Since iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, the Photos app for iPhone and iPad looks completely different. This is not only noticeable when viewing your photo library, but also when editing photos. In some cases, the background is white when editing a photo.
This has to do with the display mode of your iPhone or iPad. If the light view is active it will show a white background during editing, in dark mode it will be black. Fortunately, you can always edit photos with a black background.
Set black background for photos
- Open Photos on an iPhone or iPad
- Navigate to any photo and open it
- Tap Edit mode (three horizontal stripes with dots)
- Tap the three dots at the top
- Open ‘View’
- Choose ‘Dark’
When you choose Dark, iOS or iPadOS will always enter photo editing mode in the black view. This is in contrast to light or system.
When ‘Light’ is selected, the white background will always be active. If you choose ‘System’, Photos will follow your system settings and only activate the black background when you have dark mode active.