The latest articles on DEV Community by Trencada (@trencadatools). https://dev.to/trencadatools https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4137080%2F817a880d-c8df-4769-ab5c-3f4c898000c6.png https://dev.to/trencadatools en Trencada Tue, 13 Oct 2026 12:57:56 +0000 https://dev.to/trencadatools/trencada-380-free-online-tools-that-need-no-signup-1719 https://dev.to/trencadatools/trencada-380-free-online-tools-that-need-no-signup-1719 <p>Hey DEV!</p> <p>I'm launching Trencada on here — <a href="https://trencada.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://trencada.com</a> — a collection of 380+ free online tools for everyday tasks: PDF tools (merge, compress, convert), image tools (compress, resize, convert HEIC/WebP), text tools, calculators, converters, QR generators, and a lot more.</p> <p>The whole idea: no signup, no installation. You open the page, use the tool, done. Most tools process everything locally in your browser.</p> <p>A few things that might interest fellow devs:</p> <ul> <li>It's built on WordPress with each tool as a self-contained HTML/CSS/JS blob — a fun constraint to work within.</li> <li>Client-side processing for most tools keeps things fast and private.</li> <li>New tools ship regularly based on what people actually search for.</li> </ul> <p>If you have a minute, I'd love feedback: what's missing, what's clunky, what tool would you want next? Always happy to hear what real users need.</p> <p>Thanks for reading!</p> showdev webdev productivity javascript Trencada Tue, 22 Sep 2026 07:36:46 +0000 https://dev.to/trencadatools/your-iphone-photos-are-heic-heres-how-to-convert-them-to-jpg-without-uploading-them-anywhere-24bp https://dev.to/trencadatools/your-iphone-photos-are-heic-heres-how-to-convert-them-to-jpg-without-uploading-them-anywhere-24bp <h1> Your iPhone Photos Are HEIC. Here's How to Convert Them to JPG Without Uploading Them Anywhere </h1> <p>If you've ever tried to open an iPhone photo on a Windows PC, upload it to a government form, or attach it to an old email client — and been greeted with "unsupported file format" — you've met HEIC.</p> <h2> The 30-second background </h2> <p>Since iOS 11, iPhones save photos in HEIC (High Efficiency Image Container) by default. It stores the same quality at roughly half the file size of JPG. Great for your storage. Terrible for compatibility: plenty of Windows apps, web forms, and older software still choke on it.</p> <h2> The privacy problem with "free" converters </h2> <p>Search "HEIC to JPG" and you'll find dozens of converters. Most of them work the same way: you upload your personal photos to someone's server, they convert them, you download the result. Your photos — family, documents, IDs — sit on a stranger's infrastructure. For a one-off meme that's fine. For anything personal, it's worth asking: does this file really need to leave my device?</p> <p>It doesn't. HEIC decoding can run entirely in the browser with WebAssembly. The file never leaves your machine — conversion happens locally, and there's nothing to upload, no queue, no account.</p> <h2> Converting client-side, step by step </h2> <p>Disclosure: I run <a href="https://trencada.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">Trencada</a>, a free tools site, and this is the converter I built for exactly this problem. It decodes HEIC in your browser and gives you back JPG, JPEG, or PNG. No upload, no sign-up, works on mobile too.</p> <ol> <li>Open the <a href="https://trencada.com/tools/heic-to-jpg" rel="noopener noreferrer">HEIC to JPG converter</a> </li> <li>Drop in your <code>.heic</code> files (batch works — convert a whole album at once)</li> <li>Pick JPG, JPEG, or PNG as the output</li> <li>Download the converted files individually or as a ZIP</li> </ol> <p>Because everything runs locally, it's also fast — no waiting on uploads for a 50-photo batch, and it works offline once the page is loaded.</p> <h2> When you'd want something else </h2> <ul> <li> <strong>HEIC to PDF</strong> (scanning documents, submitting photo evidence): same idea, different output — <a href="https://trencada.com/tools/heic-to-pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer">HEIC to PDF</a> </li> <li> <strong>Already have JPGs but need them smaller?</strong> <a href="https://trencada.com/tools/png-to-jpg" rel="noopener noreferrer">PNG to JPG</a> handles the size side</li> <li> <strong>Prefer the command line?</strong> <code>ffmpeg -i input.heic output.jpg</code> works if you have HEIC support compiled in; ImageMagick with libheif is another route</li> </ul> <h2> The takeaway </h2> <p>HEIC isn't going away — it's genuinely a better container. But until compatibility catches up, keep a client-side converter bookmarked. Your photos stay on your device, and the "unsupported format" error becomes a 10-second fix.</p> <p>I wrote a longer guide covering the Windows Photos app, iPhone settings (you can switch back to "Most Compatible" to shoot JPG directly), and batch workflows here: <a href="https://trencada.com/heic-to-jpg-guide/" rel="noopener noreferrer">HEIC to JPG: the complete guide</a>.</p> webdev tutorial javascript productivity