Android as an OS platform has been in the limelight since 2008, and it has managed to power up almost every smartphone available on the planet, except for iPhones because we know “Apple.” Apart from powering up a device, it is also capable of running different file formats that are available in the market. However, there is still one file format that Android fails to run. Do you want to know which file format it is? Well then, just follow this article which has the answer to this most-asked question, “Which file format is not supported on Android?“
Which file format is not supported on Android?
As mentioned earlier Android to date primarily supports every file format available on the market. But there is this one format called “AVI” that is still not supported on Android natively.
Now, for those of you who don’t know what the “AVI” file format is, you can refer to this short introduction that is mentioned below.
What is an AVI file format?
Audio Video Interleave commonly known as AVI is a file format for video files that contains both high-quality audio and video. Meaning, that it will create a lossless audio-video experience for the users.
Looking back at its history, it was first developed by Microsoft in the year 1992 as a standard video format for all its Windows machines. Plus, it supports almost every codec ranging from DivX to XviD.
However, due to its lossless quality, it captures a large space of your storage, approximately 1 to 2 GB per minute.
Hence, the longer the video, the more space it will capture. But, it doesn’t mean that it will lose its quality over time, instead, you can save or open it multiple times as long as you want.
Can supported file formats give away an “unsupported file type” error?
Yes, sometimes plenty of file formats that are supported by Android can throw an “unsupported file type” error when a user tries to open them.
Although, this can be caused purely due to these two main reasons:
- Temporary glitch on your mobile phone.
OR
- Older android version with older hardware components.
However, these glitches can be easily solved with the solutions that are mentioned below.
How to fix an “unsupported file type error?”
We have clearly seen that it is impossible to run an AVI file format on the native android video app due to the lack of hardware and software support. Also, sometimes even with the supported file formats, this problem is evident.
But, there are a few workarounds that can help you to run these files on your Android device easily.
For instance;
- Convert the unsupported file.
- Install the apps that support the file format.
- Restart your device.
- Rename the file with the correct file extension.
- Re-download the file if corrupted.
- Use advanced file viewer apps.
- Upgrade/Update your device.
Convert the unsupported file
The first solution that we suggest to fix the “unsupported file type error” on your Android device is to convert it into a supported file format either by using online converter services or dedicated converter software.
By converting files like AVI to MP4 or other executable formats, you help your android device recognize the file format, so it can play it on its native apps.
Install the apps that support file format:
If you are having difficulty opening up a file that is unsupported on your android device, we suggest you install alternative apps that can handle them easily.
For example, the VLC media player app for Android can easily play AVI files that are available on your android device, because this app has been specifically designed to handle such heavy file formats.
Restart your device:
Sometimes it can be a temporary glitch that can cause this type of error on your android device.
Therefore, we highly recommend restarting your android device to fix the glitch.
Rename the file with the correct file extension:
An incorrect file extension can also cause your files to throw an unsupported file format error on your screen. And therefore, we recommend replacing the file extension generally represented with “(.)” after the file name, to fix this error.
Redownload the file if corrupted:
Many times when we download files from the internet they tend to get corrupted due to an incomplete download or unstable internet connection, which directly causes this error.
Therefore, we suggest our users to re-download the files on their android devices. Also, if you have transferred files using a USB configuration, we suggest you repeat the transfer process.
Use advanced file viewer apps:
It is a no-brainer that Android provides its users with an in-built file manager app to open up different files on their Android phones.
However, this in-built file manager app is not completely capable of running some of the file types, like in this case the AVI file format.
Therefore, we recommend you install some of the best third-party advanced file viewer apps like “File Viewer for Android” or “File Commander“, to execute the files successfully.
Upgrade/Update your device:
Lastly, if you are not able to run these files even after following the above-mentioned solutions, then we suggest you either upgrade or update your android device, which in fact will solve 99% percent of the problem in a snap.
Conclusion:
As the years have passed Android as an OS has proven its worth among users with its solid rich features.
However, even in 2023, Android lacks in some areas, like still not supporting the AVI files on its native video app, which is slightly inconvenient for its users.
But, still, you can easily surpass these restrictions with the solutions that are mentioned above in the article.
