iPhone Media Convert

A lightweight Python utility suite for organizing and converting media exported from iPhones and other Apple devices.

This project solves two common issues encountered when transferring media from iOS devices to Windows or Linux systems:

HEIC image compatibility problems
Large MOV video files and codec compatibility issues

The repository provides two standalone utilities:

move_media.py → Automatically sorts media into Images and Videos folders
convert_media.py → Converts HEIC images to JPG and MOV videos to compressed MKV (H.265)

Features

Media Organization

The move_media.py utility:

Detects common image and video formats
Automatically creates:
Images/
Videos/
Moves files into their respective folders
Works on the current folder or any specified path

Supported image formats:

JPG / JPEG
PNG
GIF
BMP
TIFF
HEIC
WEBP

Supported video formats:

MP4
MOV
AVI
MKV
WMV
FLV
WEBM

Media Conversion

The convert_media.py utility:

Image Conversion

Converts .HEIC images to .JPG
Uses Pillow + pillow-heif for HEIC decoding
Produces widely compatible JPEG output

Video Conversion

Converts .MOV videos to .MKV
Uses FFmpeg for transcoding
Encodes video using H.265 / HEVC
Produces smaller files compared to original MOV recordings
Improves compatibility for media servers and Linux systems

Why This Project Exists

Modern iPhones use:

HEIC for images
MOV containers with HEVC/H.264 video

These formats are efficient but can create workflow issues:

Problem	Example
HEIC unsupported	Some Windows apps cannot preview HEIC
Large video sizes	iPhone videos consume large storage quickly
Limited compatibility	Some media players dislike MOV containers
Upload issues	Some websites reject HEIC uploads
Media server issues	Jellyfin/Plex workflows may require transcoding

This project automates the cleanup and conversion process.

Project Structure

.
├── convert_media.py
├── move_media.py
├── readme.md
└── .gitignore

Requirements

Python Version

Python 3.10+

Python Dependencies

Install dependencies using pip:

pip install Pillow pillow-heif

FFmpeg

FFmpeg is required for video conversion.

Linux

Ubuntu / Debian:

sudo apt install ffmpeg

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S ffmpeg

Fedora:

sudo dnf install ffmpeg

Windows

You can install FFmpeg using:

Winget

winget install Gyan.FFmpeg

Chocolatey

choco install ffmpeg

The script also attempts to automatically detect FFmpeg in common Windows installation locations.

Installation

Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/iPhoneMediacovert.git
cd iPhoneMediacovert

Create Virtual Environment (Recommended)

Linux / macOS

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

Windows

python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate

Install Dependencies

pip install Pillow pillow-heif

Usage

1. Organize Media Files

Move all images and videos into separate folders:

python move_media.py

This creates:

Images/
Videos/

and automatically moves supported files.

Organize a Specific Folder

python move_media.py /path/to/media

Example:

python move_media.py ~/Downloads/iPhoneExport

2. Convert Media Files

Convert all supported media inside the current folder:

python convert_media.py

Command Line Arguments

The convert_media.py script supports several optional arguments for customization.

Positional Argument

`root`

Root folder containing the Images/ and Videos/ directories.

Default:

Example:

python convert_media.py ~/Pictures/iPhoneBackup

The folder structure must look like:

root/
├── Images/
└── Videos/

Optional Arguments

`--jpg-quality`

Controls JPEG quality for converted HEIC images.

Default:

Example:

python convert_media.py --jpg-quality 85

Lower values:

Smaller file sizes
Lower image quality

Higher values:

Better image quality
Larger file sizes

`--ffmpeg`

Specify a custom FFmpeg executable path.

Default:

ffmpeg

Example:

Linux

python convert_media.py --ffmpeg /usr/bin/ffmpeg

Windows

python convert_media.py --ffmpeg "C:\ffmpeg\bin\ffmpeg.exe"

Useful when:

FFmpeg is not available in PATH
Multiple FFmpeg versions are installed
Using portable FFmpeg builds

Full Usage Examples

Basic Conversion

python convert_media.py

Convert Another Folder

python convert_media.py ~/Media/iPhoneExport

Lower JPEG Quality

python convert_media.py --jpg-quality 80

Custom FFmpeg Binary

python convert_media.py --ffmpeg /opt/ffmpeg/bin/ffmpeg

Combined Example

python convert_media.py ~/Media/iPhoneExport --jpg-quality 88 --ffmpeg /usr/bin/ffmpeg

This command:

Uses a custom media folder
Converts HEIC images at quality level 88
Uses a manually specified FFmpeg binary

Convert Media in Another Folder

python convert_media.py /path/to/media

Example:

python convert_media.py ~/Pictures/iPhoneBackup

Conversion Details

HEIC → JPG

The script:

Opens the HEIC image
Decodes it using pillow-heif
Converts it to RGB
Saves a .jpg version

Example:

IMG_0001.HEIC
↓
IMG_0001.jpg

MOV → MKV

The script:

Uses FFmpeg
Re-encodes video to H.265 / HEVC
Wraps output inside MKV container

Example:

VID_0001.MOV
↓
VID_0001.mkv

Benefits:

Reduced file size
Better streaming compatibility
Easier archival
Better Linux support

Example Workflow

Typical iPhone Export Cleanup

Step 1 — Copy media from iPhone

DCIM/

contains:

IMG_1001.HEIC
IMG_1002.HEIC
VID_1003.MOV
VID_1004.MOV

Step 2 — Organize media

python move_media.py ./DCIM

Result:

DCIM/
├── Images/
│   ├── IMG_1001.HEIC
│   └── IMG_1002.HEIC
└── Videos/
    ├── VID_1003.MOV
    └── VID_1004.MOV

Step 3 — Convert media

python convert_media.py ./DCIM

Result:

IMG_1001.jpg
IMG_1002.jpg
VID_1003.mkv
VID_1004.mkv

Error Handling

The project includes:

FFmpeg availability detection
Windows-specific FFmpeg path detection
Interactive FFmpeg installation support
Import validation for Pillow and pillow-heif
Safe path handling using pathlib

Platform Support

Platform	Supported
Windows	Yes
Linux	Yes
macOS	Yes

Technical Notes

Libraries Used

Pillow

Used for:

Image loading
JPEG generation
RGB conversion

pillow-heif

Adds HEIC/HEIF support to Pillow.

FFmpeg

Used for:

Video transcoding
H.265 encoding
Container conversion

Potential Improvements

Future enhancements may include:

Parallel conversion for faster processing
GUI interface
Drag-and-drop support
Recursive directory scanning
Metadata preservation
EXIF transfer
GPU accelerated encoding
Progress bars
File overwrite protection
Logging system
Batch presets

Troubleshooting

FFmpeg Not Found

Install FFmpeg and ensure it is available in PATH.

Verify:

ffmpeg -version

HEIC Conversion Fails

Ensure dependencies are installed correctly:

pip install --upgrade Pillow pillow-heif

Permission Errors

Make sure:

Files are not open in another application
You have write permissions to the target directory

Performance Considerations

Video transcoding is CPU intensive.

Factors affecting speed:

Video resolution
Video duration
CPU performance
H.265 encoding complexity

Large 4K iPhone videos may take significant time to process.

Security Notes

This project:

Does not upload files anywhere
Performs all processing locally
Does not require cloud services
Does not collect telemetry

License

Add your preferred license here.

Example:

MIT License

Contributing

Contributions are welcome.

Potential areas:

Performance optimization
Better codec presets
Recursive scanning
Cross-platform packaging
GUI development
Additional image/video format support

Acknowledgements

Pillow
pillow-heif
FFmpeg

Author

Created for simplifying iPhone media management workflows on desktop systems.