Question 1

Why does my iPhone produce HEIC files in the first place?

Accepted Answer

Since iOS 11, Apple has shipped HEIC as the default to save storage — a HEIC photo is roughly half the size of the equivalent JPEG. The downside is that many Windows apps, websites, email clients, and CMSs still cannot open HEIC, which is why a quick conversion is often necessary when sharing iPhone photos with non-Apple users.

Question 2

Will I lose any quality?

Accepted Answer

The PNG encoding step is lossless. The original HEIC is itself a lossy compression of whatever the camera sensor captured, but converting to PNG does not add any further loss on top of that. The PNG is a faithful pixel-for-pixel copy of what your iPhone decoded from the HEIC.

Question 3

Why is the PNG so much bigger than the HEIC?

Accepted Answer

HEIC uses HEVC compression, which is roughly 5–8× more efficient than PNG’s DEFLATE. That is the entire point of HEIC. Expect a 1.5MB iPhone HEIC to become a 6–10MB PNG. If file size matters, consider converting to JPG instead with our HEIC to JPG path (use AVIF to JPG / WebP to JPG as a workaround if your browser handles HEIC decoding).

Question 4

Does HEIC decoding work in every browser?

Accepted Answer

Safari (Mac/iOS) handles HEIC natively. Chrome, Firefox, and Edge added HEIC decode support gradually through 2024–25; if your browser is fully up to date, it should work. If the upload errors out with "cannot decode", update your browser or convert in Apple Photos first.

Question 5

Does it preserve transparency or EXIF?

Accepted Answer

Most iPhone HEIC photos are opaque, but if yours has alpha (e.g. exported from a Live Photo edit) it is preserved. EXIF is not carried into the PNG output (browsers do not expose it during canvas paint), which is also a small privacy win — no GPS, no camera serial in the converted file.

Question 6

Why is in-browser image processing slower than online editors?

Accepted Answer

Server-side editors run on dedicated CPUs and GPUs with native code paths and parallel workers. Our engine uses the HTML5 Canvas API running single-threaded inside your browser tab, which is typically 2–5× slower than a backend pipeline. The trade-off is total privacy: your image is never uploaded, never logged, never stored on a third-party server. Closing the tab erases everything from memory immediately. For most photos, screenshots, and graphics the wait is small, and for sensitive material — work documents, ID scans, private photos — the privacy gain is well worth the few extra seconds.

Question 7

Is my image uploaded to a server?

Accepted Answer

No. Everything runs entirely inside your browser tab using the HTML5 Canvas API and JavaScript. The file is decoded into local memory only, processed in the same tab, and the result is offered as a direct download. Nothing is transmitted to any server, no account is required, no analytics are tied to your file, and closing the tab discards every byte from memory.

Question 8

How big a file can I process?

Accepted Answer

Up to 25MB and roughly 64 megapixels by default. The limit exists because every pixel needs to fit inside your tab's memory. Most phone photos, screenshots, and design exports sit comfortably under that ceiling. If your image is larger, resize or compress it first (try our Resize Image or Compress Image tools) before re-running the effect.

Question 9

Which input image formats work?

Accepted Answer

JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP, AVIF, HEIC, and most other formats your browser can decode natively are supported. Output is typically PNG (lossless, preserves transparency) or JPG (smaller file size for photos). Some tools expose a format picker so you can match the file type your downstream app expects.

Question 10

Does the effect lose quality?

Accepted Answer

PNG output is lossless — every pixel the canvas wrote out is encoded exactly as drawn. JPG output is recompressed (visually near-lossless above 85% quality). The effect itself works on raw pixels, so there is no double-encoding penalty as long as you keep the default PNG output.

Question 11

Which browsers are supported?

Accepted Answer

Recent Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, and other Chromium-based browsers all work. The tool only relies on the standard HTML5 Canvas API, which has been universally supported for over a decade. Mobile browsers work too, although large images may take noticeably longer because phone CPUs are weaker than desktop CPUs.

Question 12

Is there a watermark or sign-up wall?

Accepted Answer

No. The tool is completely free, requires no account, attaches no watermark, applies no rate limits, and shows no popup ads on your output. The download is the file you would get from running the same canvas operation locally — nothing more, nothing less.

Question 13

Can I call HEIC to PNG Converter from a script?

Accepted Answer

HEIC to PNG Converter is a browser-only tool by design and does not expose a hosted API. The reason is the same as the privacy story: there is no Favtoo backend doing the work, so there is no service to call. If you need to script the same transformation, the underlying engine (standard browser APIs) is open-source and can be used directly from your own code.

Question 14

How long does Favtoo retain my data after using HEIC to PNG Converter?

Accepted Answer

Favtoo keeps no copy of your file because Favtoo never receives your file. HEIC to PNG Converter runs entirely in your browser, the input is held only in your tab's memory, and closing the tab discards it. There is no opt-in cloud history, no "recent jobs" panel synced to an account, and no server-side retention to configure — the architecture simply has nowhere for your file to be stored.

Question 15

Does HEIC to PNG Converter support batch processing?

Accepted Answer

HEIC to PNG Converter processes one input at a time by design — it keeps memory usage predictable on lower-end devices and makes results easier to verify. To handle a folder, run the tool once per file; the page stays loaded between runs and remembers your last-used settings, so the second run is essentially instant.

Question 16

What input formats are supported by HEIC to PNG Converter?

Accepted Answer

HEIC to PNG Converter accepts PNG, JPG, GIF, WebP, BMP, and SVG. If your input is in a format that is not directly supported, convert it first using one of Favtoo's converter tools — every Favtoo converter outputs a file that is a clean input to the next tool in the chain.

Question 17

What does HEIC to PNG Converter do that command-line tools do not?

Accepted Answer

Desktop apps usually have more advanced features but require installation, maintenance and (often) a licence. Paid online tools are convenient but route your file through their servers and gate downloads behind accounts. HEIC to PNG Converter sits in between: free, instant, and private, but intentionally narrow in scope. For one-off jobs and the common image editing and conversion operations, it is usually the lowest-friction choice; for highly specialised work, a dedicated app is still the right answer.

Question 18

Will HEIC to PNG Converter ask me to pay to download the result?

Accepted Answer

HEIC to PNG Converter is free to use. The processing runs in your browser, which keeps the per-user cost low enough that the tool can be offered openly. The download is the same file the engine produced — you can use it for as many runs as you need.

Question 19

How accessible is the HEIC to PNG Converter interface?

Accepted Answer

HEIC to PNG Converter uses native HTML controls wherever possible, which means keyboard navigation, focus rings, and screen-reader labels work the way the platform expects. The drop zone accepts files via the keyboard-accessible file picker as well as drag-and-drop, and result downloads use standard browser download flows. If you spot an accessibility gap, Favtoo treats it as a bug worth fixing.

Question 20

Does HEIC to PNG Converter ask for any browser permissions?

Accepted Answer

HEIC to PNG Converter only needs the standard web platform — file picker access for the inputs you choose to load, and optionally clipboard access if you copy the result rather than downloading it. There is no microphone, camera, geolocation or background-permission request, because none of those are needed for the work the tool does.

Question 21

Does HEIC to PNG Converter require a browser extension or plug-in?

Accepted Answer

No installation is needed. HEIC to PNG Converter runs as a normal web page, with no browser extension, no native helper, and no separate desktop client to download. That is partly a privacy choice — extensions can request broad permissions, while a regular page is sandboxed by default — and partly a convenience one: you can use HEIC to PNG Converter on any computer you have temporary access to without leaving anything installed on it.

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