Photo problems are almost always down to file size, file format, or which photos your phone is letting the app see. Don't worry — each one is easy to fix.
Jump to:
- "This file is too large"
- "We couldn't process this photo format"
- "We couldn't read this file"
- "Failed to upload pet photo"
- The picker only shows some of my photos
- My pet still shows an illustration
- Changing a shared pet's photo
"This file is too large"
The full message reads "This file is too large. Please upload a file smaller than 10 MB." The image is over the 10 MB limit.
Pick a smaller photo, or open the image on your phone, take a screenshot of it, and upload the screenshot instead — screenshots are much smaller files.
"We couldn't process this photo format"
The full message reads "We couldn't process this photo format. Please try uploading a different image." This happens on iPhone when a photo saved in Apple's HEIC format can't be converted to JPEG.
Try a different photo, or screenshot the one you wanted and upload that.
"We couldn't read this file"
The full message reads "We couldn't read this file. Please try selecting a different one." The app couldn't open the file you chose.
Go back into the picker and select the image again, or pick a different one. If it's a photo stored only in iCloud or in the cloud, open it in your photo app first so it downloads to the device, then try again.
"Failed to upload pet photo"
Your pet's details are saved before the photo is uploaded, so this message means the pet exists — only the picture didn't attach. Nothing is lost:
- Go to Home > List.
- Tap ⋮ on your pet's card, then Edit profile.
- Tap the photo placeholder and choose the image again.
- Tap Save Changes.
The picker only shows some of my photos
Ask A Vet opens your phone's own photo library — it doesn't keep a separate list of your photos. If some photos are missing, your phone is limiting which ones apps are allowed to see. Use the option inside the picker to select more photos (or to allow access to all of them), then choose your pet's photo. [CONFIRM: the exact per-OS-version wording for limited photo access on Android and iPhone for the pet photo picker]
On iPhone, if you're asked for photo access you'll see: "The app needs access to your photo library to upload pet profile images and share photos in chat with veterinarians." Allow it to pick a photo.
My pet still shows an illustration
A species illustration appears when there's no photo — and also when a stored photo can't be loaded. Try re-uploading the photo using the steps above. Pull down on the pets list to refresh first, since the list keeps recently loaded data for up to a minute.
Changing a shared pet's photo
If a family member shared the pet with you, you need the owner's permission to change or delete its photo. Without it you'll see the "Edit access restricted" message instead.
If it still doesn't work
If none of the above works, contact Ask A Vet support [CONFIRM: support contact channel or link].
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