"HDR unavailable" notification when editing HDR photos in Lightroom for iOS

[TDC3000]

Issue: When editing in HDR in Lightroom for iOS, the histogram shows the message "HDR Unavailable" (see screenshot). Additionally, photos that are edited in HDR sometimes do not show as HDR in the grid view.

Lightroom for iOS version number: 10.0.1

iOS version number: 18.1 (production version)

iPhone 16 Pro

Steps to reproduce:

1. Open photo from the Grid view

2. Select "Edit in HDR mode"

3. Open HDR histogram

Expected result

1. SDR and HDR histograms presented, all white lettering

2. HDR-edited photos are identified as HDR in the grid and can be filtered

Actual result

1. red "HDR Unavailable" message under histogram with link to learn more

2. HDR-edited photo not marked as HDR in the grid and cannot be filtered. Some are marked as such, some aren't.

Workaround/Fix

1. Disable "Auto-Brightness" in iOS accessibility. This made the full HDR histogram available again, even when turning Auto-Brightness back on.

2. No other accessibility features were on when this issue presented (eg "reduce white point")

3. Deleting and re-installing the app made no difference

[Charlie.D]

Hello @TDC3000 
I'm trying to understand how to reproduce this. I am on 16 Pro Max, also iOS 18.1. In iOS Settings > Accessibility I have Auto-Brightness enabled, and I have tried with my screen brightness at different levels from very dim to 100% bright.  Even if I disable Auto-Brightness, I can still enable HDR and do not see the "Unavailable" message.

What camera captured your source images, and what file format/capture setttings did you use?  

Are there any other details you think might be relevant?

fyi, grid view thumbs are SDR and won't reflect HDR image qualities.  That may change in the future as HDR adoption progresses.

Also, as far as I know, the only images that show the HDR badge in grid view are photos captured as HDR in the LR in-app camera.

[Charlie.D]

@TDC3000 

Another thought occurred to me.  Is your device in Low Power mode?  That would cause the error you see.  Please ensure Low Power mode is disabled, so the screen can achieve nit brightness levels needed for HDR.

Also, if your device is running hot, iOS will try to keep thigns cool by throttling systems down (CPU, screen, etc).  Let your device cool down and then try HDR again.

[TDC3000]

Yes, good thought. I did toggle low power mode off and on (made sure low power mode was OFF) and still had the issue. Basically, I went through all the troubleshooting described in this previous post:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-ecosystem-cloud-based-discussions/iphone-14-pro-lost-hdr-di...

It "seems" that something is not quite right as this error is not 100% reproducible all the time, and I've since toggled auto-brightness on and off and I now have full HDR editing and viewing ability on my phone (my desired state!)

[TDC3000]

Sure, thanks for asking.

Camera: Iphone 17 Pro Back Camera, Apple ProRAW, 12 Megapixel version.

This issue just popped up recently, don't recall it happening before a few weeks ago (was surprised to see it on a brand new iPhone model),.

Thanks for the info about HDR photo type filtering on photos captured by lightroom. I AM able to filter on HDR type in the mobile app on photos I've edited in HDR in Lightroom Classic, but just those, not the ones taken on my phone's camera app and edited in HDR, so helpful info there.

In thinking about this a bit more, the ability of Lightroom mobile to "see" a photo as HDR is dependent on it being imported as such, correct? The photos from Lightroom Classic that I can filter on in the mobile app all have been photomerged HDR photos. That seems to explain your comment and the behavior perfectly!

[Charlie.D]

Thanks for your response and additional notes.  As I have a similar device, I will continue trying to find reproducible steps for settings other than Low Power Mode = On

[TDC3000]

I will do the same, thank you!

[Rick.Williams]

I've been able to reproduce this a few times, but it is only happens when I'm outside. I'm in Florida so its still warm and sunny. I'm fairly certain it is due to slight throttling from the phone and it keeping itself from going into HDR mode.

[TDC3000]

Super helpful, I'll do some testing outside in the sun, keeping auto-brightness on and off and report back.

If all of this can be rolled into help-text instead of what's currently provided, that would be great.

[TDC3000 · Accepted solution]

Ok, I can definitely reproduce the issue by turning on low power mode. When I turn it off, the issue goes away. 

I now remember when this happened yesterday, I was on low power mode for quite a while and noticed the issue. What confused me was that when I switched off low power mode, the issue did not go away.  I rarely use low power mode anymore because the 16Pro is more efficient, so maybe that's why I began to notice it just recently. 

So maybe this is a combo of power issues and throttling? If so, then descriptive help text would be a great fix. I'll try leaving the phone on low power mode for awhile next to make sure.