Images & Media

Image & Media File Support

Vector Messenger allows you to upload different types of images, videos, and other file formats. All media downloads can be found under the vector folder, under downloads on your local device. As of the v0.2.1 release, images are able to be dragged and dropped as well as using the Upload Files icon on the left side of the chat messenger box displayed at the bottom of the Vector Messenger GUI.

ThumbHash

Vector Messenger previously used BlurHash, which is a compact representation of a placeholder for an image that saves the user time and disk space. As of v0.3.1 Vector switched to ThumbHash, which is an improved and optimized version of perceptual image hashing or image placeholders.

Vector uses fast-thumbhash, a custom open-source Rust crate developed by Formless Labs, to generate compact image placeholder hashes for media shared in chats. Based on the ThumbHash algorithm, it converts images into a tiny ~26 character string that decodes client-side into a smooth, color-accurate blurred preview. So, images feel instant to load rather than popping in from nothing. The implementation is a 12x performance improvement over the standard thumbhash crate, achieved through separable 2D DCT transforms, Chebyshev cosine recurrence, and fully stack-allocated buffers with zero heap allocation in the hot path. It also uses base91 encoding, which is more efficient than the base83 used by BlurHash. Thumbhash produces smaller strings while carrying more information, including alpha channel support and embedded aspect ratio. The crate is MIT licensed and available at GitHub.

Supported Media

Vector Messenger currently supports the most common filetypes for pictures, videos, and audio. With future releases, Vector will be adding support for new filetypes to improve the overall user experience. The complete list of supported media types is listed below in the dropdown menu.

Supported Media Types

• .png → Portable Network Graphics (image)

• .jpg → Joint Photographic Experts Group (image)

• .gif → Graphics Interchange Format (image)

• .svg → Scalable Vector Graphics (image)

• .tiff → Tagged Image File Format (image)

• .bmp → Bitmap (image)

• .ico → Icon for Windows Icon format (image)

• .mov → QuickTime Movie (video)

• .mp3 → MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer III (audio)

• .mp4 → MPEG-4 Part 14 (video, audio, subtitles, etc.)

• .webm → Web Media (video, audio, subtitles, etc.)

Unsupported Media

Supported Media Filetypes Displayed

Unsupported Media Filetypes Displayed

With the current v0.3.0 release, there are many filetypes that Vector now supports, but for unsupported files, there is a visual display letting the user know the filetype, size, and name. Referencing the images above, you will see the in-app display when certain filetypes are not supported. For security purposes, Vector also plans to add a support prompt confirming if this is the correct file the user wants to send, as well as the risks downloading certain files online to improve overall safety.

You can request certain filetypes to be added by creating an issue on GitHub or on Discord.