Apparently, Apple rushed iOS 18 to bring us as many AI features as possible. Although exciting, this approach came with big drawbacks. Widespread bugs have been sprouting every other day, and now there’s one more: display glitching. You might notice your device screen flash in a bright pink hue just before locking. Here’s what to do if you have been affected by this issue.
iPhone Screen Flashing Purple or Pink: Identifying Your Issue
It’s important to avoid confusing the issue with similar ones. Some users are seeing their iPhones blink in purple when brightness is low, for instance. There’s also the dreaded iPhone Purple Screen of Death (and its pink counterpart).
None of the above are related to our issue. In this case, the screen only flashes quickly, right before turning off. This mostly happens when the phone is idle and the screen turns off after reaching the backlight timeout. It may also display solely on the borders, not reaching the whole screen.
Also, for the most part, the issue seems to be restricted to iPhone 16 devices. Only a couple of users, under very specific situations, mentioned facing this with different models.
Fixing iPhone Screen Flashing Pink or Purple When Idle
This specific occurrence can help you pin down whether the issue we’re dealing with in this article is your case. If you’re positive about that, check below for the fixes.
1. Change the Wallpaper
Yes, that’s so absurdly simple it seems stupid. However, many of the users in Apple’s support forums reported that changing the wallpaper fixes the issue. So, try moving away from the default wallpaper. You can choose another built-in picture, or use not included originally with iOS. We have a few round-ups to help you make up your mind, too!
2. Disable Apple Intelligence
According to one user, an Apple support representative said the issue could be related to Apple Intelligence. They didn’t specify how that was connected to screens flashing in pink (or purple), but it doesn’t hurt to try.
To do that, it’s pretty simple. Just disable the Apple Intelligence toggle in Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri.
3. Check for iOS Updates
What is certain is that this is a software issue. One user even started seeing it on their iPhone 12 after importing data from an affected iPhone 16. If you want to use the default wallpaper and Apple Intelligence, perhaps updating iOS will allow you to do so.
Seeing this kind of issue in such recent devices isn’t helping Apple about the perceived quality of its products. The good news is that it’s not a hardware fault, and even better news is that it’s easy to fix.