HEIC and AVIF: cousins, not twins
HEIC and AVIF both stem from modern video codecs (HEVC and AV1 respectively). They achieve comparable compression on photographic content. The difference that matters: AVIF is supported by every major browser, while HEIC is Apple-only on the web.
If you want to publish iPhone photos online without forcing users to download an app or extension to view them, AVIF is the natural target.
Privacy: EXIF and GPS removed
HEIC files carry detailed metadata — GPS coordinates, camera serial, lens, timestamps. All of it is stripped during conversion. The AVIF you download contains only the image, safe to publish or share.
How the converter works
- Drop or select HEIC files from your iPhone or Mac (up to 20 MB each).
- We decode HEIC with libheif and re-encode as AVIF with libaom (quality 60, encode speed 6).
- Download the AVIF ready for any modern browser.
Frequently asked questions
Because AVIF is supported by every modern browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari 16.4+, Edge, Opera) while HEIC is not. AVIF is the web-ready cousin.
No noticeable loss at the default quality. Both formats are modern and efficient; the AVIF output is visually indistinguishable from the source HEIC.
Yes. EXIF metadata including GPS, camera information and timestamps is stripped during conversion.
Yes, 25 free conversions per day with no account. Sign up to raise the limits and process up to 100 photos per batch.