A new setting in the iOS 26 developer beta lets you adjust screenshot and screen recording formats on your iPhone, allowing you to capture HDR screen grabs. This new menu, called Screen Capture, can be found under Settings > General.
The menu includes various features like Full Screen Previews, Automatic Visual Lookup, CarPlay Screenshot, and a Format setting. You get two format options: HDR and SDR. Selecting HDR will result in HDR screenshots saved in the HEIF format, and screen recordings captured in HEVC HDR10. SDR, on the other hand, captures screenshots in the traditional PNG format and uses HEVC for screen recordings.
Previous versions of iOS lacked this trait and defaulted to capturing in the SDR format, with no option to switch. Now, this new feature gives users the flexibility to choose their preferred format.
One thing to note is that the HDR format may not be viewable on all devices, especially non-Apple ones. If you plan to share your screen captures, it’s recommended to set the format to SDR, which is widely compatible across different devices.
Apart from the format setting, there are three additional options in the new menu:
- Full-Screen Previews: When enabled, a full-screen preview appears after capturing a screenshot instead of a temporary thumbnail at the bottom of the screen.
- Automatic Visual Lookup: Available only on iPhones that support Apple Intelligence. When enabled, Visual Intelligence analyzes elements in your screenshot and provides more information and suggests certain actions.
- CarPlay Screenshot: Allows you to take a screenshot directly from your car’s display when enabled.
This cluster of features under the new Screen Capture menu is a welcome change in iOS 26.