AVIF in Apple's Messages app: Poor support for popular image format
iOS and macOS have actually supported the open AVIF format for years. However, the implementation in the Messages app is still broken.
Messages app on the iPhone: Better not to send AVIFs.
(Image: oasisamuel / Shutterstock.com)
AVIF is actually a common image format: the open specification for compressing images or image sequences with AV1 into a HEIF container has been finalized since 2019. The competitor to HEIC, for example, is supported by over 90 percent of all web browsers and has been part of Apple operating systems since iOS 16 and macOS 13 – with Safari 16.4, including macOS 11 and macOS 12. However, support does not go far enough for some apps from the iPhone manufacturer: AVIF images are not displayed correctly in the Messages app on the Mac as well as on the iPhone and iPad. The Apple blog 9to5Mac drew attention to this this week. Instead of full-screen images, there is only a mini preview, and a recording can only be displayed in a roundabout way.
Displaying and using is possible, but not really in the Messages app
Anyone sending or receiving AVIF files as iMessage will see a faulty rendering in the form of a preview including image name and size. However, this preview is not clickable, so you cannot enlarge it. Confusingly, the preview works correctly before sending, so you can see the image in full size before it is sent. Only in the iMessage display – i.e., chats with individuals or groups – is the rendering broken again.
The only remedy is to save the image and then display it in Safari or the Photos app – something that only very few users are likely to understand. Since AVIF has already been supported in Safari and Photos for two years, as mentioned above, these formats are also actively used in the messaging app – the preferred form of communication on the iPhone –.
Complaint via feedback form
It is unclear whether Apple is aware of the bug. However, as it has been present in the Messages app for such a long time, it can be assumed. Apart from complaints in the press, the only other option is to write to Apple as a normal user via the product feedback form and hope that as many users as possible do so.
AVIF is intended to replace the unpopular WebP format, among other things. However, Apple itself tends to rely on HEIC and now stores iPhone images in this format. This could be one of the reasons why AVIF is simply being overlooked at the moment.
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externer Preisvergleich (heise Preisvergleich) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (heise Preisvergleich) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
(bsc)
