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Apple Introduces Moving 'Live Photos' for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus

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Apple today announced a new feature for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus called "Live Photos," allowing users to use the new 3D Touch feature on the iPhone to see quick, GIF-like movements in photos they have taken. The Live Photos feature is reminiscent of the fantastical moving photos featured in the Harry Potter movie, allowing users to see short bits of animation in their images.

Apple emphasized that Live Photos are not video, they're photos taken with all of the same high-quality camera capabilities brought to the new generation of iPhone, but they include an extra 1.5 seconds of footage at the beginning and the end of the photo to enable the mini animations. These animations are displayed when force pressing on a photo and when scrolling through photos in the Camera Roll.

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According to Apple, Live Photos will be able to be viewed on the entire line-up of the Mac, iPhone, iPad, and even Apple Watch line. Users will even be able to use the new feature to set up Live Photos as a lock screen on iPhone, and even use the feature to make custom motion wallpapers for the Apple Watch. With a Live Photo as an Apple Watch face, it'll animate each time you raise your wrist to look at the time.

Tag: September 2015 Event
Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

ZacNicholson Avatar
ZacNicholson
144 months ago
now my nudes will look even weirder.. no one wants to see the fluffing part of a nude..
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Protan Avatar
Protan
144 months ago
I dont see why this feature isn't extended to iPhone 6 or other iPhones. Why can't my camera take a "little video" as a picture?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mdridwan47 Avatar
mdridwan47
144 months ago
Perfect for those 16GB iPhones.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
acearchie Avatar
acearchie
144 months ago
As a father of three young kids this is the type of gimmick that I would use and compel me to upgrade. Hate to say it but it's true.
I don't think it's a gimmick at all if you find yourself using it a lot.

I think the main benefit is that there is no change to my workflow (not an external app) so all it is is a value add. I look forward to giving it a try!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
acearchie Avatar
acearchie
144 months ago
Yes, lots of other cameras/devices have been able to do this for years - it's a fun gimmick to use occasionally. Not "keynote-focus-worthy," but a nice add.
With the rise of apps like Giphy Cam and facebook support coming before the end of the year I think you will find this catching on amongst the younger generation.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ecsos Avatar
ecsos
144 months ago
So in other words, GIFs are new again?
It probably is a variation on gif. There was a company a while ago that got bought up by Apple and I bet this is the result, the company was a man with an app called Snappycam which claimed to have rewritten the jpeg compression algorithm from scratch to be more efficient and fast.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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