This Little Known iPhone Feature Can Turn Your Old Live Photos Into Videos: Here's How

There are times when you take several photos at an event using your mobile phone in an attempt to capture something memorable, only to regret the decision later, wishing you shot a video instead. These days, short reels make for better and more captivating content on social media. So, what do you do when you want to turn a series of images into a video clip?

Although you can probably use an app to create a video slideshow featuring your photos, there's an easier way to do it if you have an iPhone. To do it, you need to have the Live Photos feature enabled in your iPhone's Camera app. On top of merely capturing one single snapshot every time you hit the camera shutter button, it also shoots what happens a moment before and after the photo is taken, complete with audio. It's like a super-short video clip masquerading as a single image in your camera roll.

To ensure that Live Photos is turned on, launch the iPhone Camera app and go to Photo mode. At the top-right corner of the screen, you should see the Live Photo feature signified by the three-circle icon. It should be on by default, but if the icon has a slash over it, it means Live Photos is disabled on your iPhone. Simply tap it to remove the slash and turn it back on.

Once you have Live Photos turned on, you can take several photos and turn them into a video. If you've had it enabled this whole time, here's how you can turn old Live Photos you took into a cool video reel. Follow these steps:

1. Launch the Photos app.
2. From the bottom navigation bar, tap Albums.
3. Under Media Types, select Live Photos.
4. At this point, you should see all the Live Photos you have taken on your iPhone. Tap on one of them.
5. To create a video using multiple Live Photos, select multiple photos. For best results, choose photos taken in the same orientation.
6. Hit the three-dot icon in the top-right or bottom-right corner of the screen.
7. Pick Save as Video.

Using a single Live Photo will most likely produce a two-second video, which may not be much by itself. You can use iMovie to compile multiple Live Photos-sourced video clips to create a longer one, but you can also use several Live Photos to create one video in one go. After the Saving dialog box disappears from the screen, back out of the page and go back to the main Albums page. When you scroll up and go to the Recents album, your new video should be the newest entry saved. 

If the Save as Video option isn't there, back out and re-enter the Live Photos screen, which should fix the issue. The Live Photo you used to create the video will still exist as a still in your camera roll and can also be accessed via the Live Photos album. As mentioned earlier, your new video will be the newest one in the Photos app's Recents album. Depending on the number of Live Photos you select, the video may take a while to save.