Earlier this week, Google released a new app called Motion Stills, designed to turn Live Photos captured with the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone SE into GIFs or videos. Over the past couple of days, we spent some hands-on time with Motion Stills, and have been really impressed with the way it transforms Live Photos into a more useful, shareable medium.

Motion Stills isn't just an app that converts a Live Photo to a GIF. As seen in the video below, it uses Google's video stabilization technology to smooth out jittery images and freeze backgrounds with some impressive-looking results.


In addition to serving as a tool to convert Live Photos into GIFs and videos that can be quickly shared on social networks, Motion Stills is also useful simply as a tool to view Live Photos. In Apple's Photos app, there's no dedicated folder for Live Photos, so they can get lost among other images.

Live Photos are viewable on Apple devices running iOS 9 or later or OS X 10.11 or later, and Apple has made an API available for developers to build Live Photos support into their apps, but there are no built-in tools for editing Live Photos or converting them to other formats.

With no native tools available, Motion Stills fills a major Live Photos void. The app isn't perfect, has a few bugs, and works better with certain types of subjects, but overall, it's well worth checking out if you have a device capable of capturing Live Photos.

Motion Stills can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Tags: Google, Live Photos

Top Rated Comments

macbeta Avatar
macbeta
126 months ago
there is only one way to say g-i-f
http://imgur.com/gallery/DzDATp9
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
samcraig Avatar
samcraig
126 months ago
Yet another way for google to data mine your photos
Then don't download it...
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jclo Avatar
jclo
126 months ago
Haha....
That guy pronounced GIF with the g sound, not the j sound.
What a casual.
He's since been informed that our official MacRumors GIF pronunciation is with a "J" sound and not a hard G. :p
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tycho24 Avatar
Tycho24
126 months ago
Haha....
That guy pronounced GIF with the g sound, not the j sound.
What a casual.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Norbs12 Avatar
Norbs12
126 months ago
Haha....
That guy pronounced GIF with the g sound, not the j sound.
What a casual.
Jraphics.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Norbs12 Avatar
Norbs12
126 months ago
No.
No you really do NOT.
Flying in the face of fact & evidence, you stubbornly & childishly continue to pronounce it incorrectly.
You are welcome to do anything you wish, but I certainly won't co-sign it, lol.
It sounds a lot more like it comes down to vanity, not wanting to admit you were wrong.
Hey, I for some reason read chipotle as chipolte for years. Lol, I did NOT expect everyone else to bow to me (though it's apparently commonly mispronounced as well).
I put my big boy pants on & started saying it right! =0)

Edit:
I didn't mean for this to sound so "condemning"; I know a lot of people choose to say things their own way & as long as the meaning is clear- what's the harm??
Briefly though- the sound of the word replaced has NO bearing on the pronunciation of the acronym. Let's take SCUBA (pronounced "scooba") for example, the U stands for Underwater, so if you were correct in thinking acronyms sounds match the replaced words; it would need to be pronounced "sc-uh-ba". There are NOT steadfast rules established with acronyms and pronunciation; the creator really does decide.
Fair point with the scuba thing. So I guess you're saying that we've all been saying scuba wrong too!! :p (jkjk)

I mean I guess it's partly vanity but I've heard the news about how the creator came out to explain it was pronounced "JIF" a while ago still refuse to use it.

If the JPEG creator came out tomorrow and said it's not 'jaypeg', it's 'peg' with a silent 'j', I'd say he can f himself too.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Shows Off a Key Reason to Upgrade to the iPhone 17

Saturday February 7, 2026 9:26 am PST by
Apple today shared an ad that shows how the upgraded Center Stage front camera on the latest iPhones improves the process of taking a group selfie. "Watch how the new front facing camera on iPhone 17 Pro takes group selfies that automatically expand and rotate as more people come into frame," says Apple. While the ad is focused on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the regular iPhone...
Read Full Article • 81 comments
Finder Siri Feature

Why Apple's iOS 26.4 Siri Upgrade Will Be Bigger Than Originally Promised

Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do. The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up. Upgraded Architecture The next-generation...
Read Full Article • 155 comments
wwdc sans text feature

Apple Rumored to Announce New Product on February 19

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld. Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
Read Full Article
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

Apple Says These 7 U.S. States Plan to Offer iPhone Driver's Licenses

Monday February 9, 2026 6:24 am PST by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Apple Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, and then use it to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. The feature is currently available in 13 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, and it is expected to launch in at least seven more in the future. To set up the...
Read Full Article • 83 comments
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

New MacBook Pros Could Now Arrive in March

Sunday February 8, 2026 6:02 am PST by
New MacBook Pro models with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips could arrive as soon as Monday, March 2, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In today's "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that the release of new MacBook Pro models is tied to the release of macOS Tahoe 26.3. The launch is said to be slated for as early as the week of March 2. He added that the M4 Pro and M4 Max models on sale today...
Read Full Article • 126 comments