Some Android Photos are Turning Red When Zoomed in on iOS 26

Some iPhone users running iOS 26 are reporting a bug that causes photos taken on Android devices to turn red when zoomed in within Apple’s Photos app.

Users have been noticing an unusual issue affecting certain images stored in the Photos app on iOS 26, where pictures appear normal at first but develop a strong red tint once zoomed in. According to a report by 9to5Mac, the problem seems to affect photos that were originally taken on Android devices and later saved to an iPhone.

The bug does not appear to affect photos taken on iPhones. Instead, users report seeing the issue only when viewing images captured on Android phones, such as Samsung and Motorola devices. The red effect is not immediately visible when browsing the photo library. It only appears after tapping on an image and zooming in.

iOS 26 bug – photo turns red when zoomed in
byu/Jonkmclovin inios

Reddit user djenki0119 shared a screen recording showing photos taken on a Samsung Galaxy S24 being viewed on an iPhone. In the recording, the images appear normal at first. However, once the Redditor zooms in, the photos quickly shift to a deep red colour, described as resembling film developing in a darkroom. Other users report similar behaviour with photos taken on devices such as the Motorola Razr.

How to Fix Red Photos

According to 9to5Mac, there is a simple solution to stop photos from turning red. iPhone users can open an affected photo, tap the Edit button, and then select Revert. This removes the red tint and restores the image to its original appearance. The fix needs to be applied individually to each affected photo.

The cause of the problem has not yet been identified. Images are generally expected to display properly in the Photos app once they are saved to an iPhone, no matter which device originally captured them. However, user reports indicate that iOS 26 may be misprocessing certain Android image files, with the issue becoming visible when users zoom in. As 9to5Mac notes, the behaviour could be linked to the way the Photos app reads embedded colour information in photos taken on non-iPhone devices. So far, every reported instance involves images shot on Android phones, pointing to a possible compatibility issue rather than corrupted photos.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.