How many Apple employees does it take to change a lightbulb?
None, because Google employees do it for them. Confused? Didn’t get the joke? Let us give you some context.
Back in 2015, Apple introduced the 3D Touch feature with its iPhone 6S and 6S Plus models. It also brought along a new kind of pictures called Live Photos. These dynamic pictures (that record a couple of seconds before and after clicking a picture) seemed like a middle ground between static photos and videos. Sort of like modern-day GIFs.
A bit gimmicky, sometimes cool, Live Photos haven’t really taken off. There is no doubt that Apple expected this iOS only feature to tease and lure Android users but it’s too limited to be a game changer.
If you send Live Photos to non-3D Touch iPhone users (which is basically all models of the iPhone except the 6S and 7 series), it goes as plain and simple photos. And since you can’t convert them into other formats like GIFs or micro videos, sharing with Android users is out of the question. It’s basically a one-trick pony that can’t be tweaked in any way. Typical Apple!
So, if you want to explore the real potential of Live Photos, who’re you gonna call? Ghostbusters! Sorry, I meant Google. Yeah, that’s right! Google has released an iOS app that has fixed all the limitations of Live Photos. Something that Apple should have done, but didn’t. Go figure!
Google’s Motion Stills app is like the swiss knife for Live Photos. It brings in all the features that you wanted and then some more. It makes Live Photos so much more useful and practical. Here are the key features that Google has listed in its app description:
• Turn your Live Photos into cinematic and beautiful Motion Stills with Google’s stabilization technology.
• Share your Motion Stills as looping GIFs directly in your favorite messaging app.
• Browse through your Live Photos stream, or flip through one-by-one and watch them auto-play.
• Create epic movies by combining your Motion Stills together with just a swipe.
It’s a shame that Apple didn’t build these capabilities into Live Photos from the word go. And it sure is fascinating that Google decided to step up and make its arch rival’s exclusive offering more lucrative for Android users. Oh, the irony of it all!
Learn, Apple, learn.
You can download the Motion Still app for free from the App Store. Or simply click this link.
