Can't change List background color in iOS 16

This is simply nuts IMO :) I can't figure out how something SO basic can be left out, even for a beta release... If this won't be addressed I have to drop two years of SwiftUI development and switch back (and forever) to UIKit :( I have lists all over my apps and now they are all broken...

Did you try using listRowBackground ?

As in the following (tested, works):

struct ContentView: View {
    @State var rows: [RowModel] = [
        RowModel(name: "Orange"),
        RowModel(name: "Apple"),
        RowModel(name: "Lemon"),
    ]   

    var body: some View {
        NavigationView {
            List {
                ForEach($rows) { $row in
                    TextField("Fruit", text: $row.name)
                }.listRowBackground(Color.blue)
            }
            .navigationTitle("Fruit List")
        }
        .navigationViewStyle(.stack)
    }
}

Or do you look for something different ?

I think Vlad wants to change the whole background not of some cells. We found a way using Introspect. However, we are not sure if this is in any way "legal".

extension View {
    @warn_unqualified_access
    @ViewBuilder
    func listBackgroundColor(_ color: Color) -> some View {
        introspectViewController { inspectSubView($0.view, backgroundColor: .init(color)) }
    }

    // MARK: Helper

    private func inspectSubView(_ view: UIView, backgroundColor: UIColor) {
        for subview in view.subviews {
            if NSStringFromClass(type(of: subview)).contains("UICollectionViewListLayoutSectionBackgroundColorDecorationView") {
                subview.backgroundColor = backgroundColor
                return
            }
            inspectSubView(subview, backgroundColor: backgroundColor)
        }
    }
} 

New in iOS 16 beta 3, two new modifiers!

You can use them to set a background colour for a list:

List {
    ...
}
.scrollContentBackground(Color.red) // using .red results in an error

or set a custom background view:

List {
    ...
}
.scrollContentBackground(.hidden)
.background {
    Image(systemName: "list.bullet")
        .resizable()
        .scaledToFit()
        .padding()
}