Learn about a little-known Apple Messages app setting that can dramatically speed up photo sharing by sending a lower-size photo preview almost instantly, with the full-resolution version arriving soon after.
We’ve all been there while traveling or in areas with poor cellular connection, where sending a photo takes a long time to upload. And if the recipient is also on a slow connection, it can take their iPhone a while to download the image.
iOS 26 and iOS 27 address this by replacing the previous “Low Quality Image Mode” feature with a new “Send Low Quality Photo Previews” option.
When you enabled the Low Quality Image Mode toggle, the pictures were, as the feature name suggests, not sent in high quality. These compressed, low-quality images were fine for viewing on small screens like the iPhone, but the recipient often lost sharpness and clarity when zooming in or viewing on larger devices like iPad and Mac.
The current “Send Low Quality Photo Previews” improves this by quickly sending a low-quality image preview, even on slower internet connections. After that, the full-quality version takes its normal time to be sent and appears automatically on the receiver’s device.
One important thing to remember is that if you have enabled Low Data Mode for your cellular or Wi-Fi connection, then only the compressed, low-quality preview will be sent; the full version won’t follow it. This helps ensure you don’t exceed your limited data allowance.
Send photos faster with low-quality photo previews
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad running the latest version of iOS or iPadOS.
- Tap Apps at the bottom of the screen.
- Select Messages from the list of applications.
- Scroll to the bottom and turn on ‘Send Low Quality Photo Previews.’
From now on, images you send via iMessage should be sent quickly as a lower-quality preview, with the full high-quality version following.
Also, check out: