How to use Per-App Settings on iPhone

There are certain apps that have poor text legibility because of lighter backgrounds or smaller font sizes. To make the text more readable, you have to increase the Font Size of the entire UI, which is not the best choice.

However, with the Per-App Settings, you can customize certain visual elements for individual apps, and here’s a complete guide to help you use Per-App Accessibility Settings on your iPhone like a pro!

What is Per-App Settings on iPhone?
Customization features available for Per-App Settings
How to add an app to Per-App Settings on iPhone
How to remove apps from Per-App Settings on iPhone
How to fix Per-App Accessibility Settings not working on iPhone

What is Per-App Settings on iPhone?

Per-App Settings allow users to modify visual elements of an app’s user interface. Changes made to an app through the Per-App Settings do not impact the overall user interface of your iPhone. The changes are applied automatically whenever you launch the app. Once you switch to another app or close the app, the settings will return to default.

For example, if you have difficulty reading text messages in the Messages app, you can enable the Bold Text and Reduce Transparency options to increase the legibility of text.

Apple has always introduced additions to the Accessibility settings on its devices. It is mainly done to improve the experience of users with disabilities and make navigating through the user interface as seamless as it is for others.

This feature was first introduced with iOS 15, and here’s a list of all the customization features available with Per-App Settings.

Customization features available for Per-App Settings

Bold Text: When enabled, all the text on display turns into boldface characters.
Larger Text: With the help of a slider, you get the option to change the text size.
Button Shapes: Adds an underline or a shape to all the navigation text elements (Back, Home, etc.) to make it look like a button.
On/Off Labels: An “O” is added for toggles that are off. “I” is added for toggles that are on.
Reduce Transparency: It improves contrast by reducing transparency on certain backgrounds and increases the legibility of text.
Increase Contrast: It alters the color contrast between the app foreground and background and also changes the text styling to increase legibility.
Differentiate Without Color: All the user interface items that solely rely on color to convey the information get replaced with alternatives.
Smart Invert: When enabled, it reverses most of the colors, except for images, media files, and certain apps that use dark color styles.
Reduce Motion: Heavily reduces the animations of the user interface. Also, it disables the parallax effect of the Home Screen icons.
Prefer Cross-Fade Transitions: The Cross-Fade Transition setting is only visible when you enable the Reduce Motion setting. When you enable the transition, it further reduces the motion of the user interface that slides in when appearing and disappearing.
Auto-Play Video Previews: It automatically plays previews of any video displayed in the said app.

While some of the above-mentioned settings can help extend the battery life on your iPhone, some others can cause heavy battery drain. Moreover, enabling the Auto-Play Video Preview setting can also lead to heavy Cellular Data consumption. You might want to disable some of the above-mentioned settings to increase the battery life of your iPhone.

How to add an app to Per-App Settings on iPhone

Open the Settings app on your iPhone
Tap Accessibility.
Scroll down and select Per-App Settings.
Tap Add App in the App Customization menu.
Search for the app of your choice or scroll and tap on it.
The app will be added to the App Customization list.

You can only add one app at a time. So if you want to add multiple apps to the Per-App Settings and customize them, it will consume a considerable amount of your time.

How to remove apps from Per-App Settings on iPhone

Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
Tap Accessibility → choose Per-App Settings.
Now, tap Edit at the top right corner.
Tap the – (minus) icon located beside the app you want to remove.
Choose Delete.

How to fix Per-App Accessibility Settings not working on iPhone

Do keep in mind that not every application will support these Per-App Settings. Moreover, Apple also mentions that certain settings only apply to “apps that support Dynamic Types, such as Settings, Calendar, Contacts, Mail, Messages, and Notes.” So, if any of the changes you have made to a certain app are not reflected when you launch the app, just close the app and relaunch it.

If that does not bear fruit, go ahead and restart your iPhone. That should certainly fix the issue. However, if you still do not see any changes to the desired application, there are chances that the app won’t support these customization settings.

Check out the changes!

Once you’ve made all the customizations, launch the app and check if and how the changes enhance the user experience. If you have any other doubts regarding Per-App Settings or any queries related to any problems with your Apple products, do let us know in the comments below. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

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