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This content has been automatically translated from Ukrainian.
Modern iPhones and some Android devices take photos in HEIC (High Efficiency Image Coding) format — this is a new image standard that allows storing high-quality photos in a smaller size than the usual JPEG. Efficient, right? But there are several important nuances associated with this format.
Browser Support
HEIC is not supported by all browsers. For example:
- ✅ Safari (on macOS and iOS) supports HEIC.
- ❌ Chrome, Firefox, Edge — do not support HEIC directly.
This means that if you upload a HEIC file to a website and try to display it — users in most browsers simply will not see the images.
Common Problem: Users Simply Change .heic → .jpg
To pass HTML validation when uploading an image (for example, through <input type="file" accept="image/jpeg">), some users simply rename the file from photo.heic to photo.jpg.
And, unfortunately, the browser cannot always detect this immediately.
What Happens Next?
- The server or frontend thinks it is a .jpg, but cannot process it.
- Errors may occur when processing the image, generating thumbnails, or viewing in the browser.
- And worst of all — such files can "break" the image pipeline on the site.
What to Do (for Developers)
- On the frontend, check not only the file extension but also the MIME type (file.type).
- When validating on the backend, analyze the file content or use libraries that accurately determine the format.
- Inform users about supported formats.
- When jpg upload does not work - during debugging, check the mime-type. This Trojan horse can take time, so it's better to look inside right away.
HEIC is a modern and efficient format, but it is still not supported everywhere. Changing the file extension is not a format conversion, and it creates more problems than it solves. If you are a developer — check the format at the content level. If you are a user — it's better to use a converter than to rename.
