iOS 26 changes the iPhone’s Always-on display settings by automatically applying a blur to your Lock Screen wallpaper when the screen is dimmed, but you can revert it.
On iOS 18 and earlier, you can blur the Home Screen wallpaper but not the Lock Screen one. Upgrading to iOS 26 will automatically blur your Always On Lock Screen wallpaper by default to increase the legibility of text and make your widgets stand out.
Some people may not like this change, but Apple has provided a switch in the Always-on display settings to revert to the old behavior. Here’s how it works.
Stop your iPhone from applying a blur effect to your Lock Screen wallpaper
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone running iOS 26.
- Tap Display & Brightness > Always On Display.
- Turn off Blur Wallpaper Photo, and the wallpaper will no longer be blurred out when the Always On display is active.
With “Blur Wallpaper Photo” turned on, the Lock Screen wallpaper will be blurred when the display is dimmed, which happens when there’s no activity, such as incoming notifications. As soon as a notification arrives or there’s other activity going on, the display becomes brighter and the Lock Screen wallpaper becomes crisp again, without a blur effect.
Other activities that prompt the Always-on feature to dim the Lock Screen wallpaper include laying the phone facedown, covering the display, moving the phone outside the range of its paired Apple Watch, using CarPlay or Continuity Camera, while in Low Power Mode or Sleep Focus, and at bedtime.
iOS 26 also automatically dims the wallpaper when you start scrolling on the Lock Screen to improve the legibility of text; this happens whether or not the option to blur the wallpaper photo is turned on or off. Unfortunately, there’s no toggle to turn off automatic dimming of the Lock Screen wallpaper when scrolling.
I’m a fan of this new toggle because I now have a choice between a Lock Screen dominated by a crisp wallpaper image along with a large clock and maybe a widget or two; and a utilitarian Lock Screen where my widgets, notifications, clock, and date are set against a blurred wallpaper, making small type more legible than before.
Like before, the Always-on display settings provide toggles to toggle the Lock Screen wallpaper and notifications on the Lock Screen when the feature is active. For example, you may choose to show the wallpaper in full glory without notifications cluttering the wallpaper photo, if you like.
iPhones with Always-on displays
The Always-on feature is available on the iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, and the entire iPhone 17 series, including the base iPhone 17.
It enables the device to show a dimmed version of the Lock Screen when the phone is locked while consuming a fraction of battery power. This lets you glance at your notification, widgets, date and time without tapping to wake the screen. Apple says the feature is turned on by default on compatible iPhones.