Live Photos have been around since 2015 with the introduction of the iPhone 6s. They are a unique iPhone creation that combines several still photos into a very short video, kind of like the GIFs that we are all obsessed with.  When you take a photo with the Live Photos option, the iPhone camera takes several photos and then stitches them together to create a smooth animation that lasts roughly 1.5 seconds. 

The downside to Live Photos is that when they are shared, the revert to static photos. If you want to retain the movement and sound of Live Photos when sharing, you first have to convert them into videos. Let’s take a look at the technology you’ll need to turn a Live Photo into a video. 

Don’t let Live Photos clutter up your iPhone

Live Photos and videos take up more storage than your average photo. To be sure that they don’t eat up all the space on your phone, use an app like CleanMy®Phone, which will delete similar and duplicate pics that you don’t want.

Download on the App Store

Option 1. Save a Live Photo as a video using iOS tools

There are a few different ways to save your Live Photo as a video using simple iOS tools already available to you right inside the Photos app. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to create GIFs of your photos to send to your friends.

How to turn a Live Photo into a video in iOS 13

If you have iOS 13 or later, you can quickly and easily save your Live Photo as a video for sharing. You can even stitch several Live Photos together for a longer video. Here’s how to do it. 

  1. Launch your Photos app and choose a Live Photo that you want to share.
  2. Tap the share button in the lower left.
  3. Tap Save as Video. Your video will be saved to your Camera Roll and in the Video album on your phone.

How to save a Live Photo as a Loop or Bounce video

As long as your iPhone is running iOS 11 or later, you can use the Photos app’s Loop and Bounce feature to create a video with fun special effects. The best way to use Loop and Bounce is to experiment a bit with your own photos. Here’s how it works. 

  1. Open the Photos app and choose the photo that you want to edit.
  2. Swipe up to open Effects and choose either Loop or Bounce. Loop turns your Live video into a short loop that plays over and over again. Bounce makes your photo rock back and forth. 
  3. Once you’ve created your video, you can share it as a video file with your friends on social media or through email or text. 

Option 2. Convert a Live Photo into a video with a third-party app

Another way to convert your Live Photos into videos is to use a third-party app like Lively. Lively makes it simple to create GIFs and movies on your iPhone and share them far and wide. Best of all? Lively is completely free to use.

How to make a Live Photo into a video using Lively

The nice thing about Lively is that its sole purpose is to convert your Live Photos into GIFs and movies. You can create your video almost instantly. Here are our step-by-step instructions for creating a video from a Live Photo using Lively. 

  1. Download the Lively app and give it permission to access your photos. Only your Live Photos will show up within the Lively app.
  2. Choose the photo you want to convert to a video
  3. Tap GIF or Movie.
  4. If you choose the GIF option, you can further customize it by tapping the settings icon, where you will find options for video length and auto-reverse.
  5. Tap Export to share your video on social media or save it to your Camera Roll. The finished video will have a small Lively watermark that you can remove for $2.99.

If you’ve ever wondered what in the world to do with Live Photos, now you know! Turn those masterpieces into videos and share them with the world.