iPhone display settings: brightness, text, wallpaper and more

Apple spreads screen options across several menus, which is why a simple change can take a few minutes to find. This guide puts them in one place. Jump to the section you need: brightness, how long the screen stays on, text size, color, wallpaper, icons, rotation, an on-screen Home button, Memoji and the name of your iPhone. Menu names can shift slightly between iOS versions, so if you do not see an option, use the search field at the top of Settings.

Brightness and Auto-Brightness

If the screen keeps changing by itself, a setting is doing it. Auto-Brightness reads the light around you and adjusts. Turn it off in Settings › Accessibility › Display & Text Size if you want full control. On the same screen, check Reduce White Point, which makes the display look dim even at full brightness. Night Shift, in Settings › Display & Brightness, warms the colors in the evening, and Low Power Mode lowers brightness a little. A hot iPhone also dims the screen to protect itself, so if the phone feels warm, see an iPhone that runs hot.

Auto-Lock: how long the screen stays on

Never is fine for a short time, such as following a recipe, but the screen uses a lot of power, so switch it back afterward. If Auto-Lock is greyed out or stuck at 30 seconds, Low Power Mode is almost always the reason. Turn it off in Settings › Battery, and the setting becomes available. If it is still locked, check Settings › Screen Time › Content & Privacy Restrictions, and look in Settings › General › VPN & Device Management, since a work or school profile can set Auto-Lock for you. On iPhones with Face ID, Attention Aware Features in Settings › Face ID & Passcode keeps the screen bright while you look at it, even with a short Auto-Lock time. You can read what Low Power Mode changes in this Low Power Mode guide.

Text size, bold text and Display Zoom

To change the size for one app only, add the Text Size control to Control Center. Open the app, open Control Center, tap Text Size and choose that app only at the bottom. If you want everything bigger, not just text, use Display Zoom in Settings › Display & Brightness › Display Zoom and choose Larger Text, which also enlarges icons and buttons. The system font itself cannot be swapped, but you can change the Lock Screen clock font: touch and hold the Lock Screen, tap Customize, tap the clock and pick a style and color.

Color filters, grayscale and a yellow screen

Grayscale is popular for cutting down screen time. If your screen turned black and white by accident, a triple click shortcut probably switched it on, so turn Color Filters off in Accessibility. If the screen looks yellow instead, Night Shift or True Tone is warming the display. Turn them off in Settings › Display & Brightness.

Wallpaper for the Lock Screen and Home Screen

You can also touch and hold the Lock Screen after unlocking, swipe to another wallpaper or tap the plus button to add one. To delete an old wallpaper, swipe up on it and tap the trash icon. On supported iPhones with iOS 26, some photos can become spatial wallpapers that move slightly as you tilt the phone, and the option appears while you edit. Newer iPhones also have an Always-On display and StandBy mode, which show a clock or photos while the phone charges on its side. If the new see-through look bothers you, read about making see-through menus solid again.

App icons: Dark, Clear and Tinted

To undo it, open the same menu and choose Light or Automatic. Some apps, such as Reddit or Cash App, offer alternate icons in their own settings under App Icon. A custom picture as an icon needs the Shortcuts app, since the built-in options only change color. If you also want fewer icons on the screen, see hiding apps on iPhone.

Screen rotation and orientation lock

A lock icon with a circular arrow in Control Center keeps the screen upright. Tap it so it is no longer red, then turn the phone sideways in an app that supports landscape, such as Photos or Safari. If one app will not rotate, many apps only work in portrait, so test another one. Only some larger iPhones rotate the Home Screen, and not when Display Zoom is set to Larger Text. If nothing rotates anywhere, close the app, restart the iPhone and check a screen that is not responding.

An on-screen Home button with AssistiveTouch

Set Double-Tap to App Switcher and Long Press to Siri or Screenshot for a full set of shortcuts. To switch it on and off quickly, set the Accessibility Shortcut to AssistiveTouch and triple click the side button. If you prefer no floating button, Settings › Accessibility › Touch › Back Tap can send you Home when you double tap the back of the phone.

Memoji and your contact photo

Memoji are edited from Messages. Open any chat, tap the plus button, then Stickers, find your Memoji, tap the three dots, choose Edit, change the face, hair or outfit and tap Done. You can keep more than one, using New Memoji or Duplicate. To use it as your photo, open Contacts, tap My Card, then Contact Photo & Poster, and choose Memoji. Your photo is shared with contacts, or everyone you message, depending on Name and Photo Sharing in Messages settings.

Rename your iPhone

Open Settings › General › About, tap Name, type a new name and tap Done. The same name is used for your Personal Hotspot, Bluetooth, AirDrop, Find My and your computer, so they all update at once. Devices already connected to your hotspot need to reconnect to the new name. Keep personal details out of it, because anyone nearby can see a hotspot name. People in your contacts may see the name from your contact card in AirDrop instead, which you change in Contacts › My Card › Edit. For related problems, see Personal Hotspot problems and using AirDrop.

Which settings affect battery life?

A few of these choices change how long a charge lasts. Lower brightness, a short Auto-Lock time and a dark wallpaper or Dark icons on an OLED iPhone all use less power, while Never for Auto-Lock and full brightness use more. If your battery drops fast no matter what you change, the battery itself may be worn. Check your battery health before spending money, since a battery replacement is cheaper than a new phone.