Live Photos may have been one of the most talked about features when the new iPhones made their debut. Live Photos is a very simple idea, but turns the way people see and view their photos into something a little bit more interesting. We are going to show you how to take and view your Live Photos.
Live Photos works by saving not only the photo you take when you hit the shutter button, but also those that are captured 1.5 seconds before and 1.5 seconds afterwards.
Instead of getting just one image, then, you get a whole bunch — 45 to be precise — and these are all thrown together to create an MOV file that is combined with your standard 12-megapixel JPG image. Together, these provide you with a Live Photo that comes to life.
How to take Live Photos on your iPhone 6s
- Launch the Camera app to begin taking a photo.
- Tap on the Live Photo icon in the top-center to enable it. When enabled, the Live Photo icon will be yellow.
- Tap on the Shutter button. You will notice that the Live Photo icon will animate, and a yellow LIVE label will be displayed in the camera viewer to inform you that the Live Photo is being taken.
A number of early reviewers had complained that while Live Photos was a fun new feature to have, it is somewhat ruined on occasions where it ends up recording the camera up and down movement. Apple will be addressing the issue with an upcoming software that will intelligently sense when you raise or lower the phone. But until then, the trick is to keep the camera relatively still for 3 seconds or wait until the yellow LIVE label goes off to avoid this issue.
How to view Live Photos
Viewing a Live Photo on an iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus is quick and easy. You need to use 3D Touch to animate a Live Photo.
Go into your Photos and find a Live Photo or tap on the thumbnail in the Camera app.
Press firmly on the Live Photo. It will blur the screen for a second and will animate the Live Photo. It would have been nice if Live Photos were labeled with the LIVE yellow label, as it is not very easy to figure out which photo is a Live Photo in the camera roll. Live Photos animate when you swipe between them in the Photos app, so that is the best way to figure out.
For older devices running iOS 9 without 3D Touch, you can still view Live Photos. Instead of pressing into an image, just tap and hold and the Live Photo will eventually animate.
You will also be able to play and view Live Photos in OS X El Capitan when it is released on September 30th.
Check out our video walkthrough of how to take, view and share Live Photos:
So that’s all folks. Let us know what you think about Live Photos in the comment section.
Also check out:
➤ How to peek and pop with 3D Touch on iPhone 6s
➤ How to quickly switch apps with 3D Touch on iPhone 6s
