Why does the Dock background stand out with a black wallpaper?

The only downside to using a Pure Black wallpaper is that the Dock will stick out like a sore thumb, since it’s not possible to adjust the background color of the Dock in iOS.

In iOS 18 and earlier; we recommend using the Minimal Dark / Light wallpapers to blend in with the Dock background color in Dark and Light mode.

In iOS 26; we recommend using the Minimal Dark / Light Gray wallpapers for Dark and Light mode respectively.