This one simple smartphone camera hack can save you tons of storage space – and cash too

If your phone's camera roll resembles my 77,186-item collection, you're not alone. The iPhone 17 Pro user reports having such a large number of photos, many of which are of family members, pets, and random items from supermarkets. These precious and throwaway images consume storage space, either on the device itself or in cloud storage subscriptions. Instead of clearing some photos, you can try a simple hack to reduce file sizes while preserving image quality, ultimately saving storage space and potentially lowering costs.

Shoot in HEIF format, also known as High Efficiency Image File Format, which can make files up to 50% smaller than JPEGs. Although not as widely used as JPEG, HEIF has been available on iPhones since 2017 and Android devices since 2019. Most major flagship devices from all brands support this format, and it's becoming more common on Android devices as well.

If you need to share your photos on social media or messaging platforms, you can do so without any issues, as they can read HEIF files. However, there might be a problem sending files directly to someone without a compatible device, but this can be easily solved by converting the file to JPEG if necessary.

To shoot in HEIF on your iPhone, go to Settings > Camera > Formats and select "High Efficiency" instead of "Most Compatible." For other smartphone models, you'll typically find the option in either the main settings or the native camera app. While it's not available on every device, the use of HEIF is becoming increasingly more common, and image conversion software is readily available if needed.

In the end, there's no need to fill your library with JPEGs just to ensure compatibility, as you can always convert files for others when needed.