How To Turn On ‘Low Quality Image Mode’ in iOS 10 Messages App

Apple’s iPhone is known for its great camera. The images produced by the iPhone are beautiful, and great for sharing and editing. However, the file size of the resulting images can be huge. They take up a load of storage space, and eat up precious cellular data every time you send or receive a photo via iMessage. (4 or 5MB might not sound like a lot, but if you’re sharing pics from a family event, such as a wedding, the data usage can begin to climb.)

Luckily, with the debut of iOS 10, Apple has introduced a new Low Quality Image Mode that allows you to send lower quality, smaller photo files, usually coming it at around 100K or so. That’s a nice drop from 4 or 5MB!

It’s easy to setup Low Quality Image Mode, here’s how:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Scroll down until you see the Messages menu option. Tap on it.
3. On the Messages preferences screen, a-a-a-a-al-l-l-l the way down at the bottom, you’l see an option for Low Quality Image Mode. This is turned off by default. Tap the switch to turn it to the ON position to enable the feature.

That’s all it takes to cut down on storage and data usage when sending photos via iMessage. The photos will be of a little lower quality than the original, but in most cases, they quality will be acceptable. Plus, the recipient is likely to appreciate the reduced storage and data usage hit on their end as well.