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Facebook for iOS Gaining Support for iPhone 6s Live Photos Starting Today

Monday December 21, 2015 9:49 am PST by Juli Clover
Starting today, some Facebook users will be able to view Live Photos in their Facebook feeds using the Facebook for iOS app, reports TechCrunch. Introduced with the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus, Live Photos are motion-enabled images that capture the moments just before and after a photo is taken.

Facebook plans to gradually roll out support for Live Photos, so while some Facebook app users will be able to post and view Live Photos as of this morning, others will not have access to Live Photos support until the beginning of 2016.

According to TechCrunch, uploading a Live Photo is done in the same way as uploading a regular photo, but there will be an option to choose whether to upload an image as a Live Photo or a regular photo during the uploading process. In a Facebook feed, Live Photos are denoted by a set of concentric circles and can be pressed to play.

live-photo
You’ll have to tap that box manually with each Live Photo, and with good reason: once enabled on your iPhone, Live Photos are created with little to no thought on your part. It’s easy to forget the feature is even on. Add in the fact that Live Photos include 1.5 seconds of video and audio from before/after the instant you hit that shutter button, and it’s easy to imagine a scenario where you unwittingly capture something you… maybe don’t want to make public. By making it opt-in with each photo, there’s less of a chance you’ll accidentally upload stuff you forgot was even there.
While only the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus can take live photos, all iOS devices running iOS 9 can view them in the Facebook app. All iPhones from the iPhone 4s on are capable of supporting iOS 9.

Facebook is the second major social network to implement support for Live Photos. Tumblr added support two weeks ago.

Tags: Facebook, Live Photos
[ 47 comments ]


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mattopotamus
35 months ago
If you have used it, you would see it's far from a gimmick. It really takes you back to the moment the photo was taken.

As someone who never takes videos, it's perfect! I took pictures with my GF at Disney, and the Live Photos made them that much better.
Rating: 17 Votes
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optophobia
35 months ago

A gimmick feature in my opinion, but nice to see developers embracing the iPhone 6s' new technologies fast.

I have noticed the only people with this view are the people that don't have a 6S. I thought it was a gimmick too, until I tried it. Now I love it. I'd be interested to hear if you have a 6S.
Rating: 12 Votes
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djcerla
35 months ago

A gimmick feature in my opinion, but nice to see developers embracing the iPhone 6s' new technologies fast.


Gimmick until the very moment you have a baby. Then, priceless.
Rating: 12 Votes
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peterdevries
35 months ago

A gimmick feature in my opinion, but nice to see developers embracing the iPhone 6s' new technologies fast.

I thought so too at first, but it is absolutely amazing.
Rating: 11 Votes
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bwillwall
35 months ago
Would be nice if they could be uploaded as animated gifs for people on other devices :)
Rating: 9 Votes
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peterdevries
35 months ago

i actually find it rather annoying. out of 50 pictures it makes sense on like 1 in the end


Maybe that says more about what you try to photograph than on the usefulness of the feature.
Rating: 6 Votes
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LordQ
35 months ago
A gimmick feature in my opinion, but nice to see developers embracing the iPhone 6s' new technologies fast.
Rating: 6 Votes
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Steve121178
35 months ago

A gimmick feature in my opinion, but nice to see developers embracing the iPhone 6s' new technologies fast.


I thought that until I took a vacation and then quickly realised it's absolutely amazing when I got home and started to look through my photos.
Rating: 5 Votes
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cheesyappleuser
35 months ago

A gimmick feature in my opinion, but nice to see developers embracing the iPhone 6s' new technologies fast.

As pretty much everyone already said, it's a gimmick until you start to use it. Then it's just a really cool way of recording of the time you took the photo, and boy does it look good.
Rating: 4 Votes
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penajmz
35 months ago

A gimmick feature in my opinion, but nice to see developers embracing the iPhone 6s' new technologies fast.

Unless you have a cute dog like I do.
Rating: 4 Votes

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