WebP Browser Support 2024: Complete Compatibility Guide

Everything you need to know about WebP browser support and implementation strategies

Browser Support Overview

Mobile Browser Support

• Android Chrome: Full support since Android 4.0+
• iOS Safari: Full support since iOS 14+ (2020)
• Samsung Internet: Full support since version 4.0+
• UC Browser: Full support since version 12.12+

Implementation Strategies

1. HTML Picture Element (Recommended)

<picture>
  <source srcset="image.webp" type="image/webp">
  <source srcset="image.jpg" type="image/jpeg">
  <img src="image.jpg" alt="Description" loading="lazy">
</picture>

2. JavaScript Detection

function supportsWebP() {
  return new Promise(resolve => {
    const webP = new Image();
    webP.onload = webP.onerror = () => {
      resolve(webP.height === 2);
    };
    webP.src = 'data:image/webp;base64,UklGRjoAAABXRUJQVlA4IC4AAACyAgCdASoCAAIALmk0mk0iIiIiIgBoSygABc6WWgAA/veff/0PP8bA//LwYAAA';
  });
}

// Usage
supportsWebP().then(supported => {
  if (supported) {
    // Load WebP images
    document.querySelectorAll('img[data-webp]').forEach(img => {
      img.src = img.dataset.webp;
    });
  }
});

3. CSS Background Images

.hero-image {
  background-image: url('image.jpg');
}

.webp .hero-image {
  background-image: url('image.webp');
}

Server-Side Solutions

Apache .htaccess

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
  RewriteEngine On
  RewriteCond %{HTTP_ACCEPT} image/webp
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} (.*)\.jpg$
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.webp -f
  RewriteRule (.*).jpg$ $1.jpg.webp [T=image/webp,E=accept:1]
</IfModule>

Nginx Configuration

location ~* .(jpg|jpeg|png)$ {
  add_header Vary Accept;
  try_files $uri$webp_suffix $uri =404;
}

map $http_accept $webp_suffix {
  default   "";
  "~*webp"  ".webp";
}

Testing WebP Support

Browser DevTools

1. Open Chrome DevTools (F12)
2. Go to Network tab
3. Reload page and check image requests
4. Look for WebP files being loaded
5. Check Accept header includes "image/webp"

Online Testing Tools

• Can I Use: Check global browser support statistics
• WebP Test: Test your browser's WebP support
• Google PageSpeed: Suggests WebP usage for optimization

Performance Benefits

Common Implementation Mistakes

❌ What NOT to Do

• Serving WebP only: Always provide fallbacks
• Poor quality settings: Don't over-compress WebP images
• Missing MIME types: Ensure server serves correct headers
• Ignoring lazy loading: Combine with lazy loading for best results

✅ Best Practices

• Always provide JPEG/PNG fallbacks
• Use picture element for responsive images
• Test across different browsers and devices
• Monitor loading performance with analytics
• Implement progressive enhancement approach