iPadOS 26.1: new issue with traitCollection when changing dark mode

Since iPadOS 26.1 I notice a new annoying bug when changing the dark mode option of the system. The appearance of the UI changes, but no longer for view controllers which are presented as Popover. For these view controllers the method "traitCollectionDidChange()" is still called (though sometimes with a very large delay), but checking the traitCollection property of the view controller in there does no longer return the correct appearance (which is probably why the visual appearance of the popover doesn't change anymore). So if the dark mode was just switched on, traitCollectionDidChange() is called, but the "traitCollection.userInterfaceStyle" property still tells me that the system is in normal mode.

More concrete, traitCollection.userInterfaceStyle seems to be set correctly only(!) when opening the popover, and while the popover is open, it is never updated anymore when the dark mode changes.

This is also visible in the standard Apps of the iPad, like the Apple Maps App: just tap on the "map" icon at the top right to open the "Map mode" view. While the view is open, change the dark mode. All of the Maps App will change its appearance, with the exception of this "Map mode" view.

Does anyone know an easy workaround? Or do I really need to manually change the colors for all popup view controllers whenever the dark mode changes? Using dynamic UIColors won't help, because these rely on the "userInterfaceStyle" property, and this is no longer correct.

Bugreport: FB20928471

I hadn't noticed this issue before but I just tested with my app running on an iPad with iPadOS 26.2 beta 1 and this problem still exists. It's fine with iPadOS 26.0. So it's a regression in iPadOS 26.1 that still exists in 26.2.

What's strange about this issue is that it only seems to be the userInterfaceStyle (light/dark). My app has a custom trait that can be applied to the scene's main window. And I can change that trait while a popover is in view. If the custom trait is changed it happily propagates to all view controllers, including the popover.

I’ve been reporting this problem for over a month, yet the Apple team still hasn’t fixed it or provided any response.

https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/804175

iPadOS 26.1: new issue with traitCollection when changing dark mode
 
 
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