Level 1

29 points

iOS 12 Washed out color / colour

I just installed iOS12 on my iPhone X and upon reboot noticed that my screen seems kind of washed out - colours have lost their ‘pop’. I did some googling and people seem to think Apple may have changed the way backgrounds behave once applied, but is seems to me as though the entire OS now experiences washed out colours. I would really like my screen to look as good as it did before this update. It’s rather disappointing. I hope this is a software bug and not a permanent change...

Posted on Sep 17, 2018 7:48 PM

Top-ranking reply

nemesisdoctor

Level 1

11 points

Posted on Oct 4, 2018 1:10 AM

SOLVED!!!

my issue has been completely resolved, screen is back to normal and beautiful again:

Connect iphone to itunes
Enter into recovery mode (see on youtube how to do it)
Choose UPDATE (even if there is no updates for your iPhone)
Once your phone will wake up from the process (itunes logo on screen will disappear, you phone will just enter standard operations, even without system re-instalation, you will have your screen back to normal!!!)

Worked like a charm!

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50 replies

Oct 10, 2018 12:34 PM in response to brierly89

I tried:

reduce white point (on and off)
color filters (several settings)
auto brightness
increase contrast (on and off)
update through itunes
factory reset

None of it worked.

I hope it will be fixed in a hotfix or in 12.1.

Sep 18, 2018 2:17 AM in response to brierly89

Hi. I’m having the same issue also. Colours are washed out. The screen looks like it’s some where between having True Tone on and off.

aspenmit

Level 1

9 points

Sep 28, 2018 2:50 AM in response to stephanred

So when you use a custom wallpaper again it’s fixed? The issue is with custom wallpapers.

Oct 4, 2018 9:43 AM in response to clearlyblurry

Press update!

Oct 13, 2018 12:38 PM in response to richardbUK

How mad - I’ve managed to fix, but had to switch on Reduce white point to 100% then turn brightness up full... what have Apple done in iOS 12!!!

brierly89 Author

Level 1

29 points

Sep 17, 2018 8:05 PM in response to deggie

Hi deggie,

Thanks for the suggestion. I have checked display settings and everything is normal as before. I really don't want to have to do another restore, I lost a lot of 3rd party app data last time and I've already needed to do a few of these since getting my iPhone X! I know iOS12 focuses on bug fixes and performance, I really hope this means ironing out some of the bugs left behind from iOS11...

brierly89 Author

Level 1

29 points

Sep 17, 2018 8:09 PM in response to brierly89

It could be that it is just the wallpapers that have become washed out - it's hard to tell now... You quickly forget the difference when you aren't looking at them side by side... But certainly the wallpapers look washed out - is this normal with iOS12?

Sep 19, 2018 1:02 AM in response to brierly89

Hello,

I have the same issue on an iPhone 6s. After the update the colours look like high contrast is always on. I checked, the high contrast setting and it's off. Tried to turn it on, no difference.

Please fix this issue as the screen is horrible to look at.

Sep 19, 2018 1:05 AM in response to Briansyddall

That's not it Brian, I don't think I should have to set each of the colours and everything by hand until I get to something I like. That will take a lot of time and I just want my regular display back.

Thank you for the help though.

tim0409

Level 1

40 points

Sep 19, 2018 1:39 PM in response to brierly89

I noticed immediately that the screen had changed on my iPhone X when I upgraded to iOS 12; the lock and home screen are really bright even though brightness setting is the same. I hope Apple sort this as it looks dreadful.

Sep 22, 2018 5:31 AM in response to brierly89

Same here with my iPhone 6. It's still early days but overall, I'm happy with the update as it has taken my previously sluggish iPhone 6 and made it reasonably responsive. However, the screen does now look washed-out and "cheap" for lack of a better adjective. I've tried the various suggestions above to no avail.

Sep 24, 2018 2:24 AM in response to brierly89

The same issue on my iPhone 6s. “Hacks” described in the topic didn’t help me. Colors are messed up on notifications screen and home screen, looks really terrible. In apps it’s normal. Seems like basically color scheme is changed.

Sep 24, 2018 8:42 AM in response to brierly89

Same here, I have an iphone SE.

Right before the upgrade to iOS12 the screen looked perfect.

But now with the upgrade it’s JUST TERRIBLE, its all WASHED OUT, Colors look awful and whites are now bluish.

Please fix this as soon as possible, since I’m a photographer and if this issue continues, I might have to change my phone

Sep 25, 2018 8:33 AM in response to brierly89

I noticed it immediately when the screen is turned off and I wake up the display. I noticed the white brightness in the clock would dim as the rest of the screen lit up.

Screen off->Wake up display->white brightness in the time would be bright->as the rest of the display lights up, the white brightness dims low.

I've tried the fixes above, but the issue still happens. I can't seem to pinpoint exactly the cause or issue, aside from the affect on the brightness of the the clock.

Oct 13, 2018 11:10 AM in response to brierly89

My iPhone 6s has this same washed out colour since updates, restore and updates and checking all colour details doesnt work for me!

Really upset as screen was perfect and now across all images and app buttons and notifications are so desaturates they are horrible. I know it’s software as ok when starts up then rubbish

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iOS 12 Washed out color / colour