quicktime won't open video from iPhone

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Level 1

7 points

quicktime won't open video from iPhone

I'm using an iPhone 6, and a macbook (2013). I'm not a tech guy, and don't know all the software specifics, but the OS on both machines is up to date. Yesterday I shot a short video on my iPhone and emailed it to myself. I chose the "airdrop" option, because the file was too big for regular email. I went to email (it took ~12 hours to arrive) and the download link was there. I clicked to download the file, then went to Finder to open it. When I clicked on the file, I got an error message that says "QuickTime Player can't open "IMG_2649.MOV"".

Any idea what's going on here? Can anyone explain in ordinary language how to fix this?

It seems kind of absurd that I'm using two Apple devices and they can't communicate with each other. What's going on here? In all cases I'm using the default settings that Apple encourages (video format, video player, airdrop...). Why doesn't it work? And why, when I search Apple for information, do I only get vague information about "downloading another app"? Shouldn't this work with native software? Seems like a pretty basic use of the technology.

iPhone 6, iOS 10.0.2

Posted on Nov 29, 2016 9:56 AM

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Answer 1

jasmax Author

Level 1

7 points

Nov 29, 2016 10:50 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

Is that supposed to answer my question? Sure, there are other ways to get around the issue. But shouldn't airdrop and quicktime actually work? This is the method that my phone defaults to for sending video. And there are certainly plenty of times when your suggestion wouldn't suffice--like when I want to send a video to someone else, or view it on a machine that doesn't have my iTunes account on it. I'd like to figure out how to actually make the software work as intended, rather than just work around it. Got any advice on that?

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Answer 2

Nov 29, 2016 10:18 AM in response to jasmax

I don't know why you would email from an iOS device to OS X when all you had to do is connect them with a cable and bring the video into the Photos app. Takes just a few seconds.

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Answer 3

Nov 29, 2016 11:00 AM in response to jasmax

You said it took 12 hours. Lots of stuff can happen in such a long transfer that could corrupt the file.

I have no issues viewing videos from my iPhone 6 on my Mac. And, since I use my Mac to charge my phone, my pictures and videos move to the Photos app without any intervention.

I've also sent videos too big for the Mail app but I use the Mail Drop feature and not the Bluetooth Air Drop function.

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