FormatFoxUse the website when
The format is exotic, the file is video, the source is a document, the machine is a desktop, or the material is something you would happily post in public anyway.
CloudConvert alternative for iPhone
Browser based converters such as CloudConvert are genuinely good at something FormatFox will never do. It is worth being clear about which job belongs to which tool.
Where a web converter is the better tool
If any of these describe your situation, close this page and use the website. It will do a better job.
- Breadth. Video, Office documents, ebooks, archives, fonts and CAD formats, in combinations no on device app covers.
- Any device. It runs in a browser, so a work laptop you cannot install software on is not a problem.
- Heavy files. Server hardware chews through a long video far faster than a phone will.
- Chained jobs. Watch a folder, run an API, automate a pipeline. A phone app is not built for that.
- Nothing to install. One off job, no App Store, no storage used.
Where the on device app is the better tool
| Browser based converter | FormatFox | |
|---|---|---|
| Your file | Has to be received by the service to be converted | Never leaves the phone |
| Without a connection | Nothing happens | Works, including in Airplane Mode |
| Format range | Very wide, hundreds of pairs | Narrow and listed in full: images, photos to PDF, audio |
| Cost model | Free allowance, then minutes or a plan | Free tier, then one payment, base price 4.99 EUR |
| Account | Usually needed past the free allowance | None at any point |
| From the share sheet | No, it is a website | Yes, for images, straight out of Photos or Files |
To be fair about the privacy point. Reputable conversion services publish a retention policy and delete uploads after a stated period, and there is nothing dishonest about how they work. The difference is structural rather than moral: they must hold your file for a while, and an app on your phone never has to. For a holiday snapshot that difference is academic. For a scan of your passport it is the whole decision.
A rough rule
Use the app when
The file is already on your phone, the formats are the everyday ones, you have no signal, or the picture shows a document with your name and your numbers on it.
Most people end up wanting both, and use the phone for the two or three conversions that come up weekly. Those are covered in the HEIC to JPG, photos to PDF and compression guides.
Questions people ask
Is FormatFox a replacement for CloudConvert?
For a narrow set of jobs, yes: images between HEIC, JPG, PNG and WebP, photos into a PDF, resizing, and audio between M4A, WAV, AIFF and CAF. For everything else, no. Browser based converters handle video, documents, ebooks, archives and hundreds of format pairs that a phone app doing the work locally cannot.
Why would I use an app instead of a website?
Because of where the file goes. A browser converter has to receive your file before it can convert it. When the file is a passport page, a payslip or a recorded conversation, keeping it on the phone is the whole point. An app also works with no connection at all.
What can a web converter do that FormatFox cannot?
Quite a lot. Video conversion, Office documents, ebooks, archives, OCR, very large files handled by server hardware, format pairs numbering in the hundreds, and access from any operating system without installing anything. Those are real advantages and they are the reason web converters exist.
Is there a free tier?
Yes. Converting between HEIC, JPG, PNG and WebP, resizing, and combining photos into a single PDF are free and not metered per file. Batch conversion and audio are part of a one time unlock with a base price of 4.99 EUR, rather than a subscription.
Keep reading
- Convert HEIC to JPG on iPhoneWhy iPhone photos arrive as HEIC, the four built in ways to get a JPG, and where each one runs out of road.
- Combine photos into one PDF on iPhoneTurn a stack of photographed pages into a single PDF, one page per image, without a scanner subscription.
- Compress photos on iPhoneThe two levers that actually shrink a photo, which one is free, and how to hit a 25 MB mail limit.
For the conversions that should stay on the phone