Screenshots from iPhone 7 Plus Are Not Rendering Properly on Google Pixel

BY Rajesh Pandey

Published 28 Nov 2016

Google Pixel XL - rear view

With smartphones and operating systems getting more complex with every passing day, sometimes weird bugs end up shipping on final products. One such bizarre bug that has now been discovered by Pixel owners in which they are receiving garbled screenshots from iPhone 7 Plus owners.

The issue only exists between the flagship phones of both companies: Google’s Pixel and Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus. Screenshots shared from older iPhones to Nexus devices show up just fine. Similarly, screenshots taken from Pixels show up just fine on the new iPhones.

The screenshots only distort if they are of a third-party app or game and are then sent using Hangouts or an SMS app. Even more bizarrely, not all screenshots taken on the iPhone 7 Plus end up showing as gibberish on the Pixels. Screenshots of the home screen, in particular, show up just fine on Google’s phones.

The exact cause of the problem remains unclear for now. It is possible that the wider color gamut of the new iPhones display has something to do with it, with the Pixels/Android 7.1.1 being unable to render the wider color space properly in some scenarios. The issue is also affecting some Nexus 6 devices running Android 7.1.1 based custom ROMs, so all signs do point to Google making this mistake.

[Via Google Product Forums]