Screenshot on physical device does not work with iOS 17 / Xcode 15

flutter screenshot is broken with new iOS 17 / Xcode 15. This is due to essentially the same issue as #128531.

Error taking screenshot: ProcessException: Process exited abnormally:
Could not start screenshotr service! Remember that you have to mount the Developer disk image on your device if you want
to use the screenshotr service.
  Command: /path/toflutter/bin/cache/artifacts/libimobiledevice/idevicescreenshot . --udid xxxx

There's already an issue with libimobiledevice: libimobiledevice/libimobiledevice#1465, libimobiledevice/libimobiledevice#1452

This issue is marked P1 but has had no recent status updates.

The P1 label indicates high-priority issues that are at the top of the work list. This is the highest priority level a bug can have if it isn't affecting a top-tier customer or breaking the build. Bugs marked P1 are generally actively being worked on unless the assignee is dealing with a P0 bug (or another P1 bug). Issues at this level should be resolved in a matter of months and should have monthly updates on GitHub.

Please consider where this bug really falls in our current priorities, and label it or assign it accordingly. This allows people to have a clearer picture of what work is actually planned. Thanks!

Just FYI using older Flutter 3.16.4 on MacOS 14.4, the error message I get is:

% flutter screenshot
Screenshot not supported for Maksim’s iPhone.

This should be fixable now with Xcode 27.

Xcode 27 provides devicectl device capture, which "Captures the device's screen"

Huh devicectl device capture also works on 26.4. I wonder when it was first introduced.

Huh devicectl device capture also works on 26.4. I wonder when it was first introduced.

I think that's a red herring. After installing Xcode 27, devicectl becomes installed as a system command line (like xcodebuild) and refused to use the version from Xcode (even when using xcrun or accessing it directly by path like /Applications/Xcode-26-4.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin/devicectl). If you do xcrun devicectl --version, you can see it's still using the Xcode 27 version even if Xcode 26 is selected

That's... bonkers. I'm sad now.

@vashworth

Xcode 15 is our minimum now as of #180531. Which means idevicescreenshot doesn't work with any configuration with latest Flutter (though maybe still works with < iOS 17 and Xcode 15? Unclear, but I doubt many devs are building their apps on iOS 16). That means we can:

Add the devicectl device capture code for Xcode 27.
Change the < Xcode 27 fallback to toolExit with: "flutter screenshot requires Xcode 27 or higher."
Remove the _iMobileDevice.takeScreenshot code.
Stop building and shipping idevicescreenshot, which will be one fewer tool in our libimobiledevice suite Investigate alternatives to libimobiledevice #6118, down to only idevicesyslog.

@vashworth wdyt?

Use devicectl for screenshots on Xcode 27, remove idevicescreenshot a…

This thread has been automatically locked since there has not been any recent activity after it was closed. If you are still experiencing a similar issue, please open a new bug, including the output of flutter doctor -v and a minimal reproduction of the issue.

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Screenshot on physical device does not work with iOS 17 / Xcode 15 #128598

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Screenshot on physical device does not work with iOS 17 / Xcode 15 #128598

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flutter-triage-bot commented on Dec 27, 2023

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maks-ucs commented on Mar 18, 2024

vashworth commented on Jun 9, 2026

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github-actions commented on Aug 14, 2026

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