{"id":27575,"date":"2023-04-04T10:13:14","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T17:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/?p=27575"},"modified":"2025-10-22T14:00:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T21:00:18","slug":"the_best_image_format_for_mobile_app","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/the_best_image_format_for_mobile_app","title":{"rendered":"The Best Image Format for Mobile Apps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p id=\"e24a\">Throughout my years of mobile app development (on both iOS and Android platforms), I kept running into the same problem: What image format should I use? What would be the optimal format for this OS (Android or iOS), or a particular OS version? Can the device hardware run what I\u2019m building and perform well? Sound familiar?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"e24a\">Well, I\u2019ve learned a lot about this problem, and I thought it might be helpful to you, too. In the following article, I will describe the various mobile app image options and how and when we could use them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Image Options for iOS App Developer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>iOS 11+: Since iOS 11, Apple has introduced a new iPhone photo format,&nbsp;<code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;format for iOS devices.&nbsp;<code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;is more efficient when it comes to file size while keeping the same image quality compared to&nbsp;<code>JPG<\/code>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>iOS 10: Before iOS 11 the recommended image format was&nbsp;<code>PNG<\/code>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">HEIC vs. PNG<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"4da9\">The new file format&nbsp;<code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;stores images with smaller file sizes when you compare them to the common image file format i.e.,&nbsp;<code>PNG<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"93dc\">Even though the size of the&nbsp;<code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;image is smaller than the&nbsp;<code>PNG<\/code>&nbsp;image file, the image quality is similar to the&nbsp;<code>PNG<\/code>&nbsp;format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"9216\">Compared to the&nbsp;<code>PNG<\/code>&nbsp;file, the&nbsp;<code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;file is far more flexible as it can store a single image or sequence of images. While on the other hand, the&nbsp;<code>PNG<\/code>&nbsp;file can hold only one image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"7101\">In addition to it, the&nbsp;<code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;file contains an image, along with its metadata.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">HEIC vs. JPEG<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Compression<\/strong>. <code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;offers a much more efficient, modern compression method than the older&nbsp;<code>JPEG<\/code>&nbsp;format.&nbsp;<code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;breaks images into significantly smaller files without affecting quality.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Storage space<\/strong>. Most&nbsp;<code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;files will take up significantly less room than&nbsp;<code>JPEG<\/code>&nbsp;on a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Their innovative compression process means&nbsp;<code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;can use as little as half the space that a&nbsp;<code>JPEG<\/code>&nbsp;file would.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Image quality<\/strong>. When it comes to both compression and image quality,&nbsp;<code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;files win out over&nbsp;<code>JPEG<\/code>. The&nbsp;<code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;format can enhance the quality of photos with transparency and broader dynamic range capabilities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Compatibility<\/strong>. While&nbsp;<code>JPEG<\/code>&nbsp;has almost universal compatibility,&nbsp;<code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;files don&#8217;t.&nbsp;<code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;has become more commonplace in recent years, but its primary use is on Apple devices. You may even need to convert your&nbsp;<code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;files to&nbsp;<code>JPEG<\/code>&nbsp;when transferring photos from an iPhone to a PC.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Transparency<\/strong>. <code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;supports image transparency in a similar way to&nbsp;<code>PNG<\/code>&nbsp;files, on the other hand, the&nbsp;<code>JPEG<\/code>&nbsp;format doesn&#8217;t support transparency.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Extra Note Regarding Image Options for iOS App Developer Consideration<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"2b9c\">But that\u2019s not the end of it, on older devices that still support iOS 11 (iPhone 6 for example)&nbsp;<code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;might still work but due to slow hardware, it might take a long time to render a&nbsp;<code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;format image.<br>This means that the iOS version is not the only parameter to determine the image format, it should also come from the device itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Android App Image Options<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Android 4.2.1:The recommended image format for the older Android version is&nbsp;<code>PNG<\/code>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Android 4.2.1 (API level 17)+: Support for&nbsp;<code>webp<\/code>&nbsp;was added.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Android 14+: Support for&nbsp;<code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;was added on Android 12+.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Note<\/strong>:&nbsp;<code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;is supported within Android since Android 12, but our testing showed that the implementation is not so great, and there are many issues and bugs with&nbsp;<code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;decoding (transparent background etc\u2026) therefore I do not recommend&nbsp;<code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;for Android 12, 13.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">WebP vs. PNG<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"115b\">This format provides superior lossless and lossy compression for images. Using&nbsp;<code>webp<\/code>, developers can create smaller, richer images.&nbsp;<code>webp<\/code>&nbsp;lossless image files are, on average, 26% smaller than&nbsp;<code>PNG<\/code>. These image files also support transparency (also known as alpha channel) at a cost of just 22% more bytes.<br>WebP as a format can support both lossy and lossless modes, making it an ideal replacement for both <a href=\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/tools\/compress-png\">PNG<\/a> and JPG. The only thing to keep in mind is that it only has native support on devices running Android 4.2.1 (API level 17) and higher. Fortunately, most devices satisfy that requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">WebP vs. JPEG<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"169a\">According to this&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/speed\/webp\/docs\/webp_study\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">study<\/a>, we see that the average WebP file size is 25%-34% smaller compared to JPEG files, there results of the study indicate that <a href=\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/tools\/compress-webp\">WebP<\/a> can provide significant compression improvements over <a href=\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/tools\/compress-jpeg\">JPEG<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Background<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"7c3e\"><code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;is a container format for images and sequences of images encoded using&nbsp;<code>AV1<\/code>.&nbsp;<code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;takes advantage of the intra-frame encoded content from video compression. This dramatically improves image quality for the same file size when compared to older image formats, such as&nbsp;<code>JPEG<\/code>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<code>PNG<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">AVIF vs. PNG<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"81b7\">As a lossless compression file format,&nbsp;<code>PNG<\/code>&nbsp;images are notorious for their large file sizes.&nbsp;<code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;supports both lossy and lossless compression. It is this versatility that gives&nbsp;<code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;an edge when it comes to file size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"193b\">Decoding a&nbsp;<code>PNG<\/code>&nbsp;is instant, thanks to the lack of complexity,&nbsp;<code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;tend to be more complex, therefore slower systems may struggle a bit more to decode the image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"2a58\">Currently,&nbsp;<code>PNG<\/code>&nbsp;still holds is the best format for lossless compression with reduced file sizes and greater platform support.&nbsp;<code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;is an excellent alternative for delivery if you\u2019re willing to turn to lossy compression to reduce the file size, but comes with complexity that older platforms with old hardware may find challenging to render.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">AVIF vs. JPEG<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Quality.<\/strong><code>JPEG<\/code>&nbsp;suffers in terms of compression quality today. Indeed, even the more modern JPEG 2000 can offer better overall compression.<br><br>On the other hand&nbsp;<code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;tends to provide some of the best results we can achieve with lossy, non-photographic images. Those who are dealing with an image with low fidelity&nbsp;<code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;will out-perform&nbsp;<code>JPEG<\/code>&nbsp;. But there are cons&nbsp;<code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;as well,&nbsp;<code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;image does not support progressive rendering, so files must be downloaded entirely before they can be displayed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Speed comparison<\/strong>. <code>JPEG<\/code>&nbsp;is outdated and was written before the invention of multicore CPU chips. It is not designed to work with a sequential process where there are multiple cores.<br><code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;can work in parallel with multiple cores which makes it a more suitable form of image compression.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Animation<\/strong>. <code>JPEG<\/code>&nbsp;is an image format. This means that it was designed to show still images.<br><code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;is based on an actual video codec and provides animation capacity which means it can support animations and&nbsp;<code>JPEG<\/code>&nbsp;cannot.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Overall<\/strong>. Even though&nbsp;<code>JPEG 2000<\/code>&nbsp;was a substantial improvement from the original&nbsp;<code>JPEG<\/code>format it still cannot compete with AVIF in many ways: <code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;has become the ideal choice for those who need to manage encoding in a low-bandwidth setting, even though&nbsp;<code>JPEG<\/code>&nbsp;supports progressive rendering it still lacks a lot of features that&nbsp;<code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;offers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Extra Note on Android App Image Options<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"5ca3\">Some devices with slow\/old hardware might be able to get&nbsp;<code>AVIF<\/code>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<code>webp<\/code>&nbsp;based on their Android version but their hardware may fail to render those formats (due to low memory) or it could take a long time (due to a slow processor\/ graphics processor).<br>Same as iOS the Android optimal format can\u2019t only be determined based on the Android version but we\u2019ll have to consider the Android device as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mobile App Image Options for Older OS Versions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">PNG vs. JPEG<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"00b3\">I want to raise another point here, for the older versions I did state that PNG will be the optimal image format, but that\u2019s not always true,\u00a0<code>PNG<\/code>\u00a0vs\u00a0<code>JPEG<\/code>decision should be based on the complexity of the image and not solely on the platform they are running on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"00b3\">For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img width=\"618\" height=\"182\" data-public-id=\"moblieimageoptimzationblog\/moblieimageoptimzationblog.png\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/w_618,h_182,c_scale\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679605070\/moblieimageoptimzationblog\/moblieimageoptimzationblog.png?_i=AA\" alt=\"Image comparing two pictures with varying image compressions to keep in mind when considering mobile app image options\" class=\"wp-post-27575 wp-image-27576\" data-format=\"png\" data-transformations=\"f_auto,q_auto\" data-version=\"1679605070\" data-seo=\"1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679605070\/moblieimageoptimzationblog\/moblieimageoptimzationblog.png?_i=AA 618w, https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679605070\/moblieimageoptimzationblog\/moblieimageoptimzationblog.png?_i=AA 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 618px) 100vw, 618px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/developer.android.com\/develop\/ui\/views\/graphics\/reduce-image-sizes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">https:\/\/developer.android.com\/develop\/ui\/views\/graphics\/reduce-image-sizes<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"8489\">The image above shows two images that come out quite differently depending on which compression scheme the developer applies. The image on the left has many small details, and thus compresses more efficiently with&nbsp;<code>JPG<\/code>. The image on the right, with runs of the same color, compresses more efficiently with&nbsp;<code>PNG<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Choose a Format for Android?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"870e\">The following image provides a simple visualization to help you decide which compression scheme to use, one thing that should come into account, if the device supports Android 14+ you should consider (based on the restrictions I described here) using&nbsp;<code>AVIF<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img width=\"624\" height=\"353\" data-public-id=\"moblieimageoptimization2blog\/moblieimageoptimization2blog.png\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/w_624,h_353,c_scale\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679605069\/moblieimageoptimization2blog\/moblieimageoptimization2blog.png?_i=AA\" alt=\"Image of a flow chart showing android app image options\" class=\"wp-post-27575 wp-image-27577\" style=\"width:624px;height:353px\" data-format=\"png\" data-transformations=\"f_auto,q_auto\" data-version=\"1679605069\" data-seo=\"1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679605069\/moblieimageoptimization2blog\/moblieimageoptimization2blog.png?_i=AA 624w, https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679605069\/moblieimageoptimization2blog\/moblieimageoptimization2blog.png?_i=AA 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/developer.android.com\/develop\/ui\/views\/graphics\/reduce-image-sizes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">https:\/\/developer.android.com\/develop\/ui\/views\/graphics\/reduce-image-sizes<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Choose a Format for iOS?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"2aa7\">Taking into account the restrictions I mentioned before, the decision should be pretty easy, iOS 11+ should always use&nbsp;<code>HEIC<\/code>&nbsp;lower iOS version should go for&nbsp;<code>PNG<\/code>&nbsp;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"0422\">Choosing an image format is no easy task, you must take into account a lot of parameters such as OS version, device, and image complexity. We can always choose the easy path and set\u00a0<code>JPG<\/code>\u00a0to everything, but if we want better performance, better loading time, and overall better user experience we need to pick the correct format for each use case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/image-api\">Cloudinary helps app developers manage, edit, create, transform images, and more<\/a>. Take a minute to discover what you can do with Cloudinary for free (for life).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Throughout my years of mobile app development (on both iOS and Android platforms), I kept running into the same problem: What image format should I use? What would be the optimal format for this OS (Android or iOS), or a particular OS version? Can the device hardware run what I\u2019m building and perform well? Sound [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":27553,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[227],"class_list":["post-27575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-performance-optimization"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.6 (Yoast SEO v26.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Best Image Format for Mobile Apps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We explore mobile app image options, for both Android and iOS platforms and help you choose the right format for your project.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Best Image Format for Mobile Apps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We explore mobile app image options, for both Android and iOS platforms and help you choose the right format for your project.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cloudinary Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-04T17:13:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-22T21:00:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1678489277\/best-image-format\/best-image-format.jpg?_i=AA\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/the_best_image_format_for_mobile_app\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"The Best Image Format for Mobile Apps\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-04T17:13:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-22T21:00:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/the_best_image_format_for_mobile_app\"},\"wordCount\":1533,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1678489277\/best-image-format\/best-image-format.jpg?_i=AA\",\"keywords\":[\"Performance Optimization\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2023\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/the_best_image_format_for_mobile_app\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc\",\"name\":\"The Best Image Format for Mobile Apps\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1678489277\/best-image-format\/best-image-format.jpg?_i=AA\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-04T17:13:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-22T21:00:18+00:00\",\"description\":\"We explore mobile app image options, for both Android and iOS platforms and help you choose the right format for your project.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1678489277\/best-image-format\/best-image-format.jpg?_i=AA\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1678489277\/best-image-format\/best-image-format.jpg?_i=AA\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1100,\"caption\":\"Image showing a yellow chair in a living room with different image formats labeled around it\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Best Image Format for Mobile Apps\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Cloudinary Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Cloudinary Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1649718331\/Web_Assets\/blog\/cloudinary_logo_for_white_bg_1937437aa7_19374666c7_193742f877\/cloudinary_logo_for_white_bg_1937437aa7_19374666c7_193742f877.png?_i=AA\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1649718331\/Web_Assets\/blog\/cloudinary_logo_for_white_bg_1937437aa7_19374666c7_193742f877\/cloudinary_logo_for_white_bg_1937437aa7_19374666c7_193742f877.png?_i=AA\",\"width\":312,\"height\":60,\"caption\":\"Cloudinary Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Best Image Format for Mobile Apps","description":"We explore mobile app image options, for both Android and iOS platforms and help you choose the right format for your project.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Best Image Format for Mobile Apps","og_description":"We explore mobile app image options, for both Android and iOS platforms and help you choose the right format for your project.","og_url":"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc","og_site_name":"Cloudinary Blog","article_published_time":"2023-04-04T17:13:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-22T21:00:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1100,"url":"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1678489277\/best-image-format\/best-image-format.jpg?_i=AA","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/the_best_image_format_for_mobile_app"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"The Best Image Format for Mobile Apps","datePublished":"2023-04-04T17:13:14+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-22T21:00:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/the_best_image_format_for_mobile_app"},"wordCount":1533,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1678489277\/best-image-format\/best-image-format.jpg?_i=AA","keywords":["Performance Optimization"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2023","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/the_best_image_format_for_mobile_app","url":"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc","name":"The Best Image Format for Mobile Apps","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1678489277\/best-image-format\/best-image-format.jpg?_i=AA","datePublished":"2023-04-04T17:13:14+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-22T21:00:18+00:00","description":"We explore mobile app image options, for both Android and iOS platforms and help you choose the right format for your project.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1678489277\/best-image-format\/best-image-format.jpg?_i=AA","contentUrl":"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1678489277\/best-image-format\/best-image-format.jpg?_i=AA","width":2000,"height":1100,"caption":"Image showing a yellow chair in a living room with different image formats labeled around it"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/medium.com\/codex\/mobile-what-image-format-should-i-use-39b44e9f86fc#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Best Image Format for Mobile Apps"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/","name":"Cloudinary Blog","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Cloudinary Blog","url":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1649718331\/Web_Assets\/blog\/cloudinary_logo_for_white_bg_1937437aa7_19374666c7_193742f877\/cloudinary_logo_for_white_bg_1937437aa7_19374666c7_193742f877.png?_i=AA","contentUrl":"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1649718331\/Web_Assets\/blog\/cloudinary_logo_for_white_bg_1937437aa7_19374666c7_193742f877\/cloudinary_logo_for_white_bg_1937437aa7_19374666c7_193742f877.png?_i=AA","width":312,"height":60,"caption":"Cloudinary Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/cloudinary-marketing\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1678489277\/best-image-format\/best-image-format.jpg?_i=AA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27575"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38978,"href":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27575\/revisions\/38978"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloudinary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}