Open AAE File

iOS Image File Formats

Depending on the application iOS can use JPG, PNG and HEIC image file format for picture storage purposes. PNG is used for screenshots only or by some third-party apps. HEIC is a default format for photos starting from iOS 11 where it was first introduced and it provides the best image compression while preserving image quality. JPG is an alternative storage format for photos when compatibility with older devices is needed. Also, all of these files can have AAE sidecar files stored next to them which store all the edits applied to the source file.

Newer iOS devices can shoot images in RAW format where all image details directly from camera are stored in a file with DNG file extension. DNG is short for Adobe Digital Negative Raw file and besides image data in RAW format it also contains metadata about photo in Exif format.

Some formats like HEIC and DNG are not easily opened on many PCs including once operating Windows OS and older versions of Mac OS. To easily convert images to the compatible format you can select “iCloud Photos” in your iOS device settings to upload all your photos to icloud.com. Photos in the iCloud could be downloaded in the format compatible with your PC. To do this navigate to the photo you need to download in the iCloud interface and click on the right bottom corner of the download icon. You will see a popup menu. Select the “Most compatible” option from the menu to download your image in JPG file format. JPG file format is widely supported image format and could be opened on pretty much any device including older once.

Certain 3rd party apps on iOS also allow saving images to TIFF or Tagged Image File Format, but it is rarely used and is necessary for specific applications only.

Some messaging apps can use GIF images for animations. iOS 11 allows storing GIF files in a special Animated Albums which will store all your animated images. You can both save GIF images and use them later in your messaging or social networking apps.