Short answers to the questions people ask most about Convert Cat. More about the app is on the Convert Cat page. Something else? Tap ⓘ, then Report a problem or Suggest an idea, which opens an email to us, or write to [email protected].
Is Convert Cat free?
Yes. Every conversion, making photos smaller, resizing, removing the hidden location and all the PDF tools are free, with no ads, no watermark, no trial, no subscription and no account. Pick as many photos as you like. Convert Cat Pro is an optional one-time purchase that adds four extras: Saved presets (your usual settings in one tap), Name your files (a pattern like Site-001, Site-002, numbered in the order you picked), Shortcuts ("Convert Photos" with a preset in your own shortcuts and automations) and Convert from the share sheet ("Convert Cat" in the share sheet of Photos and Files).
How do I convert HEIC to JPG?
Tap Choose Photos (or Choose Files) and pick your photos. If they're all iPhone photos (HEIC), tap Convert to JPEG: it makes JPEGs and removes the location and photo info in one step. For other choices, tap Convert format, pick JPEG, PNG or HEIC, and tap the Convert button at the bottom. Convert Cat reads HEIC, PNG, WebP, TIFF and JPEG. Then tap Save to Photos, Save to Files or Share. JPEG is the safe choice for Windows, email and websites; HEIC opens on iPhone, iPad and Mac. There's a step-by-step guide in How to convert HEIC to JPG on iPhone.
Why is my JPEG bigger than the original?
A JPEG is often bigger than the HEIC photo it came from, because HEIC is the more compact format. Convert Cat tells you: before you convert, it says when the JPEG will be clearly bigger, and the result says "This file is bigger than your original." Tap Make smaller instead to keep the same photos and pick a size. PNG is lossless, so it's often bigger too; it's best for screenshots and graphics.
How do I make a photo smaller, like under 1 MB?
Pick your photos and tap Make smaller. Under Target size, tap 100 KB, 200 KB, 500 KB, 1 MB, 2 MB or 5 MB, or type your own size next to Under and pick KB or MB. Each photo is made as sharp as it can be while staying under the size; if quality alone isn't enough, it gets fewer pixels. The size is measured on the file after it's written, not guessed. To make photos smaller by their pixels instead, tap Resize and pick Email (1600 px long side), Instagram (1080 px), Full HD, Messages & web, Small, or Custom for a percent, a long side or exact pixels. With a long-side size, smaller photos are never enlarged.
How do I remove the location from a photo?
Photos can carry where they were taken (GPS), the date and the phone or camera, and anyone you send the file to can read it. On the Convert, Make smaller and Resize screens, under Hidden photo info, pick Remove location & photo info, Remove location only (keeps the date and camera) or Keep everything. Convert Cat also tells you how many of your photos have a location saved in them. Each screen starts on removing everything and then remembers your last choice. Every choice is free.
How do I make, merge or split a PDF?
Pick photos and tap Make a PDF: one photo per page, with Fit photo, A4 or Letter pages and None, Small or Large margins. Drag to change the order. Photos are scaled to fit, never cropped. Pick two or more PDFs and tap Merge into one PDF to join them in the order you choose. With a PDF picked you can also:
- Edit pages: reorder, rotate or delete pages.
- Extract or split pages: type pages like "1-3, 5" or tap them to make one new PDF, or split every page, or every few pages, into separate PDFs.
- Save pages as images: every page as a JPEG or PNG.
Convert Cat can't open a PDF that has a password, and says so.
How do I make a PDF smaller?
Pick the PDF and tap Compress PDF. Each choice shows about how big the file will be, worked out from your file, or "No smaller":
- Keep text shrinks the photos inside. Text stays sharp and searchable.
- Small turns pages into images at 150 dpi. Good for reading and printing.
- Smallest turns pages into images at 96 dpi. Fine on a screen, for email limits.
Small and Smallest mean text can't be selected or searched afterwards. If the PDF is already small, Convert Cat says that compressing it saves less than 5%.
Where are my converted files kept? Do I need an account?
There's no account and no sign-in. Convert Cat works on copies, so your originals in Photos and Files are never changed, and Save to Photos adds new photos next to the old ones. Finished conversions wait in the History tab, so you can save or share them again. Your last 40 conversions are kept on this device; older ones are cleared. Your photos and PDFs aren't uploaded or put in iCloud backup; a file leaves only when you save or share it. Clear in History removes the converted copies from Convert Cat, and anything you saved to Photos or Files stays there. Photos you pick are named Photo 1, Photo 2 and so on, because Convert Cat doesn't ask for access to your whole library.
Does it work offline?
Yes, for your conversions. There's no account, every conversion runs on your device, and Convert Cat makes no network request of its own. So you can convert, shrink, resize and remove photo info, and make, edit and compress PDFs, without a connection, from files already on your device. Saving to iCloud Drive or sharing by email needs one. So does buying or restoring Pro, which goes through the App Store.
I bought Convert Cat Pro. How do I get it on a new iPhone or iPad?
Open Convert Cat, tap ⓘ at the top left, then Restore purchase, under Convert Cat Pro. Or tap Convert Cat Pro and then Restore purchase. Use the same Apple Account you bought it with. When Pro is on, the row says "On".