How to Make a Video into a Live Photo on iPhone and Mac

by Lina Thorne • Updated 5/20/2025 · Posted in Video Editing

Live Photos is a rather unique feature of an iPhone camera. Once enabled, the Camera app won’t just take a single photo – it will capture some extra frames as well as audio before and after you press the shutter button. As a result, you get a moving image that’s approximately 3 second long. It looks kind of like an animated GIF – or those magical portraits from Harry Potter movies – but with audio.

But what if you have a video that you’d like to turn into a Live Photo? Maybe you want to set it as a Live Wallpaper or send a funny animation in iMessages?

In this complete guide, we’ll walk you through how to turn a video into a Live Photo on iPhone and Mac and why you might want to do this. You will also learn how to turn a single live photo or even multiple live photos into a video, which can come in handy if, for instance, you’d like to reverse the process.

Don’t worry, though. Neither of the methods featured in this guide require any special skills. You’ll be able to get great results even if you’ve never edited a video before.

Why You Should Make a Video Into a Live Photo

There are several reasons why you might want to do this:

1. Use as a Live Wallpaper

Are you bored with static wallpapers? Luckily, iPhone users can set a Live Photo on their lock screen. So, if there’s a video you love – your pet wagging its tail or a wave crashing on a scenic shore — you can convert it into a Live Photo, then set as a wallpaper which will spring to live every time you press on the screen.

2. Evoke Emotions

A still image can say a lot, but a live photo is much better at conveying and evoking emotions. So, if that’s your goal – say, you want to brighten someone’s day – consider sending a live photo instead of a regular still image. Fortunately, live photos can be shared via iMessage and will animate when viewed.

3. Create Looping Content

If you convert short videos into live photos, you will then be able to use them on platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels as boomerangs or even as moving stickers.

Since live photos are smaller in size than regular video clips, they are easier to send via email or share in messaging apps without worrying about file size limits. This is also how you can free up some space on your device; just remember to delete the video after the conversion.

How to Turn a Live Photo into a Video on iPhone

Let’s start with something simple. And something that might also be of use to you. For instance, if you want to share your visual content with a person who doesn’t own an iPhone – after all, Android users won’t be able to view live photos properly. Aside from that, posting live photos online can be a bit tricky. Posting a video is MUCH easier.

It may come as a surprise but making a live photo a video on iPhone is a pretty straightforward task because your iPhone has a built-in for that.

Please note that this is possible on iOS 13 and later.

So, if you happen to have a live photo that you’d like to turn into a video, follow these steps:

Open the Photos app.
Find and tap on the live photo that you want to convert.
Tap the More button (“…”), which is found in the upper-right corner.
Scroll to the right and choose the Save as Video option.

That’s it! The video will appear in the Recently added album.

This method can also be used for converting multiple live photos into one video. You will simply need to select several live photos instead of one.

How to Turn a Live Photo into a Video on Mac

It’s also possible to do this on Mac using the same app. The process is only slightly different, but super easy, as well:

Open the Photos app on your Mac.
Find the live photo that needs to be converted and open it.
Select File > Export > Export Unmodified Original for 1 Photo
Choose a destination folder and click Export.

This will give you two files:

A .JPG (the still image)
A .MOV (the short video)

And now you’ve turned your live photo into a video! Now, you can edit it in iMovie, Final Cut Pro, or upload it directly to social media.

How to Combine Multiple Live Photos into One Video

There’s another way how you can combine multiple live photos into a single video. The main benefit of this method is that you will be able to do some video editing, as well. For instance, you can add transitions between your video clips. To do this, you will need to use the iMovie app, which is available for free for iPhones and Macs.

It’s pretty easy:

Download iMovie from the App Store (if it’s not already installed on your device).
Open iMovie, tap Start New Project > Movie.
Browse and select all the necessary live photos.
Tap Create Movie.
iMovie will automatically convert your Live Photos into video clips with motion and sound.
Once all the live photos are imported and converted, you can: ◦ Trim and rearrange your clips. ◦ Add transitions. ◦ Add music by tapping the + and choosing Audio.
When you’re done with the editing, tap Done. Then tap the Share icon and choose Save Video.

And now your live photos are combined into a single video and all the video editing is already done!

How to Make a Video into a Live Photo on iPhone

Alright, it’s time to find out how you can make a video into a live photo. Unfortunately, this is a bit more complicated because it’s not possible to do this using the Photos app or any other native app. There’s no built-in function on iPhone or Mac. So, there’s no other way but to opt for using third-party apps.

Method 1. Using the intoLive App

The intoLive app is a popular choice for converting videos into Live Photos. Here’s how to use it:

Download the intoLive app from the App Store.
Open the app and allow it to access your files.
Tap New Project and select the video you want to convert.
Edit the video, if needed. You can trim it, apply various filters, adjust its speed, etc.
Tap the Share button in the top-right corner.
Choose the number of repetitions for your future live photo. Please note that the free version allows one loop.
Tap Save Live Photo.

All done! Your newly created live photo will be saved to your Photos app.

What should be kept in mind here is that the app can be used for free, but you will be able to process only a 5-second video in the free version. If you want to process videos up to 30 seconds long and need more customization options, you will need to upgrade to the Pro version.

Method 2. Using the VideoToLive App

This method is similar to the previous one but involves using a different app – the VideoToLive app. So, if you didn’t like the intoLive app, you can give this one a try.

With VideoToLive, you will be able to:

easily convert videos into live photos;
create a live photo from multiple video clips.

More to that, this app allows you to create a live photo from a single image or image sequences. Here it’s also possible to turn your videos or live photos into GIFs, which are much easier to share online.

This app works similarly to the intoLive app:

Once you downloaded the app, open and tap on Video and Live Photo.
Allow the app to access your gallery.
Import the necessary video.
Make some adjustments to the video if needed.
You can check the preview before exporting.
When you’re ready, tap on Make and wait for the app to process your video.

That’s it!

What’s great about this app is that it allows you to process a 30 second video free of charge.

Method 3. Using TikTok

You’re surprised by this one, aren’t you? As you may know, TikTok is an extremely popular platform for sharing short-form video content. It does offer a built-in video editor, but it’s not exactly a video editing app. Nevertheless, you can actually use it to make a video into a live photo. Since it’s kind of a workaround, it does involve a few extra steps, but you will be able to do this without paying a cent!

So, go ahead and download TikTok if it’s not already installed on your smartphone, then create an account. Next, open TikTok and do the following:

Tap on the + icon at the bottom.
Tap on the Camera Roll button on the left, then select the video that you want to convert.
Tap Next.
Make adjustments to your video, if needed, then tap on Next, again.
Now, tap on the Privacy Settings and select Only you. This way, only you will be able to see your posted video.
Click on Post and wait until the app posts your video.
Go to your profile and tap the padlock icon. This is where all of your private videos are.
Tap on your newly posted video.
Tap the three dots in the bottom-right, then find and select the Live Photo option.
TikTok will convert your video to a live photo and save it to the Photos app.

All done!

There’s something you should know, though:

Some users have reported that they couldn’t find the Live Photo option.
Some users have also reported that Live Photos created this way may not animate when set as live wallpapers due to iOS updates.

So, if you experience issues when using this workaround, you might need to opt for a different method.

How to Make a Video into a Live Photo on Mac

Unfortunately, it’s not possible to turn a video into a Live Photo on macOS. You try this workaround, though:

Transfer the desired video to your iPhone using AirDrop, iCloud or a cable.
Use the intoLive app, VideoToLive or TikTok to convert the video into a live photo on your iPhone.
Transfer your newly converted live photo back to your Mac via AirDrop, iCloud or a cable.

If you want to, you can trim or make some other adjustments to your video on your Mac using iMovie or QuickTime and only then transfer it to your iPhone for conversion.

As you can guess, this method is not particularly difficult, but can be a bit tedious and time-consuming.

It’s worth mentioning that there are some online tools like:

With their help, you can turn your video into an animated GIF.

Of course, a GIF file is not the same as a Live Photo. But if you are willing to go for a different file format, you might actually benefit from using either of these online GIF makers. Your video will be turned into an image file and you will be able to do this right on your Mac without transferring your video to your iPhone. And it’s much easier to share a GIF file on social media than a live photo.

Protect Your Live Photos And Videos

Do you want to share your live photo or a video on social media, a website, via email or a messenger? Then you should consider adding a watermark. (More – What is a watermark).

Why?

You see, a watermark can help you to:

Protect your content from unauthorized use and distribution.
Make sure that everyone knows who the real creator of the content is.
Increase your brand awareness by using your logo as a watermark.
Make it easier for people to find you by adding your contact info as a watermark.

But how can you add a watermark to a live photo? If you try to do this, you might run into an error or the motion and the sound will be gone after the export.

The key to solving this issue is to watermark a video before converting it to a live photo. And you can easily add a watermark to a video using Watermarkly’s web-based app! Here’s what you need to do:

Open Watermarkly’s app in your browser.
Upload your video.
Add a logo, text or both.
Change the size and placement. Rotate your watermark and adjust its level of transparency. Pick a color and a font.
Export your watermarked video.

That’s it! Now you can proceed to making your watermarked video into a live photo using the instructions above. Your live photo will have a watermark after the export.

Watermarkly also offers a mobile app for watermarking photos and videos, so you can add a watermark to a video right on your iPhone. It’s pretty quick and effortless, yet makes a world of difference.

Final Thoughts

It’s actually pretty easy to turn a live photo into a video, because the Photos app offers a built-in feature for this. Turning a video into a live photo, though, is a bit more challenging and you will definitely need to use a third-party app like VideotoLive, intoLive or even TikTok. Nevertheless, it’s perfectly possible. And now, you are equipped with all the necessary knowledge to achieve your goals!