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

[MacRumors]

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.

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.

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

 

[LordQ]

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

 

[DEXTERITY]

Boom sales will take off now. Death of Android right....

 

[bwillwall]

Would be nice if they could be uploaded as animated gifs for people on other devices

 

[mattopotamus]

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.

 

[bushido]

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

 

[djcerla]

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.

 

[igorsky]

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

You can download an app called Lean that will allow you to go back and strip away the video elements from any photo(s) you choose. Annoyance gone.

 

[optophobia]

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.

 

[peterdevries]

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.

 

[peterdevries]

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.

 

[optophobia]

Would be nice if they could be uploaded as animated gifs for people on other devices

I use the app "igif keyboard" to convert my live videos into gifs (to share with non iphone users). Works pretty well

 

[friedmud]

But did this Facebook update finally make it look right on an iPad Pro?!

 

[/dev/toaster]

The feature is a total gimmick and the 3D touch to activate it makes things worse. 90% of the time I try to play one and I gotta press like 12 times to get it to recognize my request. Once that finally happens I can't see the entire thing because my finger was over top of it.

I leave it off, not worth the space.

 

[/dev/toaster]

But did this Facebook update finally make it look right on an iPad Pro?!

Nope, Facebook dropped the ball as usual

 

[penajmz]

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.

 

[Steve121178]

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.

 

[1Zach1]

Now I just wish I could figure out a way/App to capture and post GIFs to Facebook that embed without a bunch of other crap in the post. DSCO is okay but doesn't embed or allow for autoplay.

 

[bushido]

You can download an app called Lean that will allow you to go back and strip away the video elements from any photo(s) you choose. Annoyance gone.

tried it on vacation in san fran, vegas, la, san diego and nyc and i didnt understand the point of it like taking a picture at time square for example ud just have a taxi skipping a few mili seconds. however not trying to convince anyone to believe otherwise. just my personal opinion

 

[rfahey79]

Would be nice if they could be uploaded as animated gifs for people on other devices

Older iOS devices support the viewing of live photos, so I would not be surprised if the app supported it; more like I'd be surprised if it DIDNT as having looked into the API itself it is not difficult to implement support for it.

 

[Burger Thing]

The feature is a total gimmick and the 3D touch to activate it makes things worse. 90% of the time I try to play one and I gotta press like 12 times to get it to recognize my request. Once that finally happens I can't see the entire thing because my finger was over top of it.

I leave it off, not worth the space.

Something seems to be wrong with either your hardware, your setting or your finger...

Works well on my phone. I love this feature. When I shoot landscapes or other static stuff I turn it off but for shots of my family I find it priceless

Only thing I would like to be added is that the live symbol for any live picture taken is displayed in the phone's photo gallery and its albums.

 

[igorsky]

tried it on vacation in san fran, vegas, la, san diego and nyc and i didnt understand the point of it like taking a picture at time square for example ud just have a taxi skipping a few mili seconds. however not trying to convince anyone to believe otherwise. just my personal opinion

I think context is very important. To me a place like Times Square or the Vegas Strip are great subjects for Live Photos as you get to capture some of the motion and life in the background; I think the audio adds a lot also. If you're taking a photo of a tree or a building (i.e. static objects) then you probably won't get the best out of Live Photos.

 

[Totorotarrot]

Hmm still not working for me. I have some photos taken on a pre-production (evt) device and would love to include those memories on my fb.

 

[Sefstah]

It's ridiculous that an iPhone 6 "can't take" live photos.

 

[cheesyappleuser]

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.