Unexplained iOS 26 photo bug is leaving some Android users red-faced

Apple has long attempted to keep Android and related services out of reach for its users. That friction inadvertently impacts users switching from an Android device to an iPhone or using both OSes at the same time. Now, it appears iOS bugs may also lean into those biases.

Several iPhone users noticed an unexplained iOS 26 bug that changes the colors of pictures taken on Android devices and shared with them. Numerous reports on Reddit say that their pictures, when viewed in the iOS Photos app, turn red when they zoom in on the image. The same does not occur while viewing the images on a device running iOS 18.

The issue randomly appears in some pictures captured with specific devices. Redditor Jonkmclovin noted this only occurs with devices captured using a Moto Razr. Meanwhile, djenki0119 says it only impacts photos captured with the Galaxy S24. Interestingly, another user claims to have the issue while viewing images taken with the iPhone 15 on an iPhone 17, suggesting it may not be limited to Android devices.

Additionally, the images turn gray when users attempt to edit them.

The bug has persisted for a few weeks, through updates including iOS 26.1. A user also replied to one of the Reddit posts, confirming it hasn’t been resolved in the recently released iOS 26.2 update. I checked on my iPhone 17 Pro, running iOS 26.2, but couldn’t replicate the bug.

While there’s no clarity on what could be causing specific photos to turn red, some responses to these Reddit threads feel confident that incompatible HDR standards might be to blame.

Thankfully, one of the users has also come up with a stopgap solution until Apple acknowledges or rectifies it. They recommend tapping Edit and then Revert on the top right of the editing screen to get rid of the bug. The solution appears to be working for some people already, but it needs to be done for each image individually, which can be unsettling.