The iPhone 6s’ new Live Photos feature created a new media format, but there’s one major problem with the new moving pictures: You have to own an iPhone 6s to see them.
Most of your friends probably haven’t upgraded yet, which means those cool Live Photos you’ve snapped are only viewable by you. However, there is a way to transform your favorite Live Photo into a shareable GIF or video file, allowing everyone to see the movement in your picture, no matter what device they’re on.
Here’s how to do it:
For this how-to, you’ll need to download either LiveGIF or Lively. Both apps do pretty much the same thing and have similar user interfaces. They both cost $1.99, except Lively is free to download and then offers an in-app purchase for unlimited exports.
1) Open LiveGIF or Lively.
2) Select the Live Photo you want to convert.
3) Tap Export as GIF (Lively) or Share GIF (LiveGIF).
4) Choose your destination for the GIF in the share sheet.
5) That’s it! You can now post it to Twitter or text it to a friend.
With Lively you can also adjust the playback speed of your GIF in the export screen by choosing between 0.5x, 0.75x, 1x, 1.5x and 2x. Both apps also support 3D Touch, allowing you to make the last Live Photo you took into a GIF with just one tap, but unfortunately, neither app allows you to trim frames to capture only the exact part you want in your GIF.
