Why is the Facebook icon black? Social media users have some theories for widespread issue

Is your Facebook icon looking a little dreary?

Users have taken to social media to comment on the "new" appearance of the app shortcut on their phones. It now is appearing as a black background with a blue "F," rather than the traditional white on blue, for some users.

Dozens of users chimed in on a post titled "What's Wrong With The Facebook Logo?" on Reddit.

"The colour has become weird with the latest version. I’ve deleted and reinstalled it twice. Still hasn’t fixed issue. Any suggestions?" asked the initial post.

Why is the Facebook icon black?

Dozens of respondents chimed in with their own experiences, many saying the darker background icon appeared after an app update.

"I thought I was tripping, I let my app store do Automatic updates and thought my screen was dying," a user with the screenname brownguymadeit said.

Some users speculated about the cause, with some presuming it's a glitch and some speculating it may be related to dark mode functions expected in Apple's iOS 18, which has some beta testers now, and other possible causes.

Facebook black icon after update

On an anecdotal level, the Facebook icon on my iPhone was looking normal this morning.

There was an update to the Facebook app available, which I installed (for science!). That left my Facebook icon with the dark background after the app update. My phone was not in dark mode.

The iOS update to 17.6.1 also was available for my phone, which I also installed. After installation, the Facebook icon remained with the dark background.

Facebook glitches

More: Happy Birthday? Apparent Facebook glitch leaves feeds full of birthday wishes

The incident comes a day after an apparent glitch left many Facebook user's feeds filled with random birthday wishes rather than posts from friends or groups.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Facebook icon black? Complaints pour in about iPhone update