How to convert Live Photos to still images on iPhone 6s

BY Osas Obaizamomwan

Published 6 Oct 2015

Live Photos is a nice feature for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. Simply put, the camera records 1.5 seconds before and after you snap a photo. The resulting image can be viewed as an animated Live Photo. Due to the image being combined with a .MOV, the file size is about twice as large as a regular photo. Twice as large means it takes up, twice the amount of space on your phone and when sending that image off.  However, you can quickly convert a Live Photo into a regular photo.

How to convert Live Photos to still images on iPhone 6s

For whatever the case may be, you can change a Live Photo into a regular image, and back to a Live Photo at anytime. Most people will probably use this option when the file size becomes too large when sending to a friend or family member.

Step 1:

Open the Photos app on your device.

Step 2:

Tap the Live Photo that you want to convert to a normal image. Locating a Live Photo is pretty difficult, but there is a little trick to it. When scrolling through your Photos, all Live Photos will animate very slightly, making it a little easier to spot. An imperfect solution that I am sure Apple will address in another update.

Step 3:

Tap Edit to bring up the editing pane. Near the top you’ll see an icon of ringed circles. For an active Live Photo, this will be blue. Tap it to turn a Live Photo into a normal photo and icon will shift to gray.

Edit Live

Hit done and the new image will save to your Photos. You can send that smaller image off to whomever.

Check our hands-on video to see it action:

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Even if you are a pretty big fan of Live Photos you may want to send a non-live version every now and then. This is a pretty easy way to do so.

Let us know what you think about Live Photos in the comment section.

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