HeyMotion Browser Requirements
Which browsers work with HeyMotion — a Chromium browser is required to export video, and here's why and what's recommended.
#Overview
HeyMotion runs entirely in your browser — there's no download and nothing is sent to a server. Because export happens in-browser using WebCodecs, the browser you use matters most at export time.
#Supported Browsers
A Chromium-based browser is required to export video. WebCodecs is what turns your animation into an MP4 (H.264 / AVC, VP9 fallback) at 30 inside the tab, and it's fully supported in Chromium.
| Browser | Preview | Export |
|---|---|---|
| Google Chrome (desktop) (recommended) | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft Edge | Yes | Yes |
| Brave | Yes | Yes |
| Arc | Yes | Yes |
| Safari | Yes | May fail |
| Firefox | Yes | May fail |
Safari and Firefox can load the studio and play the preview, but they may not be able to encode video. When export isn't supported, you'll see "This browser cannot encode video (try Chrome)."
#Recommendations
- Use Google Chrome (desktop) for the most reliable export. Edge, Brave, and Arc are all Chromium and work the same way.
- Use a desktop browser. A desktop or laptop gives the encoder the memory and processing headroom that in-browser rendering needs, especially for longer clips or graphics with large images.
- Turn on hardware acceleration in your browser settings so animation and encoding use the GPU. This also keeps the preview smooth.
- Keep your browser up to date so you have the current WebCodecs implementation.
#Why Chromium
Export is 100% local: HeyMotion renders each frame, feeds it to the WebCodecs video encoder, and muxes the result into an MP4 (H.264 / AVC, VP9 fallback) file that downloads to your Downloads folder. Nothing uploads to a server. That privacy and speed come from doing the encode in the browser — which is why a browser with full WebCodecs encoding support (Chromium) is required.