Published by @SoNiceInfo at 9/25/2026
A sunset or night shot from an iPhone, Pixel, or Galaxy glows on the phone's screen, then looks ordinary, or even washed out, once it's posted. Usually that's because the platform doesn't support HDR, and the photo was posted in a format that doesn't plan for the HDR being dropped.
This article summarizes HDR support on the major social networks, messaging apps, and photo sharing services as of September 2026, and shows which format looks right wherever you post it, and how to make it.
There are two main ways to store an HDR photo (see how HDR images work for details).
Social platforms almost always resize and recompress what you upload, and platforms without HDR support throw the HDR data away at that point. A gain map image still has its SDR image, so it looks fine. A directly encoded image has no SDR version, so depending on the platform's conversion it can end up washed out or with blown highlights.
HDR support for photos and video as of September 25, 2026. Where there is no official information, the table relies on third-party tests, including some by sellers of HDR export tools.
Legend: ○ supported / △ partial or unreliable / × converted to SDR / ? no information
| ○ | ○ | Photos in the feed and carousels (tests show Stories are not HDR). Video in Reels. On iOS, iPhone Dolby Vision is kept | |
| Threads | ○ | △ | iOS and Android apps since March 2024. Video confirmed on Android (Pixel) |
| × | ○ | Only Reels video is HDR. Feed video is converted to SDR | |
| X (Twitter) | △ | × | No official announcement. Reports of HDR in the iOS app and on the web since around December 2025. Not shown in the Android app |
| TikTok | × | ○ | HDR playback on HDR-capable phones, with a setting to play HDR video as SDR |
| YouTube | × | ○ | Official HDR video support (PQ / HLG, 10-bit or more). Post images and thumbnails are SDR |
| × | × | Officially converts every image to an 8-bit JPEG | |
| Bluesky | × | × | Images are recompressed to JPEG / WebP, and video is converted to SDR H.264 |
| Mastodon | × | × | Recompressed to JPEG with metadata removed. Video is 8-bit H.264 |
| × | × | The composer preview can show HDR, but the published post is SDR | |
| Discord | △ | △ | Some reports say the desktop app shows HDR; others say it stopped working in late 2025 |
| LINE | ? | ? | No official information on HDR. Normal sends are resized and recompressed, and video is always sent at standard quality |
| WhatsApp / Messenger | × | × | "HD" refers to resolution, not HDR |
| Telegram | × | × | Normal sends are recompressed. "Send as file" delivers the original file |
| iMessage | ○ | ○ | HDR shot on an iPhone is kept between Apple devices. Falling back to SMS / MMS makes it SDR |
| Google Messages | △ | ? | Supported in 2023, removed in the 2025 redesign, and back in a March 2026 beta. Stable release not confirmed |
Among services for storing and publishing photos, only Google Photos, Apple's Photos app, and Lightroom shared galleries really show HDR. Most photography communities display SDR.
| Google Photos | ○ | Shows Ultra HDR and iPhone HDR photos on Android, iOS, and the web (when a photo is opened; the grid is SDR). States that HDR is kept at every backup quality |
| iCloud Photos / Photos app | ○ | Originals are synced and shown as they are between Apple devices |
| iCloud Shared Albums (iOS 26 and earlier) | × | Reduced to 2048 px on the long edge and 720p video, with reports of HDR being lost |
| iCloud Shared Albums (after the iOS 27 upgrade) | ? | Newly added photos keep their original resolution. Apple says nothing about HDR |
| Lightroom shared galleries | ○ | Served as AVIF, HDR in the large view (the grid is SDR) |
| Adobe Portfolio | △ | HDR only for manually uploaded gain map JPEGs viewed large |
| Flickr | × | Displays SDR. Reports say a JPEG's gain map survives in the downloaded original. No HEIC support |
| Glass | × | States that photos are not shown in HDR and are processed into SDR. Recommends SDR JPEG / PNG (sRGB or P3) |
| SmugMug | × | HEIC is converted to JPEG and the original is not kept |
| Samsung Gallery | ○ | Galaxy Super HDR is the Ultra HDR format |
| 500px, Unsplash, and others | ? | No information on HDR found |
On the web, Chrome and Edge (gain map JPEG from version 116, gain map AVIF from 129) and Safari 26 and later display HDR. Firefox shows every HDR image as SDR. Browsers on iPhone use the same engine as Safari, so before iOS 26 you can't see HDR photos on the web.
Given this support picture, the format for sharing is a gain map JPEG (Ultra HDR / ISO 21496-1).
| Shot on Android, posting to social media | The built-in camera's Ultra HDR .jpg, as is |
| Shot on iPhone, sharing to Apple devices, Google Photos, or Instagram / Threads | Keep the .heic |
| Sending iPhone photos outside Apple devices (Android, Windows, the web) | Convert to a gain map .jpg first (Chrome, Edge, and Firefox can't display HEIC) |
| Photos edited in Lightroom or finished in camera, going to social media | A gain map .jpg |
| Places without HDR support (X, Pinterest, Bluesky, Glass, and others) | A gain map .jpg or an SDR JPEG (sRGB or Display P3) |
| Your own website or blog | Simplest: one gain map .jpg in an <img>. Lighter: a gain map .avif in <picture> with the .jpg as the fallback |
| Archiving and masters | The original capture (HEIC, RAW, 10-bit camera HEIF). Finished masters as .jxl, .avif, or .tif |
To send iPhone HEIC photos to friends on Android or Windows, or to post camera HDR photos or HDR AVIF files, the reliable route is to turn them into gain map JPEGs with the Mac app Image Tool+.
When Image Tool+ exports JPG, it writes the gain map in ISO 21496-1 format and adds Android Ultra HDR metadata. It also reads iPhone's Apple-format gain maps and creates gain maps from HDR stored as PQ / HLG.
Drag and drop your photos
Drop iPhone HEIC files, camera HDR photos, or HDR AVIF files into the window. Whole folders work too.
Choose JPG as the output format
With JPG selected, HDR photos are exported as gain map JPEGs. You can also set a long-edge size for social media and remove location (GPS) data.
Export and post
The exported JPEGs show in HDR on platforms that support it and as normal JPEGs everywhere else.
Be careful if you share the exported JPEGs through iCloud Photos. Tests report that ISO-format gain map JPEGs exported on a computer don't keep their HDR in iCloud Photos. Between Apple devices, the original HEIC from the iPhone is the safer choice.
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For unedited photos, posting straight from your phone is the easiest option. Check two settings first.
More platforms support HDR video than HDR photos: Instagram and Facebook Reels, YouTube, TikTok, and Vimeo all play it.
Yes. Feed and carousel photos are shown in HDR in the iOS and Android apps and in Chromium browsers such as Chrome and Edge. A photo becomes SDR if you apply a filter in the iOS app, crop to anything other than the original aspect ratio, or add an image with a different aspect ratio from the first one in a carousel. Tests report that photos in Stories are not shown in HDR.
Not officially. Since around December 2025 there are reports that gain map images appear in HDR in the iOS app and on the web, but the Android app doesn't show HDR, and images uploaded from Android had lost their gain maps. Posting a gain map JPEG is the safe choice, because it still looks right when the HDR is dropped.
A JPEG with a gain map (a .jpg file in the Ultra HDR / ISO 21496-1 format). Instagram, Threads, Google Photos, iPhone, Android, Chrome, and Safari 26+ show it in HDR, and platforms without HDR support simply use the SDR image inside it, so it never looks washed out or blown out.
Yes, between Apple devices, to Google Photos, and through the Instagram and Threads apps. When you send the file to someone outside Apple devices or put it on the web, convert it to a gain map JPEG first, because Chrome, Edge, and Firefox can't display HEIC. Some conversions drop the gain map, so use an app that keeps it.
No. No social platform accepts JPEG XL, and tests show HDR AVIF is either rejected or gets a low-quality SDR version generated by the platform. Use AVIF and JPEG XL for your own website or for archiving, and gain map JPEGs for social media.
As of September 2026, Instagram and Threads are the main social platforms that show photos in HDR, and most others convert to SDR. That's why a gain map JPEG, which shows HDR where it can and a clean normal photo everywhere else, is the least risky format for sharing.
Post phone photos as they are, and turn edited photos or photos going outside Apple devices into JPEGs with an app that keeps gain maps, such as Image Tool+. That way your photos keep their light and color wherever they go.
Platform support changes often. This article reflects the situation as of September 25, 2026.
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