diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 8e8313d..5992771 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -22,3 +22,4 @@ openai==2.16.0
 emoji==2.15.0
 funasr==1.3.1
 torchaudio==2.11.0
+pillow-heif==1.3.0
diff --git a/src/open_storyline/__init__.py b/src/open_storyline/__init__.py
index a68927d..96feb16 100644
--- a/src/open_storyline/__init__.py
+++ b/src/open_storyline/__init__.py
@@ -1 +1,13 @@
-__version__ = "0.1.0"
\ No newline at end of file
+__version__ = "0.1.0"
+
+# Register the HEIF/HEIC opener with Pillow so that downstream nodes that read
+# images via PIL.Image.open() (load_media, render_video, sampling_handler, ...)
+# transparently support .heic / .heif files produced by iPhone cameras.
+try:
+    from pillow_heif import register_heif_opener as _register_heif_opener
+
+    _register_heif_opener()
+except ImportError:
+    # pillow-heif is an optional dependency; if missing, .heic uploads will
+    # still be filtered out by the suffix whitelist with a clear log line.
+    pass
diff --git a/src/open_storyline/mcp/sampling_handler.py b/src/open_storyline/mcp/sampling_handler.py
index fd2bc6e..57e7c53 100644
--- a/src/open_storyline/mcp/sampling_handler.py
+++ b/src/open_storyline/mcp/sampling_handler.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 DEFAULT_FRAMES_PER_SEC = 3.0
 GLOBAL_MAX_IMAGE_BLOCKS = 48  # Maximum total images allowed (video frames + images) to prevent payload overflow
 
-IMAGE_EXTS = {".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".webp", ".bmp", ".gif", ".tiff"}
+IMAGE_EXTS = {".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".webp", ".bmp", ".gif", ".tiff", ".heic", ".heif"}
 VIDEO_EXTS = {".mp4", ".mov", ".mkv", ".avi", ".webm", ".m4v"}
 
 
diff --git a/src/open_storyline/nodes/core_nodes/generate_ai_transition.py b/src/open_storyline/nodes/core_nodes/generate_ai_transition.py
index e13e817..d73a602 100644
--- a/src/open_storyline/nodes/core_nodes/generate_ai_transition.py
+++ b/src/open_storyline/nodes/core_nodes/generate_ai_transition.py
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ class GenerateAITransitionNode(BaseNode):
         ".mp4", ".mov", ".mkv", ".avi"
     }
     IMAGE_EXTS = {
-        ".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".webp", ".bmp"
+        ".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".webp", ".bmp", ".heic", ".heif"
     }
 
     DEFAULT_TRANSITION_DURATION = 5
diff --git a/src/open_storyline/nodes/core_nodes/load_media.py b/src/open_storyline/nodes/core_nodes/load_media.py
index c9dc4d8..0dedf7c 100644
--- a/src/open_storyline/nodes/core_nodes/load_media.py
+++ b/src/open_storyline/nodes/core_nodes/load_media.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
     ".mp4", ".mov", ".mkv", ".avi"
 }
 IMAGE_EXTS = {
-    ".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".webp", ".bmp"
+    ".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".webp", ".bmp", ".heic", ".heif"
 }
 
 def _image_metadata_from_path(path: Path) -> dict[str, Any]:
diff --git a/src/open_storyline/nodes/core_nodes/render_video.py b/src/open_storyline/nodes/core_nodes/render_video.py
index 2212a05..805843b 100644
--- a/src/open_storyline/nodes/core_nodes/render_video.py
+++ b/src/open_storyline/nodes/core_nodes/render_video.py
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ def build_media_id_to_path_map(load_media: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, str]:
 
 def is_image_file(path: str) -> bool:
     try:
-        return Path(path).suffix.lower() in {".png", ".jpg", ".jpeg", ".bmp", ".webp", ".tif", ".tiff"}
+        return Path(path).suffix.lower() in {".png", ".jpg", ".jpeg", ".bmp", ".webp", ".tif", ".tiff", ".heic", ".heif"}
     except Exception:
         return False
 
diff --git a/src/open_storyline/utils/media_handler.py b/src/open_storyline/utils/media_handler.py
index da837c7..ce35bdf 100644
--- a/src/open_storyline/utils/media_handler.py
+++ b/src/open_storyline/utils/media_handler.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Union
 
-_MEDIA_EXTS_IMG = {".png", ".jpg", ".jpeg", ".gif", ".bmp", ".webp"}
+_MEDIA_EXTS_IMG = {".png", ".jpg", ".jpeg", ".gif", ".bmp", ".webp", ".heic", ".heif"}
 _MEDIA_EXTS_VID = {".mp4", ".mov", ".avi", ".mkv", ".webm", ".m4v"}
 
 def scan_media_dir(media_dir: Union[Path, str]) -> dict: