In the past, at the dawn of the World Wide Web, if you had a hand-coded animated GIF on your site, you were probably considered quite skilled. The popularity of GIFs in the age of social media has exploded, and while before you needed some kind of graphical program to make them, today the process is automated and in most applications, all you need is your phone. . There are several ways to make a GIF on your iPhone from using Apple Live Photos to third party apps. Here’s how to make a GIF on iPhone.
Use Live Photo
You can easily create GIF animations with Live Photos on iPhone. Apple introduced Live Photos on the iPhone 6S in 2015, and among its many charms is that they can also be transformed into a GIF. A live photo is technically a three-second video – the phone records video 1.5 seconds before pressing the shutter button to 1.5 seconds after pressing it, resulting in a three-second video complete with sound. So you can convert a photo into a GIF.
- Take a Live Photo by launching the camera app and tapping the bullseye icon at the top of the screen so it turns yellow.
- To turn the photo into a GIF, open Live Photo and swipe up from the bottom.
- You’ll see Loop , Bounce, and Long Exposure options: use Loop or Bounce for your animation.
- Loop plays the three second Live Photo in a loop, successfully converting the Live Photo to a GIF.
- Bounce, a different type of animation, plays Live Photo back and forth in a perpetual cycle.
Select a GIF in Messages
If you’re not obsessed with creating your own original GIF from scratch, try the GIF finder in Apple Messages. Add a GIF from the #images feature in the Messages app on iPhone to find and share GIFs.
- Open Messages and enter a contact or select an existing conversation.
- Tap Search Images to search for a specific GIF or enter a keyword.
- Click on the GIF to add it to your message.
- Touch send .
Using Shortcuts
You’ve probably done it before by accident – holding down the iPhone’s shutter key for too long while the camera app shoots multiple full-resolution still frames. When viewed in succession, they look like a flipbook animation. Those burst photos are designed to capture action or create special effects when you don’t want to shoot video. They are especially useful for creating animated GIFs on your iPhone.
- Launch the Shortcuts app – it comes pre-installed on your phone with iOS 12 and later.
- Find and download the Convert Burst to GIF shortcut. While you’re at it, download the Convert Video to GIF shortcut.
- You may be asked to allow the app to access your photos or videos, so please allow it.
- Launch the shortcut by tapping the arrow at the bottom right. It will display a list of all your burst photos.
- Select one and it quickly transforms into a GIF.
- Hit Done and you will be asked to share the GIF or Save to Photos .
Use Giphy
The free Giphy app, possibly the most popular GIF generator, is a mass phenomenon. With Giphy, you can choose from a myriad of free GIFs for every imaginable purpose, or you can use your own images from the Camera Roll or take a new image or video and embellish it with animated stickers, text, and AR effects. Giphy guides you every step of the way, allowing all kinds of experiments before saving your GIF.
- Download Giphy from the App Store.
- Follow the prompts to create a new GIF.
- Allow Giphy to access your camera.
- Add all kinds of animated elements to your own image.
- Or use Giphy’s pre-made GIFs in whatever category you want.
- Save, upload to Giphy or share with your friends.
