In my opinion, selfies may lead to the end of the world, but nevertheless they are amazingly popular amongst pretty much everyone one. So much so, Apple created a Selfie album in iOS 9 Photos. With the introduction of Live Photos in iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, everyone’s selfie game will need to step it up a notch. It’s time for Live Selfies.
It also helps that the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus come with new 5-megapixel front FaceTime camera, a major upgrade from the 1.2-megapixel camera found on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
How to take live selfies on the iPhone 6s
There are numerous ways to access your camera for a quick selfie. You can slide it up from the lock screen, ask Siri, or use Quick Actions with 3D touch to launch the front camera from the Home screen.
Any way you do it, you’re going to need to make sure the Live Photo is enabled. Just make sure the yellow Live button is ON and you’re good to go. Remember that these Live Photos take 1.5 seconds before and after your photo is shot, so try to keep the camera relatively steady during the process.
Okay, with the front facing camera ON and your wonderful face in frame, you can begin snapping your Live Selfie. Again, make sure the Live button is ON, and try to make it interesting. Maybe crack a smile or toss in a wink, so that the selfie actually has some nice animation to it.
How to use Retina Flash on your iPhone 6s
The 5MP FaceTime HD camera also includes Retina Flash, which makes use of Retina Display rather than using LED flash. A new custom display chip drives the Retina Display to flash three times brighter than usual. It also makes use of the True Tone technology that is used in the back LED flash to match the lighting color and provide truer tones. So if you are in a poorly lit room, you can now use flash for selfies.
Just toggle the Flash icon (yellow lightning bolt) ON and take your Live Photo. The front of your screen will flash, hopefully providing enough light to improve your image.
How to view Live Selfies
The Live Selfie is nothing but a Live Photo. 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.
How to share a Live Seflie
Now, you can go ahead and share your Live Selfie by tapping the Share button and sending it off via your chosen method of image transportation. Since the Live Selfies 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 afterwards; the trick is to keep the camera relatively still for 3 seconds or wait until the yellow LIVE label goes off to avoid recording the camera up and down movement.
Let us know what you think of this whole Live Selfie thing in the comment section.
Also check out:
➤ How to take and view Live Photos on your iPhone 6s
➤ How to peek and pop with 3D Touch on iPhone 6s
➤ How to quickly switch apps with 3D Touch on iPhone 6s
