re not pressing and holding on the spacebar here, as that will trigger the cursor-positioning mode.

iOS 26.2?

Do you have any third-party keyboards loaded?

If this isn’t a bug with a third-party keyboard, and is not cursor-positioning mode, this looks like a bug in iOS.

No third-party keyboards installed on my iPhone — just the native Apple ones. And no, it’s not something that happens when you press on the space bar to move the cursor. I’ve seen instances where half the keys go white in iOS 26.2 RC (which I’ve never installed on this phone, see example below - credit). I’m on the public stable release and my keyboard just goes 100% white.

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Answer 6

MrHoffman

Level 10

146,467 points

Dec 26, 2025 2:12 PM in response to jespa

jespa wrote:

No third-party keyboards installed on my iPhone — just the native Apple ones. And no, it’s not something that happens when you press on the space bar to move the cursor…

Bug, then. I’d first try a backup, reset, and restore, then either send product feedback to Apple, or a conversation or chat directly with Apple Support.

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