[iOS 26] Switch with custom thumb color is losing color when coming back to app

[Regina-v]

Description

Using iOS 26, when you give a switch custom thumb colors, go to another app, come back to your app, then the custom colors are lost.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install the application on iOS 26.
2. Enable one of the toggles.
3. Switch app and come back.
4. Thumbs of switches which used to have a custom thumb color are white.

React Native Version

0.81.4

Affected Platforms

Runtime - iOS 26

Output of npx @react-native-community/cli info

System:
  OS: macOS 15.6.1
  CPU: (12) arm64 Apple M2 Pro
  Memory: 129.11 MB / 32.00 GB
  Shell:
    version: "5.9"
    path: /bin/zsh
Binaries:
  Node:
    version: 22.18.0
    path: ~/.nvm/versions/node/v22.18.0/bin/node
  Yarn:
    version: 4.6.0
    path: ~/.nvm/versions/node/v22.18.0/bin/yarn
  npm:
    version: 10.9.3
    path: ~/.nvm/versions/node/v22.18.0/bin/npm
  Watchman:
    version: 2025.09.15.00
    path: /opt/homebrew/bin/watchman
Managers:
  CocoaPods:
    version: 1.15.2
    path: /Users/regina/.gem/ruby/3.2.2/bin/pod
SDKs:
  iOS SDK:
    Platforms:
      - DriverKit 25.0
      - iOS 26.0
      - macOS 26.0
      - tvOS 26.0
      - visionOS 26.0
      - watchOS 26.0
  Android SDK: Not Found
IDEs:
  Android Studio: 2024.3 AI-243.24978.46.2431.13363775
  Xcode:
    version: 26.0/17A324
    path: /usr/bin/xcodebuild
Languages:
  Java:
    version: 17.0.13
    path: /usr/bin/javac
  Ruby:
    version: 3.2.2
    path: /Users/regina/.rubies/ruby-3.2.2/bin/ruby
npmPackages:
  "@react-native-community/cli":
    installed: 20.0.0
    wanted: 20.0.0
  react:
    installed: 19.1.0
    wanted: 19.1.0
  react-native:
    installed: 0.81.4
    wanted: 0.81.4
  react-native-macos: Not Found
npmGlobalPackages:
  "*react-native*": Not Found
Android:
  hermesEnabled: true
  newArchEnabled: true
iOS:
  hermesEnabled: true
  newArchEnabled: true

Stacktrace or Logs

N/A

MANDATORY Reproducer

https://github.com/Regina-v/rn-ios26-switch-custom-color-bug

Screenshots and Videos

Screen record iOS 26: https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/33e01479-e9f7-4e29-9719-e9128a2ce1b9

Screen record iOS 18: https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7b67f017-3ecd-46e7-accf-4b2773026c25

[cipolleschi]

Hey @Regina-v can you check what is the behavior on a Simulator that does not use iOS26?
We didn't changed anything related to the colors, so this feels something not dependent on the OS version.
Also, how does a pure iOS app behaves?

[Regina-v]

Hi @cipolleschi
In iOS18 this bug does not happen. I made a screen record with the same reproducer code but on iOS 18.6 simulator, please find it there: https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7b67f017-3ecd-46e7-accf-4b2773026c25
I'm an android user so I don't really have pure iOS apps for comparison. The standard apple apps of course all have switches with default colors.

[cipolleschi]

Hi @Regina-v I run a simple test on UIKit without using React Native.

Unfortunately, this is a bug from Apple side. 😢

I simply created a new app using Xcode and added this code to the View Controller:

  override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()
    // Do any additional setup after loading the view.
+    self.view.backgroundColor = .systemBackground;
    
+    let uiswitch = UISwitch()
+   uiswitch.thumbTintColor = .systemCyan
    
    self.view.addSubview(uiswitch)
        
+    uiswitch.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
+    NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
+      uiswitch.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerXAnchor),
+      uiswitch.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerYAnchor)
+    ])  
  }

This is the result:

So, this is not a React Native bug. Apple will probably fix this soon on their side. I'm looking internally if we can mitigate the issue meanwhile.

[Regina-v]

Hi @cipolleschi ,
that is interesting, thank you for the investigation and feedback!

[tom-at-pixel]

Still an issue in iOS 26.3... 😵

I submitted a feedback issue to Apple Support (ID: FB22077954).

[ashirkhan94]

Any update?

[tom-at-pixel]

They haven't gotten back to me. I will write here if they do. 🙂

[Pranoy1c]

This issue also happens when presenting a UIAlertController. It loses the thumbTintColor.