iPhone 7: How to go from black to blackout

By Rene Ritchie
last updated

Apple's new (matte) black and jet black iPhones 7 are the first truly black handsets Apple's made since iPhone 3G. Even more so, since there's no longer a big silver ring around the faceplate. That makes it really easy to go from black to full on blackout. All you have to do is make the wallpaper match the case.

I first did this when I got my slate gray iPhone 5 re-anodized to pitch-black. The hardware looked fantastic and and I wanted the software to match, at least as much as possible.

The difference between then and now is the amount of blur and translucency Apple uses in the iOS interface. When the background is black, it can make things look a lot duller and grayer. If you like that, fine. If not, you may want to revert back to a brighter, more jazzy wall.

Either way, all you have to do to try out the blackout is download this image and set it as your wallpaper for Home screen, Lock screen, or both:

Once you're done, and you've taken your black iPhone 7 fully blackout, let me know how you like it.

iPhone 7

iPhone 7 (Image credit: iMore)

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Rene Ritchie
Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.

56 Comments
  • Stocks app on the home screen? So you're the one? ;)
  • Who keeps stock apps anymore?? Lol. Mail, etc all gone from my work phone. Posted via the iMore App for Android
  • People who buy/sell stocks, maybe? Even if you don't, it's a good indication of how well a business is doing over time. Most people won't use it, but it's definitely not a pointless app
  • not even. There are far far better tools for tracking stocks than the stocks app. Even for the layman. he11, the regular broker apps tend to be better let alone third party stock apps.
  • i actually use the mail app. I do have outlook on their and have tried others but the stock app is adequete for my needs and none of them seem to be able do the job i originally downloaded the other mail apps for, batch deleting. I really need an app that allows me to search for say virgin airlines and then delete all the results in just one or two clicks. i didn't find one.
  • Thanks to iOS 10... yes, bit u'd must preferred if they were actally gone, not just hidden from view. Even though they don't take up much,, it doesn't matter.. storage is storage. Every little 1K counts. Oh crust !!. I'm behaving like Steve Gibson.... well ... That puts me in my place then.
  • All of the system apps use less than 150MB, if you remove 4 or 5 of them you'd be saving what, maybe less than 30mb? You really aren't going to fit anything on your phone in that kind of space. There's no sense in actually deleting them fully when they take up such a trivial amount of space
  • Come on! is this article for real? You've created an entire article about setting your wallpaper to a plain black image!? Slow day on iMore? I'd rather not see anything than see this. Are people really sitting there reading that saying "wow I never thought of this, what an amazing idea!" ??? Terrible.......
  • Wow. Yet you still took the time to read it and comment on it. Sent from the iMore App
  • I can't comment on an article I haven't read and I have to read the article to understand the content. Surely people are free to comment positively or negatively here? or is it a case of you can only comment if you loved the article?
  • No, comment. Or don't. Who cares? Of course you're free to whine about anything your heart desires and also, belittle someone for writing something that wasn't about a life changing occurrence. Sent from the iMore App
  • Looks like you've got your work cutout responding to all these comments of people who felt the same as me! You going to pop round to Rene's afterwards to clean his windows and wash his car too? You might get a special badge on here if you do!
  • My goodness man, chill out! Some people like things that others (you) don't sometimes, and that's fine. Nobody is the same. Plus, the other guy has a point: if you can tell from the article title and picture that this article would be boring to you, don't read and/or comment on it.
  • Never judge a book by it's cover.
  • If you saw his examples on the camera's low light features, you know that photography isn't his bag.
  • I agree. I guess I should apply to be a writer for iMore. I mean really? Just wow, blackout your phone with a black wallpaper!!!!!!!!!!! Omfg!!!!!!!!111!!
  • My favorite look. Noice....not no ice.
  • Heck of a lot of words for a #000000 wallpaper, if you ask me.
  • Did you really post an entire article on setting a black wallpaper? I hate sifting through the 95% crap you guys post, to get to something useful.
  • I have an iPhone 6 Plus with an all black Mophie case. Back then, It took me a little while to find an all black wall paper for my iDevices on a Google Search... This is useful.
  • http://lmgtfy.com/?q=black
  • LOL, never saw that before...pretty cool.
  • This man deserves many votes up.
  • Maybe next time there will be a whole article about "How to set up black wallpaper" (y) Can't wait.
  • Hopefully next year's iPhone will have an OLED display with dark theme in iOS! Posted via the iMore App for Android
  • Now, having a transparent dock would make it look REALLY nice...!
  • You can set the the wallpaper as a 1x1 black pixel, and that will make both the dock and folders completely transparent.
  • ...thanks. Any info online (a link, etc.), on how to perform this feat?
  • Here ya go! http://heyeased.weebly.com/black-in-black.html
  • Awesome. Really works
  • Yeah love to make that dock invisible. Sent from the iMore App
  • My favorite pitch black wallpaper is any picture taken outside with my iPhone 6 after 9pm. Posted via the iMore App for Android
  • You could try a manual camera app and decreasing the shutter speed, should make it "slightly" better at least
  • Thanks Apple Bot Posted via the iMore App for Android
  • Don't bite the hand that feeds you, troll
  • But Apple Bot, I'm not an iPhone troll, I do have respect for many things that Apple does, I am a DannyJJK troll... Posted via the iMore App for Android
  • You're not succeeding :)
  • Couldn't you just take a picture with the camera against something black in a semi dark room with no flash and set that as you screen background? Sent from the iMore App
  • Yep. Though it may be a bit noisey.
  • the 3gs 4 and 4s were all black too
  • gonna be doing this... thanks
  • Fun idea. I'm trying it out.
  • heres another cool trick, take a pic of your work desk and use that as your background then it looks like your hphone is invisible on lock screen and the apps are floating in the air on the homescreen
  • Is it really blackout when the music app is so glaringly white. Maybe post the article again when Apple gives us a proper dark mode. Sent from the iMore App
  • If Apple releases an iPhone with an OLED screen next year then there is sure to be a dark mode as OLED displays use less battery when displaying black, hence the reason why the Apple Watch with its OLED screen has a black interface
  • How can I saved using my phone? Sent from the iMore App
  • Wow... seriously?
  • What ever happened to AnoStyle, anyway?
  • hmmm
  • I think he really just wanted to say "Make the carpets match the drapes" but couldn't...
    Because, gentleman. Sent from the iMore App
  • Well.... whatever... I have to admit I really like the look however.
  • I gotta admit, I got really excited when I first read the title. Sounded like you could actually really go blackout and make all the white of iOS, go black. Settings, menus...everything. Now that would be awesome.
  • I found out battery last longer on black wallpaper Sent from the iMore App
  • It creates a cool look. The idea of using a 1x1 black pixel as wallpaper that makes your dock and folders transparent is really cool. The only issue is it's hard to see widgets because their white background is also transparent. Here's the link someone posted in an earlier comments about the 1x1 black pixel wallpaper in case you're interested: http://heyeased.weebly.com/black-in-black.html
  • Went black out after reading this. I have the white face phone and the all black wallpaper is working out very well for me. Lock and home. I suspect this may cut down a little bit my occasional ocd episodic forays into try's my to find the perfect wall paper. I find nothing irritating about all black, so I will probably use it for quite some time. Thanks for sharing. Never seen you in person Rene, but I suspect you have very broad shoulders. How else would one be able to shoulder the unkind things people say in the comments section about your work, and still write and publish every day. Keep on rockin (writing) in the free world........
  • Now let's see you try a black "live wallpaper"... Black Live Wallpapers matter y'know!