macOS Sierra and iOS 10 to Support Google’s New Image Format ‘WebP’

Apple Releases Sixth Beta Builds of macOS Sierra and tvOS 10
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Google is partnering with Apple to bring about an alternative image format that they hope could make websites load faster.

The image format, known as WebP, could be an alternative to standards such as JPEG, GIF and PNG files. It’s currently being tested on beta versions of iOS 10 and macOS Sierra, according to CNET.

The partnership is by no means final though, and Apple could choose to remove WebP support from its operating systems when the final versions are finally released, CNET reports.

WebP is currently being developed by Google, who acquired the technology when it bought On2 Technologies. The tech giant says that the format could display the same images as JPEG, but at smaller file sizes.

It works by using an image compressor based on an On2 Technologies video codec, which Google released as open-source software in 2010.

WebP offers lossless and lossy compression. In addition, it supports transparency, like PNG, as well as animation, like GIF, according to Google.

The file format is currently in use by Facebook, who found that WebP files are 25 to 35 percent smaller than standard JPEG files without any perceived loss in quality. The social media giant currently uses WebP for transmitting images in its mobile apps, according to a Facebook blog post.

Google, of course, uses the format quite extensively — and has said that YouTube web pages load 10 percent faster due to WebP thumbnails, CNET reported.

Google Chrome is also one of several browsers that currently supports WebP files natively. Among the skeptics of the file format are Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox, who have both chosen not to adopt WebP support.

In a 2010 blog, Google wrote that images are “consistently responsible for the majority of the latency on pages across the web.”

But while Google is on a mission to make the internet faster, some have criticized the format’s relative obscurity. Facebook made the switch to WebP unannounced, and upset some users who found that they were now downloading photos in a format that was far from universal.

But despite the criticism, Google seems to be dead set on making universal WebP support a reality, and Apple’s partnership might mean that the file format is one step closer to being a household name.

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