Apple ATX Texture Archive
| Format | Apple ATX Texture Archive |
|---|---|
| Short name | ATX |
| Category | media |
| Platforms | macOS, iOS |
| Crush support | Supported (ImageParser) |
| Status | Reviewed |
| Last reviewed | 2026-10-04 |
Forensic relevance
Apple AAPL texture container wrapping ASTC image payloads, including some LZFSE-compressed variants. Found in iOS and macOS UI caches such as app switcher snapshots, wallpapers, PosterBoard snapshots, avatars, widgets, camera thumbnails, and app-generated interface imagery. Decoding can expose visible user interface state or cached imagery that standard image viewers miss because the file is not a JPEG/PNG container.
Signatures
| Offset | Hex | ASCII (non-printable as .) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| offset 0 (0x0) | 41 41 50 4C 0D 0A 1A 0A | AAPL.... | Apple ATX AAPL container signature |
Known extensions
.atx
References
- ATX reader reference implementation https://github.com/galba-arueira/atx_reader
- ASTC block format (Khronos Data Format Specification) https://registry.khronos.org/DataFormat/specs/1.3/dataformat.1.3.html#ASTC
- Apple LZFSE compression algorithm https://developer.apple.com/documentation/compression/algorithm/lzfse
Cite this entry
Crush Format Reference, “Apple ATX Texture Archive”. https://kalink0.github.io/crush-forensics/formats/atx/ — source: crush/data/build_formats_db.py at commit 640a2a9928f4e36a976b89901512a8dce824d093, built 2026-10-21 06:46:19 UTC.
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