GIF to MP4: Stop Using Animated GIFs in 2026

The uncomfortable truth about GIFs The Graphics Interchange Format was finalized by CompuServe in 1987. Its animation extension came in 1989. At the time a 256-color palette was luxurious, inter-frame compression was a research topic, and video on the web meant postal mailing a VHS tape. Every design choice in GIF89a makes sense in its historical context. Zero of them make sense in 2026. And yet animated GIF remains absolutely everywhere: support articles, product demos, tutorials, reaction imag