What is Per-App Settings on iPhone and how to use it

iPhone has excellent accessibility features, which ensure people with disabilities can use the device to get work done. iOS 15 added a new option called Per-App Settings which lets you customize helpful accessibility settings for each app.

Previously, we showed you a jailbreak tweak called Appaze 2 that lets you configure several system settings like brightness, screen rotation, and much more on a per-app basis. Now, Per-App Settings in iOS 15 and iOS 16 are not even close to matching this tweak’s capabilities, but it certainly is a step in the right direction.

This guide shows you how anyone can use Per-App Settings to personalize desired iPhone apps. Doing this ensures you can have some of the app settings meet your specific needs.
Per-App Setting on iPhone in iOS 15

How to use Per-App Settings on iPhone

Suppose you have an app on your iPhone which has many options crammed as small texts. This makes it hard for you to see and use that app. Using Per-App Settings, you can choose to make the text inside this app bold and larger. It would only affect this app and not your other apps, Home Screen, notifications, etc.

Similarly, if an app does not have dark mode and neither supports iOS Dark Mode, you can force it to use Smart Invert, which will kind of do what Dark Mode does.

To sum up, there are various options and use cases that you can explore.

Here’s how to use Per-App Settings in iOS 15 and later:

  1. Open the iPhone Setting app and tap Accessibility.
  2. From the bottom, tap Per-App Settings.
  3. Tap Add App and select the app from the list.
  4. Tap the app name you just added.
  5. Choose a setting and select On or Off.
How to use Per-App Settings on iPhone

You have successfully set the chosen setting for this app. Like in our example, we went with Bold Text and Smart Invert for the Settings app. So, now just the Settings app has bold text and a dark look. At the same time, all other apps, Home Screen, and everything else have the regular default font and appearance.

To add more apps to this list, follow the same steps.

How to fix Per-App Settings not working on iPhone

Usually, the per-app settings you set reflect instantaneously in the app. But if you do not see the change, force quit the app and reopen it. Restarting the iPhone may help too.

Importantly, please note that not all iPhone apps honor Per-App Settings. For example, Spotify does not support bold text. Similarly, many third-party apps do not support all these accessibility settings. Seems like it’s up to the app developer to add support.

How to remove Per-App Settings on iPhone

If you would like to revert the change, it’s easy to do that. Here’s how to set the default settings for the app or remove it entirely from the Per-App Settings list:

  1. Open iPhone Settings and tap Accessibility.
  2. Tap Per-App Settings.
  3. To remove the app and all its per-app settings, swipe left on the app name and tap Delete.
  4. To set the default values for any one of the settings, tap the app name. Now, tap the individual setting and choose Default.
How to remove Per-App Settings in iOS 15

You may like to know about these accessibility settings: