camera glitch after updating IOS 26.1

Was really hoping that would help me but nope it doesnt. i can open the app seems fine for a second but if i try and zoom or switch between modes the camera become blurry and pauses. I've reset my settings and tried turning off the lock screen swipe and nothing works.

Just upgraded my iPhone and now there is no more portrait setting on my camera. It has been a great camera for years and now it's like downgrading to a basic point and shoot. There are only two settings: video and photo. That's it. I use to have panorama, portrait, slo-mo and others. Where did they go? This is bad.

WAIT! I figured it out. The photo modes are really hidden. You have to slide the "photo" button (when you're in the camera) until they appear. If you want to access things like 4:3, exposure, "live" and all that, you have to tap the photo button. Those settings used to be accessible by tapping the little arrow-like button at the top of the frame but no more. The "live" setting could be turned off a lot more easily than it can now. Now, you have to tap the photo button until the settings appear, then tap the "live" button to turn it off. Meanwhile, your subject has moved... Personally, I don't like "live" unless I want to capture movement. What would be great is if there were a way to turn off "live" for more than one photo. Even though it's a relief to have found all this stuff, what a completely useless update. I don't care about the jelly-looking stuff; I just want the phone and the camera to work. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I have had serious issues with audio when recording videos at music events after updating my iPhone 15 proMax to iOS 26. I did take it to a "genius" at the local Apple Store. Friendly "Genius" didn't have a clue even after running an audio test, saying that he'd never heard of this being a problem, and that I should call Apple Support. Seemed weird to me since I thought he was Apple Support. After reading enough posts on Reddit and other online sources which would suggest that it seems to be a problem with the Camera App's processing of the audio, I filed a bug report with Apple. I have since started using the blackmagic camera app which seems to process audio fine.

Exact same issues since updating to 26.1. Tried several things to fix it but all only fix it for a while and then the same issue reoccurs.

Symptom: screen turns greyish or black when opening Camera or any other app using the camera.

Have tried:

1 hard reset (voluptuous, volume down, holding right button till appte logo appears)

2 Reset iPhone (settings - general) which involves reconfiguring Face ID, Apple Pay, all accessibility settings erc

3 turned off the camera setting Lock screen swipe to open camera

I have an iPhone 12. Really wondering what else I can do. So many people face these issues since iOS 26.1.

About time that Apple provides a fix!!

or does anyone still have some tip?

This what I keep getting anytime I try and use my camera. If I try and zoom or if I try and switch from photo to video it freezes. We’ve had two RC builds an neither of them fixed the camera. I got a iPhone 17 pro max and a uses camera

drdre74 wrote:

This what I keep getting anytime I try and use my camera. If I try and zoom or if I try and switch from photo to video it freezes. We’ve had two RC builds an neither of them fixed the camera. I got a iPhone 17 pro max and a uses camera

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/8ffc2059-8afd-4a8b-9607-4f6077409d4e

Since you mention RC Builds, this means you're using Beta Software on your iPhone. And you can't discuss possible issues with Beta software, per the NDA you signed when you became a Beta Tester. Use the feedback link you were provided.

If the camera does not work even after a restart, it may indicate a hardware issue.

In my case, however, restarting the device or changing the system language temporarily restored the camera, but the issue reappeared after a few hours or a few days. When launching the Camera app, the preview appears briefly, becomes blurred (similar to the transition during lens switching), and then freezes after a few seconds.

Even after erasing the device and restoring from a backup, the problem reoccurred a few days later. Over time, the frequency of the issue gradually increased, which made it seem like something abnormal was progressing.

After that, I reset all settings and used the device with default settings only, and the problem has not recurred for over a week.

I have not yet identified which specific setting was responsible, but the non-default camera-related settings I previously used were:

• Video resolution set to 4K

• ProRAW controls enabled

• All “Preserve Settings” options enabled

• Liquid Glass disabled via Accessibility settings

Do any of you experiencing similar issues have these settings in common?

Updating to 26.2 did not fix the issue for me. The camera worked for a day or so and then again the same issue reoccurred: the screen turns greyish/black making it impossible to take picture and brewing all apps that use the camera.

I had reset all settings, put all camera settings back to defaults and now am clueless what to do to fix this.

i now regularly restart my iPhone (volume up, volume down and hold side button till apple logo appears) to get it working again for a while.

Pretty fed up with this issue. Any new clues from anyone?

updating to 26.2 didn’t do anything for me. As you can see from this example, whenever there is a light in frame on the front facing camera foreground (side with the screen), I get a warp looking line(s). Most selfies are now ruined because of this. And yes, I cleaned the lens before taking this photo

Hi, do you have any kind of screen protector that covers the front facing (selfie) camera? If so, please remove it.

What you’re observing is called lens flare. It’s an optical phenomenon and all optical instruments are subject to its effects to one degree or another. It is not a software issue and cannot be “fixed” via a software update. It’s possible the selfie camera itself has some hardware issue. Apple would need to examine the device to determine the status of the camera.

Hi Jeff

i do have a screen protector. However, I didn’t have this problem prior to iOS 26 and had the same protection. Perhaps the new version uses more of the potential lens area. But I’d have thought that they’d have said some Thisbe about that

Robert-D-333 wrote:

Hi Jeff

i do have a screen protector. However, I didn’t have this problem prior to iOS 26 and had the same protection. Perhaps the new version uses more of the potential lens area. But I’d have thought that they’d have said some Thisbe about that

iOS 26 could not change the lens area used by any of the cameras on your iPhone. And Jeff is correct that what you captured is a naturally occurring Lens Flare. When you looked at the screen on your iPhone before you took, the photo, the lens flare was there in plain sight. Had you angled the camera differently, you'd have been able to reduce or eliminate the lens flare. There is nothing in the photo example you showed, which could logically be attributed to iOS 26.

Same odd behavior here with camera. Also with Siri. Time to call support. I have an iPhone 16 ProMax. This shd NOT be happening.

Turn off the new setting for the camera app that says Lock Screen swipe. Turn your phone off and turn it on. That’s what I did to my friends phone and this problem stopped.

Facing same annoying camera blurry issue and until restarting, can't take any picture. But again same problem after sometimes 🥲