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Discussion on: How I Built an Image Converter That Literally Cannot See Your Files

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tbroyer profile image
Thomas Broyer

Out of curiosity, how is it different from / better than squoosh.app ?

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n_lnasa_cf287433c63ff3 profile image
N L (NASA)

The core experience is actually pretty similar —
both run locally in the browser, no server upload, and Squoosh's
UI is straightforward enough that "simplicity" isn't a real
differentiator.

The honest differences are more specific:

  1. HEIC support. Squoosh doesn't accept HEIC as input, which
    is one of the most common real-world conversion needs for
    anyone working with iPhone photos. That was actually the
    original reason I built this.

  2. No quality decisions required. Squoosh always shows you
    the slider — ImageConverter just picks a sane default and
    outputs the file. Smaller surface area for users who don't
    want to think about it.

  3. Separate compression tool. ImageConverter has a dedicated
    compressor that keeps the original format, which Squoosh
    doesn't separate out as cleanly.

Honestly though, if HEIC isn't your use case and you're
comfortable with Squoosh, there's no strong reason to switch.
I'm not trying to replace it — more filling in the gaps around it.