Uncompressed PCM audio — the professional and archival standard, and the format nearly every compressed audio file decodes down to before editing.
WAV (Waveform Audio File Format) stores audio as uncompressed PCM data, the same raw representation a CD or a professional recording session uses, which means nothing about the sound is discarded or approximated the way it is in MP3 or AAC. That fidelity comes at a cost in file size — a few minutes of stereo WAV audio can run tens of megabytes, roughly ten times a comparable MP3 — which is why WAV stays confined mostly to recording, editing, and archival work rather than everyday listening or sharing. Musicians, podcasters, and sound engineers work in WAV specifically because repeated edits and re-saves do not degrade it the way they would a compressed format, and because it is the format most digital audio workstations expect as an import or export target. On an iPhone, WAV is also the intermediate format several of Filemorph's audio tools use internally: a compressed file like MP3 or M4A gets decoded to PCM before certain edits are applied, then re-encoded, which is why WAV shows up as an available output for so many audio conversions even for people who never intended to work in it directly.
iPhone, iPad, and Mac play WAV natively in Music, Voice Memos, and Files. Windows, most digital audio workstations, and virtually every audio editor on any platform read and write WAV, since it is one of the oldest and most universally supported formats in professional audio.
WAV's file size makes it impractical for messaging, email, or everyday storage once a recording session or edit is finished. Converting to M4A on-device shrinks it down for sharing or long-term storage without needing separate desktop audio software.
Filemorph can convert WAV to M4A on-device — a fraction of the file size once a recording no longer needs to stay in uncompressed PCM.
Filemorph converts .wav files entirely on-device on iPhone, iPad and Mac — no upload, no account, and it works in Airplane Mode.
Relevant operations in Filemorph:
WAV stores audio uncompressed, keeping every sample exactly as recorded, while MP3 and M4A discard detail the ear barely notices to shrink the file. A few minutes of WAV can easily be ten times the size of the same clip as a compressed format.
Recording or editing in WAV avoids the generational quality loss that comes from repeatedly re-saving a compressed format. Once editing is finished, converting the final version to M4A or another compressed format makes it practical to store and share.
No. Filemorph converts and edits WAV files entirely on the iPhone or iPad, so a voice memo or recording session never has to be uploaded anywhere, and every tool works the same offline.