I have the same problem. Raised a bug in September 25, but no answer for now. Steps to Reproduce: Create a new iOS project with a UITabBarController and 3 tabs. Configure appearance like this: if #available(iOS 13.0, *) { let appearance = UITabBarAppearance() appearance.stackedLayoutAppearance.normal.iconColor = .blue appearance.stackedLayoutAppearance.selected.iconColor = .red UITabBar.appearance().standardAppearance = appearance if #available(iOS 15.0, *) { UITabBar.appearance().scrollEdgeAppearance = appearance } } Run on iOS 18.5 → unselected icons are blue, selected is red (expected). Run on iOS 26.0 → unselected icons are black/gray, selected is still red (bug). Expected Result: Unselected tab bar items should render with the configured color (blue in the example). Actual Result: Unselected tab bar items always render black/gray on iOS 26.0, ignoring unselectedItemTintColor or normal.iconColor.