Send large videos from your iPhone

What SendTheStuff will do with a video on your iPhone

SendTheStuff will run in Safari on your iPhone, with no app to install. You'll pick the video from your photo library. The person you send it to will download the video you recorded, in the same format and at full quality. Nothing will be shrunk to fit a text message or an email.

• Size: SendTheStuff will send up to 5 GB in one transfer, free. Check the video's size first, since anything bigger will need more than one transfer.
• Texting the link: SendTheStuff will hand you the link with Copy, Email, Messages and Share buttons. Messages will text it, and Share will reach WhatsApp, Instagram and the rest of your share sheet.
• Your iPhone's habits: iPhones pause web pages that aren't on screen. So SendTheStuff will ask you to keep Safari in front, and if Wi-Fi drops, it will carry on from where it stopped.
• Closing Safari by mistake: choosing the same video again within 3 days of starting will continue the upload.
• Whoever gets it: an Android phone, a Windows PC or another iPhone will all open the link in a browser. For an iPhone, SendTheStuff will show them how to save the video to Photos.
• Afterwards: SendTheStuff's link will work for 14 days, then the video will be deleted. Unlike a cloud link, it won't take up your iCloud or Google storage.

Why iPhone videos get so big

Your iPhone records video in the format set under Settings > Camera > Formats. With High Efficiency, the format Apple calls recommended, video is saved as HEVC (H.265). Apple says it takes less space with the same visual quality. Switch to Most Compatible and it records H.264 instead, which plays on more devices but takes more room.

Resolution and frame rate matter even more. The higher you set them under Settings > Camera > Record Video, the faster a recording grows, and length multiplies all of it. A 40-minute school concert or a full wedding toast in 4K can outgrow any message or email.

AirDrop, Messages, Mail Drop and cloud links: where each stops

Apple's own advice for long videos is AirDrop, iCloud or Mail Drop. Each one breaks down somewhere, usually when the other person is far away or not on an Apple device:

Texting is the usual reason a video arrives blurry. Apple says iPhone can compress photo and video attachments when necessary for MMS, so a long clip arrives small and soft.

AirDrop is the quickest when you're in the same room. If the person isn't in your contacts, they'll need Settings > General > AirDrop > Everyone for 10 Minutes turned on first.

A cloud link reaches anyone, but it costs you space. In Google Drive, the video counts against storage shared across Drive, Photos, and Gmail. SendTheStuff will give you the same reach without using your storage.

Until SendTheStuff launches

If they're next to you, AirDrop it. For anyone else, share a cloud storage link:

1. In Photos, open the video, tap Share, and send it to a cloud storage app such as Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive. Tap Options at the top of the share sheet first and choose Current, so the video goes in its original format rather than being converted.
2. Stay in the storage app until the upload completes. Phones can pause an app that isn't on screen.
3. In the storage app, copy a share link that anyone can open.
4. Paste the link into Messages, Mail, WhatsApp or any other app, and send.

What your recipient sees on Android, Windows or another iPhone

SendTheStuff's link will open a plain download page in any browser, with the video's name, its size and the date it expires. There will be no app to install and nothing to join.

A cloud link works differently. They land on the storage service's page for the video, which may offer to open the service's app. The browser works too. Watching there can play a lower-resolution preview, so tell them to download it for the real thing.

What they download is the file you uploaded, in the same format. Apple says AirDrop, Messages and Mail may convert HEVC to a more compatible format, such as JPEG or H.264 for devices that don't support it. Sending to an older computer that struggles with HEVC? Apple suggests recording in Most Compatible. That helps your next recording, not videos you've already shot.

Keeping a big upload going on your phone

A big upload from a phone is where things usually go wrong. The screen locks, you answer a call, or you walk out of Wi-Fi range.

• Plug in and stay on Wi-Fi. A long video uses a lot of data and battery, and a charging phone on Wi-Fi is the least likely to give up halfway.
• Keep the storage app in front. If you leave it, come back and check the upload is still moving.
• Check your free space before you start. If the video is bigger than the room left in your cloud storage, clear some first rather than finding out at the end.

Getting a video from your iPhone to your own computer

Sometimes the recipient is you: a video you need on your PC for editing. Importing over USB works, but Apple notes the Photos app and Windows may convert HEVC to H.264 on the way in. Turn on Settings > Apps > Photos > Keep Originals to stop that.

A link skips the cable. SendTheStuff will let you open the link on your PC and save the original file to its Downloads folder. Until it launches, cloud storage does the same job: share from Photos with Options set to Current, and the file arrives unconverted.

When it doesn't work

• The video looked blurry after you texted it. It went as a text message that your iPhone or carrier shrank. Send a link instead, and the recipient downloads the full file. There's more on this in sending long videos by text.
• AirDrop can't find the other iPhone. Both need Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on, and if you're not in each other's contacts, the receiver needs Settings > General > AirDrop > Everyone for 10 Minutes.
• Mail says the video is too big. Follow the Mail Drop prompt, or see emailing a large video from your iPhone for every way around it.
• The recipient's copy won't play on their PC. It was probably converted, or it's HEVC on a computer that can't play it. Share again with Current, or record the next one in Most Compatible.
• The recipient hits a sign-in page. The link is limited to specific people. Change it to anyone with the link.
• The storage app says there isn't enough space. The video is bigger than the room left in your cloud storage. Clear some space, or AirDrop it if they're nearby.