You see, the root of the problem lies in Live Photos being a hybrid format, effectively containing data from both an image and a video. But many platforms do not yet recognize such complexities and automatically pick the first part, which is a still image. That is why we often see iPhone users having trouble uploading Live Photos to Instagram Feed or sharing with people who use Android.
Converting such files to videos is a usual go-to method of fixing the issue. Luckily, native iOS tools make it easy, so you can do it on your iPhone right away. Or, if you'd like to make some changes to your Live Photos, there are many third-party editors available!
What is a Live Photo, and why won't it play as a video?
As mentioned before, Live Photos use a hybrid photo format that consists of a key frame and 1.5 seconds of motion and sound before and after the shutter press. Key frame, or key photo, is the image you see in Photos once the file is saved.
That makes Live Photo a still image inseparably paired with a short video component. But do not be fooled by the latter – Live Photo is not a video file, and it only ever behaves like one inside Apple's ecosystem. Well, not exactly; since Live Photo still has video data in it, you can apply Loop, Bounce, and Long Exposure effects to that section, but that's about it.
Why turn Live Photos into videos?
The short answer is that, given their characteristics, converting Live Photos to videos is simply more efficient for everyone. Long answer includes:
- Universal shareability. Once you convert to MP4 or MOV, Live Photos are no longer restricted only to Apple users! Everyone will see their motion, be it Android users, email recipients, or your friends in messenger apps.
- Social media compatibility. Though iPhones are popular, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Facebook, and many other platforms do not natively support Live Photo playback. Changing their format to video is the only way to have the moving version not appear as a static image in feeds.
- Preservation and storage flexibility. Though you can place Live Photos in Google Photos, Dropbox, or any cloud platform, there's always a risk they will lose their motion component outside Apple's ecosystem. Converting them to videos prior to storing negates this issue.
Those are pretty strong arguments, but you may think, then what is the point of taking Live Photos if you have to convert them? The answer depends on each user! Ask yourself why not take Live Photos if you want to? Conversion is just an extra step in case you want to share it outside iMessage, so it's not always necessary.
Besides, even if you have to convert Live Photos, it's actually very simple!
How to turn Live Photos into videos
Before you start the process, think about what you want to do with the result. If it's just for sharing, the native iPhone method is quick and efficient. However, you can also have an all-in-one video editing solution using Clideo; it's perfect when you want to add music, cut something, or make other kinds of changes!
Both are valid, so let's see how to do it properly.
Photos app
- To start, open the Photos app, and open the Live Photo you want to convert (it will have a badge that looks like concentric circles icon).
- Then there are two options:
- In the latest iOS version, you can tap the three dots at the top right and select "Save as Video" to create a video file in your Photos app. Note that this option is available for the original Live Photo only.
- If your Live Photo has a Loop or Bounce effect, tap the share button and select "Save to Files", and save the file to the required location.
And that's it! Pretty easy, isn't it? However, such simplicity also means that you can't do much else. The newly created video will always be .MOV only, and no other change can be implemented at this stage.
But still, if you just want to share your Live Photos with no issues, ready to playback on any device or platform, this is the simplest and quickest way to do it!
Clideo Video Editor app
But what about the cases when you may want to make changes to your original Live Photo? There is a solution! You can use an editor app that will allow you to make changes to your file and export it as a video. Here at Clideo, we have a variety of tools for every kind of edit, but our Video Editor App for iPhone is the best for this specific task.
Converting videos is pretty simple here:
Download the app, open it, and tap "+ New project". Then select a Live Photo from your gallery (tap the Live tab to see all your live photos).
Add the selected media to your project. Note that no matter what effect is applied (loop or bounce), it won't appear here; just the original Live Photo video will be added.
Take a look at the output video. Make changes if needed. There's a lot to choose from; just tap and scroll through the icons at the bottom to customize your video as you like – you can trim the clip, adjust its speed, or add music, either from your device or from the in-tool media library. You can also change the aspect ratio and crop it if you want to post on a specific platform, like 9:16, 1:1, etc.
Tap the "Export" icon in the top right corner, select the quality, and export the video. After it's done, the new video file will be automatically saved to your photo gallery. You can also share it to a target video platform by tapping their corresponding share icon in the app, or use three dots for more sharing options.
Takes slightly more time than converting through a native way, but there's a good side to it as well, don't you think? The Clideo Video Editor app is not just a converter, but a full-on editor, where you can add music, text, stickers, or other images and videos to your project. Or you can just combine several live photos and save them as a video or GIF!
The best thing, though? The web syncing! Provided you use the same account, you can access your projects on any device with Internet access, so you can work on them whenever you feel like it.
So if you're looking for a simple but powerful editor to create fun videos, then this app is just for you!
Tips for converting Live Photos to video
Though the conversion process is simple, there are some tricks to remember:
- Apply the required effect (loop, bounce) before converting to video when you use "Save to Files".
- Remember that Loop and Bounce effects will remove the audio from your Live Photo videos.
- Use trimming features in the editor to remove the "shaky" parts at the start or end.
- Choose the best moment and make it a "keyframe". To do that, go to edit your Live Photo with no effects, open the "Live" section below, and move the slider along the frame scale to find the perfect frame.
- Apply filters in the native Photos app first and then convert.
Interesting how you need to do all of it, isn't it? Live Photos are a great way to capture beautiful and funny moments and give them a little oomph through motion. It could've been Apple's own high-quality GIF-like format, but alas, it's gatekept from anyone not already inside the Apple ecosystem! But, as you already know, it's pretty easy to "free" Live Photos – so why don't you try to convert some?
Yes! Modern editor apps don't over-compress files, and you can always just use the native iPhone method.
Because many non-Apple apps don't "get" the hybrid format of Live Photos and only process their image part.
Technically, it is possible, but it depends on how the photos were transferred, as often they lose their moving part once outside iOS.
Up to 3 seconds – 1,5 before the shutter press and 1,5 after.
Yes, you can upload multiple photos and combine them into a video in Clideo's app.