In iOS 26, when a UITabBarItem is selected, a gray background appears behind the selected item. This seems to happen automatically with the new tab bar design. I tried configuring the tab bar using UITabBarAppearance, but the background highlight still appears.
Is this the expected behavior in iOS 26 or is there a recommended way to configure the tab bar so that only the icon and title change color when selected?
Remove the gray background appears behind the selected UITabBarItem.
Hello SuneethaR,
That gray background should be the tint of the selectedItem on the tab bar. Have you tried setting the tintColor of the UITabBar?
Let me know if you'd like to know more,
Richard Yeh Developer Technical Support
Thanks for the suggestion. I have tried setting the tintColor, but it did not work.
Hello SuneethaR,
Apologies, the tintColor of a view controller's tab bar item refers to the color of its title and image, not the grey background that appears when an item is highlighted through selection. There's no supported way for you to customize it with the APIs currently available.
If you'd like us to consider adding the necessary functionality, please file an enhancement request using Feedback Assistant. Once you file the request, please post the FB number here.
If you're not familiar with how to file enhancement requests, take a look at Bug Reporting: How and Why?
We also recommend you move away from the Appearance APIs and reduce your use of custom backgrounds when customizing navigation elements.
Let me know if you'd like to know more,
Richard Yeh Developer Technical Support
