Have you noticed that sometimes if you send a photo through Beeper to a WhatsApp contact, on the recipient's end (using the native WhatsApp app), the image doesn't appear as a normal inline photo in the chat; instead, it shows up as a file attachment, often with a generic document icon?

TL;DR: WhatsApp does not support HEIC. Because Beeper sends the image raw, it gets sent as a file, which is what WhatsApp native apps would do.

Why Some Images Sent via WhatsApp Show Up as Files Instead of Photos

This happens when the image in question is sent in HEIC format (the default format for photos captured on modern iPhones). WhatsApp does not natively support HEIC as a standard shareable photo format.

Because Beeper sends the file in its original format rather than converting it to JPEG first, WhatsApp receives a HEIC file, it doesn't recognize as a "photo type," and falls back to handling it the same way it handles any unsupported file type: as a document/file attachment. This isn't a bug, it's WhatsApp's standard behavior when it receives a raw HEIC file.

Though the image won't show a preview thumbnail in chat, rest assured the recipient, or even the sender's native app, will be able to handle the document. It just needs to be downloaded. It also can be opened right inside the chat, this will show the image in question.

Need more help?

We're here to make sure things go smoothly! Please send us a message at help@beeper.com.