Live Photo to GIF converter
Turn the moving part of a Live Photo — or any short .mov / .mp4 — into a looping GIF. The conversion runs in this browser tab: your file is never uploaded.
- No upload
- No account
- Free
Drop a Live Photo .mov or a short video here
Pick the .mov from a Live Photo, or any .mp4 / .mov. A HEIC still on its own has no motion to convert. On a Mac, AirDrop the Live Photo from the iPhone and open the folder or .pvt package it creates to find the .mov.
The file is processed on your device and is never uploaded.
Select up to 10 seconds. Shorter clips and a smaller width make a smaller GIF.
Where the motion part of a Live Photo lives
A Live Photo is two files: a still image (usually HEIC) and a short motion clip (usually MOV, about three seconds, with its own audio). The GIF can only be made from the motion clip — a still image on its own contains no movement.
The most reliable way to get both files is to AirDrop the Live Photo from the iPhone to a Mac. It arrives as a folder (sometimes a .pvt package) containing the .heic still and the .mov clip — pick the .mov here. On an iPhone or iPad alone, the share sheet usually sends only the still, so use a Shortcut that extracts the motion clip, or export the Live Photo as a video first.
GIF or Live Photo: pick the right output
A GIF plays anywhere — chat apps, websites, social posts — but it is not a Live Photo. In Apple Photos a GIF shows as an animation and does not play with pressing and holding, and it cannot be used as a Live Wallpaper. That difference is in the file format, not in an app setting.
Use a GIF when the destination does not support Live Photos. Use a real Live Photo when you want the result to live in the iPhone photo library and behave like a photo.
Make the GIF smaller without ruining it
GIF is an old format and files grow quickly. In practice, three settings control the size:
- Width. 480 px is plenty for chat; 320 px is enough for a preview.
- Frame rate. 10 fps already reads as motion for a three-second memory; 15–20 fps is smoother but larger.
- Duration. Keep two or three seconds. A ten-second GIF is rarely worth the size.
GIF has no audio, so any sound in the clip is dropped by definition.
Questions
Is my file uploaded to a server?
No. The video is decoded and the GIF is encoded by JavaScript in this browser tab. There is no upload step and no account.
Can I convert a HEIC photo to GIF?
A HEIC still is a single frame, so there is no motion to convert. Choose the .mov that was saved together with the Live Photo.
Why is the GIF so large?
GIF stores every frame as an indexed bitmap and does not compress motion like video does. Lower the width or frame rate, or shorten the range.
Does it work on iPhone and iPad?
Yes, in Safari, provided the browser can decode the video codec. Live Photos from iPhone are usually HEVC; Safari supports them. Desktop browsers may not decode HEVC — in that case export the clip as H.264 MP4 first.
Can I turn the GIF back into a Live Photo?
No. A GIF is not a Live Photo and cannot be converted into one. To get a real Live Photo, start from a still image in Live.AI.
Can I make a GIF from a video that is not a Live Photo?
Yes. Any short .mp4 or .mov the browser can play works the same way.