I've got an iPhone 16 Pro Max running the iOS 26 beta, and it's been giving me a ton of trouble lately. It keeps displaying these blank program groups on my home screen, and I can't open anything! The time and carrier info show up as usual at the top, but when I tried restarting it by holding the volume down and power button, the screen just went black (except for the top line), and now it won't turn back on.
I can't log in, restart, or even answer calls! I know I'm receiving messages, but I can't read them. If I press and hold the volume up and power buttons, I can snap a screenshot, but it's all misaligned with a white background.
The issue is I can't contact support because I can't use my phone, and their online support requires two-factor authentication on my iPhone, which is unusable. I even tried using my partner's iPhone, but it wouldn't let me log in.
Does anyone have any ideas on how I can get support or what steps to take next? Thanks a ton for any help!
5 Answers
Check out Apple’s recovery instructions for rolling back to stable software. They have a guide on their site that walks you through the process. You'll need a computer for this, though.
You might want to try a hard reset first. Sometimes that can clear up glitches without needing to go through recovery modes.
A solid option would be to do a recovery mode restore using a computer to revert back to iOS 18. This is pretty much what Apple support will suggest if you're stuck on beta.
Honestly, beta software can be a real pain. If it were me, I'd just skip it altogether. Stick with stable versions to avoid issues like these.
You probably won't get much help while you're on beta. Seriously, why use it if you can't handle the glitches? Go back to iOS 18 and wait for the stable release. Better yet, hold off until at least the second version rolls out.
That's a smart move! Waiting for the stable version can prevent a lot of headaches.