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Lifehacker Tech 911 The purpose of the column is simple: to answer your technical questions, whether big, small or messy. If you will allow me a little indulgence this week, let’s start talking Joel, Patron saint of the Lifehacker video, raised a technical issue that some of you may wonder about, but never asked.

How Joel wrote to me yesterday in Slack:

Is there a way to throw photos out of the air without using HEIC format by default?

Of course, he speaks on his iPhone – if “AirDrop” hasn’t revealed it. His question, however, comes to a central part of the iOS experience. The HEIC / HEIF file formats are designed for maximum performance. They save a higher quality image than a typical JPG and take up much less space on your device. And the file can store both editing information (so you can reset what you no longer want) and multiple images contained in a single file, like all of the “live photo” most modern smartphones can today .

The disadvantage? HEICs aren’t as compatible as JPGs depending on the app or service you’re using. Personally, I have a handy HEIC converter on my desktop that’s built into the Windows 10 right-click context menu so I can convert everything right away.

As for the iPhone, if you want to send a JPG version of a HEIC image to a friend via AirDrop, you’ll have to jump through a few extra frames. I will start with the nuclear approach. You can completely overlook the use of HEICs Settings> Camera> Formats. Choose “Most Compatible” instead of “High Efficiency” and you’ll be returned to the JPGs to see any new pictures you are taking. However, in doing so, you lose every single advantage that HEICs offer. I don’t think the compromise is worth it, but it’s just me.

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If you don’t care much about sending the original photo, you can quickly bring it up in Photos, tap to hide your device’s interface, and take a screenshot. The resolution of your screenshot is much lower than the resolution of your raw camera file (roughly 1170 x 1152 pixels versus 3024 x 4032 pixels when I did this), but the JPG may work in a pinch.

Otherwise, you will need to convert that HEIC to a JPG on your iPhone before sending it. One technique for doing this is opening the Files App and make a new empty folder (for the JPGs).

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Next, open the photos App and choose the photos you want to convert. Tap the divide Button in the lower left corner and select Copy photo. Go back to the folder in FilesLong press the blank and select Insert. You now have a full resolution JPG version of the image on your iPhone. Tap on it, tap the Share button again, and send it to anyone you want.

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You can also create a handy shortcut (or borrow one) that converts your HEIC images to JPGs. Here is mine, which I added to my iOS sharing sheet for easy access:

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Now all you have to do is go to Photos, tap a HEIC, go to the Share Sheet, tap the shortcut, and a brand new JPG version of the image will appear in the Recent folder in Photos. Sharing via AirDrop is just a step or two away.

Do you have a technical question that keeps you up at night? Tired of troubleshooting your Windows or Mac? Are you looking for advice on apps, browser extensions, or utilities to accomplish a specific task? Let us know! Let us know in the comments below or by email david.murphy@lifehacker.com.