Heickit

Hi Product Hunt community! 👋 I'm excited to share HeicKit with you today! What inspired me to build this? The inspiration came from a frustrating personal experience. I was helping my mom share iPhone photos with her Android-using relatives, and we kept running into the dreaded "can't open this file" problem. HEIC format is great for iPhone users, but it creates a real compatibility barrier when sharing with people on other platforms. I realized this wasn't just our problem—millions of iPhone users face this daily. They need to share photos for work presentations, family albums, or school projects, but the format incompatibility gets in the way. Most existing solutions required downloading software, creating accounts, or uploading files to unknown servers—none of which felt right for something so simple. What problem were we trying to solve? Beyond just file conversion, I noticed a critical issue with existing tools: Privacy concerns: Most converters require uploading your personal photos to their servers. That never sat well with me, especially for family photos or sensitive documents. I wanted to create a solution that was instant, private, and truly free—no hidden fees, no watermarks, no account required. How did our approach evolve? Initially, I planned a simple browser-based converter—upload, convert, download. But during development, I kept asking myself: "How can we make this genuinely better than what exists?" The privacy-first approach shaped our entire architecture. By processing everything client-side in the browser, we eliminated the need for servers entirely. This made the tool faster, more secure, and allowed us to offer it completely free without worrying about server costs or usage limits. We also added features users actually asked for during beta testing: batch processing, custom PDF layouts (paper sizes, margins, orientation), and the ability to merge multiple images into one document. These features turned a simple converter into a comprehensive tool for creating professional PDF documents from iPhone photos. The result is HeicKit—a tool that solves a real problem without compromise. No installations, no uploads, no fees, and complete privacy. I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback! Have you struggled with HEIC compatibility issues? What features would make this more useful for you?