Black wallpaper on lock & home screens after update 26.3

UPDATE... I solved the issue on my phone.

Apple will never convince me that the update had nothing to do with this problem.

I checked and rechecked my settings...all looked okay.

Here's what I did...

On the lock screen....at the bottom it says "focus". I tapped it...I changed it to "work". The home screen background immediately changed to the original one I had set up. All the other wallpapers I use also changed back to their original colors!

Every time there is an update... something changes on its own!!

I found the issue (and sadly didn’t read all the comments, so may already be noted).

It was fixed for me by switching “Reduce Transparency” off in accessibility. I had this on because I HATE the glass look of folders in iOS 26. Update 26.3 is designed, intentionally or unintentionally, to adjust how reduce transparency works and in turn force you to use the glass look. I am now off to discover a new way to make things not look terrible!

It surely was caused by iOS 26.3. My iPhone updated to iOS 26.3, restarted, and the wallpaper was black, and it wasn't before. Yes, it's directly related.

Fortunately, the bug fix is effective: turn off Reduce Transparency, restarting, and turn Reduce Transparency back on. Thanks to everyone for info on how to address this bug.

The turning off the Reduce Transparency toggle worked. It was in Accessibility settings.

Did you read the fix? Turn off Reduce Transparency in Accessibility, restart your device and then turn it back on.

It seems only a black background shows when reduce transparency setting is on. What I found as a work around is that a photo background works fine, I just found a photo of the color gradient I wanted then use that.

Unfortunately, this appears to be a horrible update with iOS 26.3 that forces users to turn off “Reduced Transparency” mode.

Settings -> Accessibility -> Display & Text Size -> Reduced Transparency (off)

This is a detrimental change!! The “Liquid Glass” feature is horrible for vision and eyesight. It causes unnecessary and excessive strain on your eyes. Perhaps Apple is planning to make “eye glasses” for all of the users eyesight it destroys in the future.

I’ve been a loyal Apple customer for 15 years, but I’ve had about enough of Apple and its lack of innovation, failed execution, and boring product lineup. This may be the final straw that pushes me over to Samsung. “Rotten Apple” with this update!

I had this same issue after the most recent update. I turned off Reduce Transparency and it seems to have worked.

Change the setting for “Reduce Transparency” - toggle it off. This fixed my issue.

After update my screen went to black… I switched off reduced transparency and the color background came back. Definitely related to update!

I also had the problem on my iPhone, and I fixed it by changing the wallpaper to another one, and changing it back again. Otherwise you can try to reboot your phone

After this update my background was black and I went and tried the fixes listed by other users with no luck so I found that changing my Liquid Glass to “tinted” fixed my issue. ( Found in Display and Brightness)

When I turned reduce transparency back on, it reverted to the black screen.

Focus Modes are in your Settings app. Make sure they are all off.

This didn’t work on my iPhone 17 plus but turning off reduced transparency did.