Why won't my iPhone photos open on my Samsung Galaxy?

iPhones send photos as HEIC by default. Samsung Galaxy phones support HEIC starting with Android 10 (Galaxy S10 and later), but many apps that receive the photo (text messages, third-party gallery apps, social media, work email) still can't open HEIC. The fix is to convert the HEIC to JPG.

Can Google Pixel open HEIC files?

Pixel phones running Android 10 or newer can display HEIC in Google Photos and the system gallery. But sharing the HEIC to other apps often fails because those apps don't read HEIC themselves. Convert to JPG for reliable sharing.

How do I open an iPhone photo I received in a text on my Samsung?

Save the attachment to your phone, then drop it into the HEIC to JPG converter at fixheic.com. You can do this directly in your phone's browser. The conversion runs locally on your device. Open the resulting JPG in any app.

iPhone photos won't open on my Android phone

iPhones send photos in HEIC format. Most Android apps still can't open HEIC. Even modern Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones support HEIC at the OS level, but the apps you actually use — messaging, email, social media, work tools — often don't. The fix is to convert the HEIC to JPG, which Android opens everywhere.

30-second fix on your phone

Tap the HEIC attachment to save it to your phone
Open fixheic.com/heic-to-jpg in Chrome or Samsung Internet
Tap the dropzone, pick the HEIC from your downloads
Tap Convert. Save the JPG. Done.

The conversion runs entirely on your phone. Nothing uploads.

Convert HEIC to JPG →

Why iPhone sends HEIC in the first place

Since iOS 11 (2017), iPhones save photos as HEIC by default because the files are about half the size of JPG. When you AirDrop, iMessage, or email a photo, iOS often does convert to JPG automatically — but not always. The conversion only kicks in when iOS detects the receiver is non-Apple, and it doesn't always detect correctly.

The result: every now and then you get a .heic file on your Android phone with no obvious way to open it.

By Android phone / OS version

Samsung Galaxy S10 and later (Android 10+): Samsung Gallery opens HEIC. Many third-party apps still don't. There's a setting under Camera → Save options → "HEIF pictures" but it only affects photos the Samsung camera takes, not received HEICs.
Google Pixel 4 and later: Google Photos shows HEIC. Sharing to other apps may fail.
Older Android (8 and below): no native HEIC support. Must convert to view.
OnePlus, Xiaomi, OPPO, Vivo: varies by Android version and skin. Most ship with HEIC support disabled by default in their gallery apps.

The longer-term fix: ask your iPhone friend to switch settings

If you regularly receive photos from one iPhone user, ask them to switch their Camera setting. It takes 5 seconds and they won't notice the difference.

On their iPhone: Settings → Camera → Formats
Select Most Compatible

From that moment on, their iPhone saves new photos as JPG. They keep using the camera normally; you get files you can open.

(This doesn't affect photos they already took. Those stay HEIC.)

Common cases

"I got a photo in a text message and it won't open"

Most likely an MMS where the carrier didn't transcode to JPG. Save the file to your downloads, convert with this site, open the JPG.

"WhatsApp / Telegram won't show the photo"

These apps usually re-encode photos before sending, but if the iPhone user sent the photo as a file instead of a photo, it preserves HEIC. Convert and they'll send it again as a photo.

"Email attachment from work won't open"

Outlook for Android and Gmail can preview HEIC but not always download-and-open in editors. Save attachment, convert to JPG, open in your editor.

"I have hundreds of iPhone photos to transfer"

Use the batch converter. Drop all the HEICs in at once, get a single ZIP of JPGs. Works on phone or computer, but a computer is faster for large batches.