Make Live Photos Loop, Bounce, and More on iPhone

[MacRumors]

Apple's Live Photos, introduced in 2015, are photos that capture 1.5 seconds of video before and after you take a picture, with the aim of adding a little bit of life and movement to still images.

Since introducing Live Photos, Apple has added some effects to its Photos app that let you turn them into fun animated clips, which you can then share with family, friends, or the wider world.

There are three effects in total that you can try on your own Live Photos. Loop repeats the action in a continuous looping video, Bounce rewinds the action backward and forward, and Long Exposure simulates a DSLR-like long exposure effect by blurring motion.

The following steps show how you can apply them to your own Live Photos on iPhone and iPad.

1. Open the Photos app and select a Live Photo. (If you look under "Media Types" in the Albums section, you'll find all of your Live Photos collated in a folder of the same name.)
2. With the Live Photo open, tap the LIVE icon in the top-left corner of the interface.
3. From the dropdown menu that appears, choose from Live (the default), Loop, Bounce, Long Exposure, and Off.

The effect you choose will be applied immediately, ready for you to share your creation using the Share icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen.

It's worth noting that with Live Photos, if you get a blurry image, you can open it up and see if other frames you captured are clearer, and then select a replacement "key photo" for it. Click the link to learn how it's done.

Article Link: Make Live Photos Loop, Bounce, and More on iPhone

 

[alonsapir]

Not sure why, but on the iPhone 16 Pro Max running iOS 18.5, these instructions don't work.

 

[sw1tcher]

Not sure why, but on the iPhone 16 Pro Max running iOS 18.5, these instructions don't work.

Do you have any Live Photo saved in your Photos app? If not, take a Live Photo. Then go to Photos app to view that Live Photo. You should then be able to see that "Live" icon near upper left corner.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

What I need from Live Photos is a way to turn it off relatively permanently. I shoot RAW still images and hate the fact that an inadvertent display touch or whatever shifts to Live Photos (RAW captures contain far more still image data).

I do not object to Live Photos being an available choice for other photogs, because they are a useful tool for amateur pix of kids and pets. I just need a method to make inadvertent shifts to Live Photos mode impossible. Ideally, I would have to dive deep into some menu(s) if I ever wanted to get out of pure RAW still image captures.

 

[alonsapir]

Do you have any Live Photo saved in your Photos app? If not, take a Live Photo. Then go to Photos app to view that Live Photo. You should then be able to see that "Live" icon near upper left corner.

Thanks!

 

[racerhomie]

Live Photos are one the reasons I never got a Digital Camera after the iPhone 6S. There is something very powerful about having a Live Photo, that even a higher quality Standalone Camera can’t replicate. I would say it’s a bit of Apple Magic!

 

[uacd]

Moreover, you can even take it further and make a .gif from it via shortcuts! (Not sharing the shortcut because it might be against the rules, so you can simply replicate it). Oh btw you can also add “open recent photos” at the end so it will take you straight to your newly-created .gif. Quality is pretty bad compared to live photo but can be fun for sharing on social platforms!

 

[smaffei]

I keep turning Live Photos off. And magically it comes back on after a while. Usually after a system update. Personally, I think it's a ploy from Apple to sell more iCloud storage.

 

[MacPainter]

If you haven’t already done this, I strongly recommend holding the camera steady and photographing a body of water, then use Live Photos to turn on Loop. It makes the photo look like a perpetual live shot and is incredibly calming and rewarding.

I recently discovered that the Bounce feature can actually work well for blossoming trees, too, but you need the right wind action to make it look natural.

 

[Oblivious.Robot]

Overtime I have realised that Live Photos are much higher quality than the regular photos that I was taking, iPhone 6 and X were slow but 15PMx is nearly instant and I'm finally able to take photos of my cats without it being a blurry mess as they won't sit still!

 

[Smeg84]

Windows Phone had it first

 

[svish]

Nice article. I usually keep Live photos off. Will turn it on and try these out.

 

[racerhomie]

Moreover, you can even take it further and make a .gif from it via shortcuts! (Not sharing the shortcut because it might be against the rules, so you can simply replicate it). Oh btw you can also add “open recent photos” at the end so it will take you straight to your newly-created .gif. Quality is pretty bad compared to live photo but can be fun for sharing on social platforms!

View attachment 2516313

Why not export as MP4 files. GIF format is from the 90s and takes a lot of space for very little quality?

 

[MacBH928]

its a short video, not "live" photo

 

[uacd]

Why not export as MP4 files. GIF format is from the 90s and takes a lot of space for very little quality?

For sharing!
Indeed, an inefficient format from 90s. But still widely supported across platforms - you can even post it here, in comments on Facebook, send via Whatsapp. Sending video would be slightly different

 

[racerhomie]

For sharing!
Indeed, an inefficient format from 90s. But still widely supported across platforms - you can even post it here, in comments on Facebook, send via Whatsapp. Sending video would be slightly different

I understand that