We have all been using Jpeg now since the web started, however there are some modern alternatives appearing and Jpeg is starting to look like something that will soon be sidelined as a legacy format for browsers. There have been other alternatives that never gained traction, however Webp is a Google initiative and Apple are pushing HEIF, however that is for storage purposes at present.
Webp offers very good quality with typically smaller sizes than jpeg. Initially it only worked with Chrome, however that has now extended to cover most browsers, including Firefox, Opera and Edge. The notable exception is Safari, however they are apparently in development. Can I use... Support tables for HTML5, CSS3, etc
I had a quick play in Blocs, but the format does not appear to be recognised at present. There is a free app that allows you to convert Jpeg to Webp and I saw a Jpeg saved for web drop from 128kb to just 81kb when converted to Webp. Multiplied across image heavy websites that would be a major saving.
There is an image stack for Rapidweaver that serves either Jpeg or Webp dependent on the user’s browser and that seems like a good solution. Webp is the default option with Jpeg served for legacy browsers. Jpeg support will undoubtedly be needed for quite a few years.
At the moment Webp files cannot be easily previewed in the finder here on Mojave, but they are visible when opened in Chrome or Firefox. Any thoughts from others on the future direction we should be aiming at?
It looks very good but we’ll need editing software that can export these formats and also an image bric with a fallback to Jpeg for a few years at least I think.
It looks like anything is better than Jpeg right now but we will need that fallback position just to allow for a declining number of older Safari browsers over the next couple years. With speed becoming ever more important for page ranking Blocs needs a solution here.
I have no idea how this would be implemented but I would imagine something like an image bric with the ability to choose two images with one designated for Jpeg and the other for AVIF or WebP. At this stage WebP has a lot more compatibility but I’d rather be ahead of the game than behind it.
A lot can change in 6 months if this format takes off and in a couple years time we might have AVIF as the main format with WebP as the fallback. Most users have browsers that auto update nowadays so the uptake could be very fast.
Seems like it should not be anything major within Blocs for either. Users drop the images respectively in an image well in the side bar for each source type occurrence and fallback. Then Blocs creates/modifies the source with references to each using srcset & src.
Perhaps Norm can do something along those lines. The real brake on progress has been Apple in not supporting WebP earlier. I was using WebP years ago through Cloudflare and only needed to upload Jpegs. They then created WebP versions and served them whenever a compatible browser was in use. When I tested on speed checkers browsers loading WebP were half the size.
I don’t think Safari should be considered a hindrance, although it sure does its best to be one.
I say that given Chrome supported WebP over 5 years ago coupled with its massive dominance of usage percentage. Generally when something comes out from behind the dev flag in Chrome and goes live with a fallback* present then usage commences by most. If a fallback* is present there is no reason not to take advantage of features that are supported in Chrome and benefit the majority of users given its marketshare.
I’m all in favour of using WebP or Avif as primary formats. It’s just that certain websites will have a disproportionate number of Safari users, therefore they need to offer some kind of fallback for another couple of years. If you look at this site as an example, nearly everybody will be a Mac user and I’d guess half are using Safari.
Having to double up on image formats will actually be a bit of a pain, but I think it’s the only viable option if and when we move beyond Jpeg in Blocs.
We obviously agree on the need for fallbacks where fallbacks are needed. Perhaps Blocs 4 will at least support WebP (with fallback).
I don’t think landing on a forum for a Mac only app is a good indicator given most will probably use the default browser of the OS in which they will be using said app.
Over the years I’ve always gotten the passing impression that some users have the impression that most everyone uses Safari (not saying you). I would be hard pressed to think the majority of Blocs made sites fall under such Apple centric usage or percentages however. Rather instead I’m sure the majority of sites match common demographics across the internet.
Nothing planned that I am aware of, but I know very little. It’s not there at the moment.
It’s a tricky one because I think Jpeg will be considered a relic in a couple years and sites using it will be slower than necessary. If we use it now we are at a competitive disadvantage for page loading speed with most browsers.
It would make sense to favour WebP, but at the moment we lack that fallback position to cater for Safari. As a web designer I would be in tricky position explaining to an art director or client using the latest version of Safari on Catalina why they can’t see any images on a site.
Another consideration is that it isn’t easy at the moment exporting files as WebP. For example I have Affinity Photo, yet there is no option at present for that, however I would expect to see it pretty soon now.
I don’t think landing on a forum for a Mac only app is a good indicator given most will probably use the default browser of the OS in which they will be using said app.
