Huawei’s HarmonyOS 7 Beta Swaps JPG for HEIF in the Camera

Huawei has rolled out HarmonyOS 7 Developer Beta 1, and the build changes the default camera photo format from JPG to HEIF. The change targets storage efficiency, with HEIF using HEVC H.265 encoding to shrink files without losing image quality. Any app that ingests a photo from the system gallery now has to handle a new file container. That is the consequential part: developers need to update file extension checks and conversion paths ahead of the public release, per the changelog.

API 26 is the new level. The change ships in API level 26, a new OS-level milestone for HarmonyOS 7. Per the changelog, HEIF images will gradually appear across album selection, content publishing, customer service, image uploading, cloud backup, and image editing. The final version of HarmonyOS 7 is planned for fall 2026 if the developer beta wraps on schedule.

What the Beta Changes in the Camera

Per the HarmonyOS 7 Developer Beta changelog details, the new default is HEIF rather than the JPG format Huawei phones have shipped with for years. JPG is a 30-year-old universal standard format, while HEIF is a modern, highly efficient format that saves space without compromising the image quality. The technical hook is HEVC H.265 encoding, the same compression scheme used for 4K video, which can cut file size while holding image detail. Huawei is rolling the change out as a developer beta first, with the public release gated on feedback from testers. The change is part of API level 26, the versioned set of platform capabilities HarmonyOS 7 introduces.

The changelog frames the storage case in plain terms. Cloud backups that today grow faster than local albums get a parallel benefit from the same smaller files. The format change is opt-out at the camera app level for users who want the old behavior, though Huawei has not detailed that path in the beta notes.

The list is long. Per the changelog, HEIF images will gradually show up in album selection, content publishing, customer service, image uploading, cloud backup, and image editing. The reason is propagation: once a photo lands in the gallery, the format follows the file through any app that touches it. Huawei is asking developers to update file extension verification rules ahead of the broader rollout.

• Album selection
• Content publishing
• Customer service
• Image uploading
• Cloud backup
• Image editing

The Efficiency Case for HEIF

The bet Huawei is making is that file size matters more than universal compatibility. HEIF files are 40 to 50 percent smaller than JPEGs at equivalent visual quality, per a 2026 head-to-head comparison of the two formats.

Color depth is the second lever. JPEG is limited to 8-bit color, which gives 256 tonal values per channel and roughly 16.7 million possible colors. HEIF supports 10-bit color, which expands that to 1,024 tonal values per channel and over a billion possible colors.

The practical result is smoother gradients in skies and skin tones, and less visible banding in sunsets and other continuous-tone scenes. The format was finalized in 2015 by the Moving Picture Experts Group, the same standards body behind MP3, MP4, and H.264. JPEG, by contrast, was standardized in 1992, more than 30 years ago, when a high-resolution image was 640 by 480 pixels. The age gap is part of why HEIF can do things the older format cannot.

Compression scheme, color depth, and file size are the headline numbers. The real-world story depends on where the files travel. The side-by-side stats are below.

• 40 to 50 percent: HEIF size reduction vs JPG at equivalent visual quality
• 30 years: age of the JPG standard, introduced in 1992
• 2015: year HEIF was finalized by MPEG
• 10-bit: HEIF color depth, vs 8-bit for JPG
• 1,024: tonal values per channel in HEIF, vs 256 in JPG

Where HEIF Stumbles in the Wild

The efficiency story has a counterweight, and Apple already ran into it. Compatibility remains the biggest issue with HEIF outside its native platform, and the same friction Huawei’s app developers will see in 2026 is the friction Apple’s developers felt in 2017. Not all web browsers render HEIF natively. Many client gallery platforms and content systems don’t accept HEIF uploads. Print labs almost universally require JPEG or TIFF.

The format comparison still favors HEIF on paper, but the gaps narrow the lead in real-world workflows. The numbers, side by side, show the trade. Compression scheme, bit depth, container support, and standardization year are the four key differences shown in the table. Web browser support rounds out the picture, where JPG still wins on universality.

Apple Took This Road in 2017

Apple moved first. Apple adopted HEIF as the default iPhone camera format with iOS 11 in 2017, on the iPhone 7 and later devices, the same compression-and-color logic Huawei is using now.

Apple’s official support page on HEIF and HEVC media frames the trade-off in plain terms, noting that users can switch the iPhone camera to the older formats for broader compatibility with other devices and operating systems. The same page documents a Most Compatible toggle in Camera > Formats that flips new photos back to JPEG. The same opt-out path is what Huawei’s changelog implies for HarmonyOS 7, though the exact UI for the toggle has not been detailed yet. When HEIF files are shared through AirDrop, Messages, or email, the receiving device can trigger automatic conversion to JPEG if it does not support the newer format.

The Apple precedent is a useful predictor for Huawei’s rollout. App developers who build image handling on iOS 11 and later already know the workflow: verify file extensions, decode HEIF where the OS supports it, convert on the way out where it doesn’t. The friction lives in edge cases, like third-party SDKs that don’t read HEIF, plugins that crash on the new container, and batch exports that silently skip HEIF files. Huawei’s Image Kit is the equivalent of Apple’s Image I/O, an in-OS fallback for conversion when third-party tools stall. The plan is for the OS layer to handle the conversion work, similar to how Apple shipped the iOS 11 transition.

What Developers Need to Update

The changelog’s developer guidance is specific. Developers should adjust the file extension verification rules when uploading images in their applications, per the changelog. Apps can also use the encoding and decoding capabilities in Image Kit to convert HEIF to JPEG or PNG, per the official framework documentation.

Image Kit already supports HEIF alongside JPEG, PNG, and WebP for encoding and decoding, per the framework documentation. The set of apps that need updates is broader than just camera apps, since any app that ingests a photo from the system gallery, processes an upload, or syncs to cloud is in scope. Customer service apps, social apps, file sync tools, and e-commerce listings all touch user photos. That is the silent risk. Apps that currently filter on .jpg or .jpeg will silently drop HEIF files unless they extend their allowlist, and an upload that filters out the format returns a generic error to the user.

What’s Still Unclear

The toggle is unconfirmed. Huawei has not yet detailed the user-facing toggle that would let camera users opt out of HEIF. Apple ships a Most Compatible setting in Camera > Formats that flips new photos back to JPG; the equivalent in HarmonyOS 7 has not been shown.

Per the HarmonyOS 7 launch coverage, the developer beta is running on a defined set of Huawei flagships. The list of supported devices is below. The public release is planned for fall 2026 if the beta testing goes to plan. The list reflects devices in active testing, not necessarily the final device lineup.

• Huawei Mate 80 Pro
• Huawei Mate X7
• Huawei Mate XT Master
• Huawei Pura 90 Pro Max
• Huawei Pura X
• Huawei Pura X Collector’s Edition
• Huawei nova 15 Pro

What else Huawei will change in HarmonyOS 7 is unclear at the moment, per the launch coverage, since the company has not committed to a full changelog beyond the camera format switch. The picture will get clearer in the coming months with subsequent software versions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is HEIF, and how is it different from JPG?

HEIF is a container format that uses HEVC H.265 compression, finalized by MPEG in 2015. JPG is a single-image format standardized in 1992 that uses older DCT-based compression. HEIF files can be 40 to 50 percent smaller at equivalent visual quality and carry 10-bit color depth, but HEIF support outside Apple’s and Huawei’s native platforms is patchy.

Will old JPG photos still open on HarmonyOS 7?

Yes. The HarmonyOS 7 change sets HEIF as the default for new photos, not the reader for existing ones. Image Kit supports both HEIF and JPG encoding and decoding, so mixed-format galleries will continue to display normally.

Do I need to do anything as a user, or is this just for developers?

Nothing changes immediately for users with the developer beta, since the rollout is opt-in for testers. After the public release, the camera app will save new photos in HEIF by default. Huawei has not yet detailed a user-facing toggle to revert to JPG.

Which Huawei phones get the HarmonyOS 7 developer beta?

The first wave covers Huawei Mate 80 Pro, Mate X7, Mate XT Master, Pura 90 Pro Max, Pura X, Pura X Collector’s Edition, and nova 15 Pro. The list is the set of devices Huawei has named for active testing, not the final compatibility list for the public release.

When does HarmonyOS 7 come out of beta?

The final version is planned for release to all users in fall 2026, per the developer conference coverage. The exact date will be set after the developer beta wraps up.