Huawei is rolling out HarmonyOS 7 Developer Beta 1, and the new software testing build unlocks some interesting changes to various aspects of the device, including the camera photo format. Instead of the JPG, the company has switched the default photo format from JPG to HEIF.
JPG and HEIF are image file formats. They store and display digital photos. The former is a 30-year-old universal standard format, while the latter is a modern, highly efficient format that saves space without compromising the image quality.
According to the new changes, HarmonyOS 7.0 (API26) Developer Beta 1 has switched the default camera photo format from JPG to HEIF to improve storage efficiency.
Unlike JPG, HEIF can eliminate the storage problems users often face on their devices while storing images. Clear photos or files become larger in photo albums, and cloud backups require more efficient storage, affecting the user experience.
HEIF is a super-efficient image file format. It uses HEVC H.265 encoding that can reduce file size as well as maintain good image quality in typical photo scenarios.
The respective format does not fill up space quickly, and results in long-term photo taking, backup, and sharing will be lighter, compared to JPG, which will cover up the space in the same number of images.
Per the changelog, HEIF images will gradually appear in scenarios such as an album selection, content publishing, customer service, image uploading, cloud backup, and image editing.
Developers should adjust the file extension verification rules when uploading images in their applications. One can also prefer using the image encoding and decoding capabilities provided by Image Kit to convert HEIF to JPEG or PNG.
What else Huawei will change in HarmonyOS 7 is unclear at the moment. It will become clearer in the coming months with subsequent software versions.
