Where can you actually use Live Photos?
Live Photos look great on your iPhone, then half the apps you share them to quietly flatten them into a still image. Here is where the motion actually survives in 2026, where it does not, and the workaround for everywhere else.
On your own iPhone
Lock screen wallpaper Full support
On iOS 17+ a Live Photo can be an animated wallpaper that plays about 1.5 seconds of motion every time you wake the screen. This is the single best use of a Live Photo. Full walkthrough: how to turn any video into a live wallpaper.
Photos app and Apple ecosystem Full support
Press and hold to play anywhere in Photos, iCloud syncs the motion across your devices, and Live Photos can be exported as videos or GIFs from the share sheet.
Messaging
iMessage Full support
Live Photos send with motion and sound between Apple devices. The recipient presses and holds to play. This has worked for years and still works best.
WhatsApp Supported since late 2025
WhatsApp added real Live Photo support in a late 2025 update: motion and sound survive, and Android friends see a motion photo. One catch: re-forwarded media can still lose the live format. Details: how to send Live Photos on WhatsApp.
Snapchat Not supported
Snapchat does not import iOS Live Photos as live content. Its own Live Snap feature is unrelated to the Live Photo format.
Social platforms
Instagram Stories only
In Stories, long-press a Live Photo in the picker to convert it into a Boomerang. Everywhere else (feed, Reels, DMs) it posts as a static image. There is no way to publish a true Live Photo on Instagram.
TikTok Unreliable
There is an upload path, but motion frequently gets stripped once you edit or export. Most creators save the Live Photo as a video first and upload that.
Facebook Auto-converted
Facebook sometimes auto-converts Live Photos into short videos on upload. Whether motion survives depends on where you post, so do not count on it.
X As a GIF
The X app for iOS can post a Live Photo as a looping GIF: pick the Live Photo, then tap the GIF badge. Motion survives but sound and the press-and-hold behaviour do not.
Going the other way: videos into Live Photos
Everything above starts from a Live Photo you shot. But the moments people actually want on their lock screen or in a chat often exist as normal videos. iOS has no built-in way to convert a video into a Live Photo, which is the gap EasyLive fills: pick a video, trim to the moment, and it saves a real Live Photo to your library that works everywhere on this page that says supported.
Turn any video into a Live Photo
Free to try, 3 conversions a month. On-device, no ads, no account.
iOS 17+ · Pro US$2.99 / month, cancel anytime