Apple's Live Photos, introduced in 2015, are photos that capture 1.5 seconds of video before and after you take a picture, with the aim of adding a little bit of life and movement to still images.


When you take a photo with an iPhone, not every shot comes out crisp and clear, but with Live Photos, if you get a blurry image, you can open it up and see if other frames you captured are clearer. If so, you can choose a new "key photo," aka the main photo that you see in your camera roll. Here's how:

  1. Open up the Photos app.
  2. Choose a Live Photo.
  3. Tap on "Edit" in the upper right hand corner of the display.
  4. Using the photo navigation bar at the bottom of the image, tap the thumbnails to browse through the frames captured for the Live Photo.
  5. If you find a better still, tap on "Make Key Photo" to select it.
  6. If you like your original still image best, tap "Cancel" to exit out of the editing interface.

Once you've selected a new frame and tapped on "Make Key Photo," the new still image selected from the photo will be the main image that you see in your camera roll and the image that's sent if you share the photo with someone else.

Selecting a key photo from a Live Photo is a feature that was introduced in iOS 11, so to edit your photos and choose a new main photo, you'll need an iOS device that's running iOS 11. You can also make these edits on a Mac running macOS High Sierra.

It's worth noting that choosing a new key photo from a Live Photo does change the resolution a bit and lowers the overall quality of the photo. On a standard iPhone X, for example, a regular shot is 4032 x 3024, but when changing the key photo, that drops to 3662 x 2744.

Top Rated Comments

zorinlynx Avatar
80 months ago
Just a warning; this may seem obvious but a lot of people won't realize it.

If you choose a new key photo in a live photo, the new photo will essentially be a video frame grab rather than an actual photo. The resolution is a bit lower and the photo won't be as clear. This is even worse on older devices that can't do 4K video. Therefore it's only worth using this feature if the original photo is complete garbage and a frame from the live photo's video is much better.

The best way to take multiple photos of a moving subject and pick the best shot is to use burst mode, as this takes a full quality photo for each shot.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nwcs Avatar
80 months ago
Oh, do people actually use the Live Photo’s settings?
I switch it off on every device/every software update.
If I want a video, I’ll use the video function.
It’s actually really cool to use. It’s great for kids for obvious reasons but also great because when you do the Memories videos and such it’ll use the video part and still. I never thought I would like Live Photo but I end up liking it a lot. Of course I turn off the high compression options and use mp4 instead of their hevc/heif.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kabeyun Avatar
80 months ago
Additional info on this:

1. Selecting a new key photo purges HDR data and can completely ruin a snapshot helped by the HDR setting. Haven’t found a fix, and would welcome hearing about one.

2. You can also do this in macOS/Photos but, as I found out recently, not under El Cap, which I’m still running. Need Sierra or better.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
maxresdefault

Apple to Launch New iPad Pro and iPad Air Models in May

Thursday March 28, 2024 11:07 am PDT by
Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

Apple Releases Revised Versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 With Updated Build Number

Wednesday March 27, 2024 5:59 am PDT by
Apple on late Tuesday released revised versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 with an updated build number of 21E237, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The updates previously had a build number of 21E236. The revised updates are available for all iPhone and iPad models that are compatible with iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, but they can only be installed via the Finder app on macOS...
applephilschiller

Apple's Phil Schiller Works 80 Hours a Week Overseeing App Store

Wednesday March 27, 2024 2:03 pm PDT by
With the App Store and app ecosystem undergoing major changes in the European Union, The Wall Street Journal today shared a profile on App Store chief Phil Schiller, who is responsible for the App Store. Though Schiller transitioned from marketing chief to "Apple Fellow" in 2020 to take a step back from Apple and spend more time on personal projects and friends, he is reportedly working...