I uploaded an image taken on my iPhone to Google Drive and noticed that the file format ended in .HEIC. After downloading it, I dropped it into WhatsApp and noticed the image wouldn't display. I thought it was time to find out more about this file format. I asked Gemini:
What is HEIC file format and is it compatible with most messaging apps?
HEIC, or High Efficiency Image File Format, is a modern image file format that uses High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) to store images. It's the default format for photos taken on iPhones running iOS 11 or later because it can produce higher-quality images with smaller file sizes compared to older formats like JPEG. This helps save storage space on your device.
While HEIC is great for storage and quality, it is not universally compatible with most messaging apps or other devices. Messaging apps, especially those that use MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) for cross-platform communication, often automatically convert HEIC images to the more widely supported JPEG format to ensure the recipient can view the photo. This conversion can sometimes lead to a loss of image quality. While some apps and platforms, particularly within the Apple ecosystem, have native HEIC support, you might run into compatibility issues when sharing these files with users on other operating systems like Android or Windows.
The settings can be changed on your iPhone so that all images can be saved in JPEG format if wanted. I tried to change the image that I'd downloaded to a JPEG using Ubuntu's Shotwell app. No luck. I asked Gemini:
I tried Shotwell and the image name was greyed out and thus unable to be uploaded. Any workarounds?
Shotwell has a known issue with HEIC files, especially when you are using the Snap or Flatpak versions of the app, which sometimes lack full system integration to handle these files. The files appearing "greyed out" during upload often indicates that the application doesn't have the necessary library or permissions to properly process and convert the HEIC format for the web service.
A reliable workaround is to convert the files to a compatible format like JPEG first, using a separate tool, before attempting to upload them. As we discussed, the `heif-convert` command-line tool is excellent for this.
Convert HEIC to JPEG with `heif-convert`
1. Open your terminal.
2. Use the command to convert the file:
`heif-convert your_photo.HEIC your_photo.jpg`
3. Then, upload the newly created `your_photo.jpg` file using Shotwell or your web browser.
This two-step process bypasses the problem within Shotwell and ensures your images are in a universally compatible format.
In the end I just downloaded GIMP and used that to convert the file. While preparing this post, I found an image that I liked and wanted to insert it. However, it was in AVIF format and found that Blogger wouldn't accept it. Interesting. I've written about this file format in a post titled A New Image File Format in July of 2023.
