If you import photos into your iPhone from an Android phone on iOS 26, you can run into a strange color glitch. The image looks normal in the Photos grid, but it suddenly shows a heavy red tint when you open it and zoom in. People also report that some affected photos turn gray or black and white when they try to edit or crop them.
The pattern shows up across multiple reports. Thumbnails appear fine, but the full image renders differently during zoom or editing. The same files often appear normal on devices running older iOS versions, which suggests a Photos app rendering issue rather than damaged image files.
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What you will notice when the bug hits
You usually spot the problem only after you tap into a photo. While scrolling through your library, everything can look perfectly normal. Once you zoom in, the color shifts and a red haze appears across the image.
Many affected photos appear to have started on non-iPhone cameras before being saved to an iPhone. This includes images shared through messaging apps, cloud services, or Google Photos. Some people also report the issue with older iPhone photos viewed on newer hardware.
The simplest fix: Edit, then Revert
You can usually restore the original colors in seconds. Photos behaves as if a color filter was applied, and the Revert option forces the image back to its original state.
Follow these steps for each affected photo:
- Open the photo in Photos
- Tap Edit
- Tap Revert
- Exit the editor and view the image again
If you have many affected images, this process becomes repetitive. iOS does not currently offer a batch revert option for this issue.
Why it happens and what looks consistent so far
Apple has not publicly explained the cause of this bug. Still, user reports point toward a problem with how iOS 26 Photos interprets embedded color data when switching from thumbnails to full-resolution images.
If you notice this after updating to iOS 26, the Edit to Revert workaround remains the fastest way to restore normal colors while you wait for a permanent software fix.
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