Quick answer: Unity build colors washed out or oversaturated vs the editor? Editor and Player Settings disagree on color space, or sRGB import flags drift on key textures.

The Editor renders in Linear; the iOS build was switched to Gamma for perf. UI colors and lighting look dramatically different.

Player Settings Color Space

Player Settings → Other Settings → Color Space. Linear is physically accurate; Gamma is faster but visually different. Match across all targets to keep look consistent.

sRGB Texture Flag

Each texture has an sRGB flag in the import settings. Color textures: sRGB on. Data textures (normals, masks): sRGB off. Wrong setting in Linear space significantly shifts colors.

Light Intensity Differs

Linear interprets light intensity linearly; Gamma applies gamma curve to the result. Same intensity value renders differently — tune separately per target.

LUT and Post FX

Color grading LUTs are authored for a specific color space. Linear LUTs in Gamma builds (or vice versa) shift the entire look.

Verifying

Build colors match editor expectations. Side-by-side test passes for UI and lighting equally.

“Color space must match editor and build. Texture sRGB flags too.”

Pick Linear once at project setup and never switch — mid-project changes break every lighting setup.