If you own an iPhone and care to share photos with anyone, go ahead and switch off of the lamentably default HEIC image format back to JPEG, in the settings.
@blakespot iphone/ios is #1 platform in the USA. by extension, HEIC is #1 image format. By using it, you can rest assured that a majority of people can view the image. ;)
@blakespot If not, on iOS, when sharing a photo, you can click "Options" and select "Format: Most Compatible". There is no need to downgrade all your library because of a few photos you may want to share.
@zbrando@blakespot yes there is an option too, but most people are not aware of this and by default it will send your gps pos. I disable it at the source, the camera app.
@twilliability You can set the format options under Settings app / Camera / Formats. HEIC is a relatively new format that takes less space for the same quality as JPEG (generally). It is not supported for auto-viewing by many apps. (Drop an HEIC image in a Teams chat, for instance, and you don't see a thumbnail, but a file download link.)
Storage is cheap. Your media is more versatile (presently) if you use JPEG.
@comradehw JPEGs are more widely supported in apps. For instance, drop an HEIC in a Teams chat and you don't get a thumbnail but rather a file download link. Everyone in the chat was saying "what is this .heic file?"
HEIC is more efficient and smaller, no doubt, but presently JPEG has better support at a convenience level like I described.
@blakespot@comradehw by that logic we should all switch back to usb-a connectors and cables.
Tech doesn’t progress by going backwards. In this case, whatever you are using should have better support for different formats.
@blakespot okay, I get where you're coming from. I see that as something that various apps and platforms need to change though, not an issue with the format itself. It's like when Apple released the iMac G3 without serial ports and floppy drive in favour of USB and CD-ROM.
Storage is practically free in certain contexts, sure. But if we reduce the size of every photo taken by an iPhone sent across the internet, it represents a significant energy and environmental impact. Also, in situations where I'm camping in a forest for a week with no connectivity and only my 128GB iPhone to take photos & videos, every little bit of storage saving helps.
@blakespot@comradehw Unfortunately storage isn't free with iCloud, and my iCloud storage is nearly full and even if I wanted to pay there is no higher storage plan than 2.2 GB so I have to conserve as much storage as I can.
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