Google Debuts 'Motion Stills' App for Creating GIFs and Movies from Live Photos

[69Mustang]

Perhaps they're working on APIs to allow developers to create Live Photos editors? I'd rather see that than an Apple app.

Are we just spitballin' or is that hypothetical based on something tangible? I ask because historically Apple has been known to flesh out the features they introduce without the need for assistance. Lately though...

My god can we have a thread with no apple bashing? Its pretty damn annoying at this point. Every damn thread is the same now.

So now apple should make every app themselves?

Yep, they should make every app. Of course they shouldn't. They should flesh out and fully support their features while encouraging devs to do the same. Live Photos could have been so much more. Same with 3D Touch. Heck afaik, Apple still has 1st party apps and software that don't support it. When a company uses superlatives like greatest, best, most, etc. they set an expectation. Historically, Apple met that expectation. These days? There's been a lot of hit or miss.

There's some bashing, true. This is the internet. There's not a forum on it where that's not the case. There's also constructive criticism as well. But I know it's much easier to concentrate on the low hanging fruit (bashing) by hitting it with more low hanging fruit (defensiveness) of a different sort.

On topic: Someone up thread linked to some Instagram motion stills. Nice job. Really liked the cat breathing and the tail movement. Hopefully it will bring more attention to Live Photos so that Apple and others can add more functionality to it.

 

[jgelin]

Is this app a total piece of crap for anyone else? I was actually going to give it an honest shot, because it sounds really neat. But it keeps glitching out for me. When I tap a photo, it's just black, and when trying to scroll photos it just flickers a bunch on a white background and the photos disappear. What the crap? Force quitting doesn't help.

Same behavior on my phone.

 

[morcutt11]

What???? You mean Apple introduced a feature and just left it so someone else can show us how to make the feature better?

When I complain to you guys how Apple software is half-baked, this is what I mean. The perfect example.

I wouldn't say it was half-baked. Certainly you could argue it wasn't fully exploited, but you have to start somewhere. Apple rolled it out for a very limited usage, but certainly they weren't done with it. Now, that doesn't mean that Apple's next step would be gif export - I suspect that Apple is looking for other companies to support their Live Photos file format eventually. On the other hand, motion stabilization should be a no-brainer for Apple's camera app...

 

[DJLAXL]

Why? The fact that I buy apple products, that I pay for them, and that I like most of them does not preclude the possibility of complaint. Actually, I can do whatever I want (respectfully).
Is it dumb that I can make Live Photos and Apple didn't give me the possibility to share them as GIF with the world? Yes. Is it the end of the world? No.
there's nothing wrong in pointing out that your kid has all A's but one F. You want that F to be an A.

This is different. Of course consumers have the right to make legitimate concerns and gripes over the items they purchase. My comment is more geared to the now numerous amount of people who do nothing but complain. There is a huge difference. If someone is not happy or is at the point where they do nothing but complain, find another option. Simple as that. Too many stock analysts and stock owners who do nothing but complain about what Apple NEEDS to do to be like Google. They bring up the "Android is light years ahead", and "Samsung is so innovative" so much that Im quite surprised they haven't made the jump. Go for it! What is keeping them here?

 

[rdlink]

I blame Edward Snowden for this total FUD about Google (and online privacy in general) and privacy be it with big brother or advertising... I don't think they are as bad as people make them out to be. I myself went through a period of not using Google services but I realized that I have nothing to hide and while that maybe isn't enough reason for some people - it is for me. I trust Google and I think the stuff they offer is top notch (although I'm not a big fan of Android, much prefer the simplicity and stability of iOS).

I think Snowden did more harm than good about making people paranoid about this stuff for no good reason. It's silly really. If you have nothing to hide and you realize that what you gain is worth the little risks, then it's good. I know some will say "well I have nothing to hide but that doesn't mean I want to give it up", fine. But quit painting Google in a bad light. They are without a doubt the most powerful tech company in my opinion and as of late when Apple hasn't been doing many new cool things in a while, Google is continuously innovating and not just for their own OS but for ours too. But regardless of integrity or dignity or anything else, it comes down to the fact you should have nothing to hide (for big brother, and if you do then you deserve to get caught), and it depends how badly you want their services. IMO, it's worth the risk. And if you know how to tweak Google's settings on the my account page then that risk with advertisers getting it becomes lessened significantly.

I'm not saying Google is perfect or everyone should use it. But the fear and paranoia surrounding them is a bit much.

Nice narrative, but GOOGLE is who responsible for my "paranoia." They like to be all fuzzy with their terms of service, leaving themselves plenty of wiggle room for things they may want to implement or change later on. And they have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar multiple times. The most blatant I can remember is when they surrepticiously put programming in place to bypass Do Not Track settings in Safari.

I don't fear them to the point where I won't use them for searching. And I don't hate them. But I will not knowingly trust them with personal data. My photos included.

 

[yaxomoxay]

This is different. Of course consumers have the right to make legitimate concerns and gripes over the items they purchase. My comment is more geared to the now numerous amount of people who do nothing but complain. There is a huge difference. If someone is not happy or is at the point where they do nothing but complain, find another option. Simple as that. Too many stock analysts and stock owners who do nothing but complain about what Apple NEEDS to do to be like Google. They bring up the "Android is light years ahead", and "Samsung is so innovative" so much that Im quite surprised they haven't made the jump. Go for it! What is keeping them here?

and that's fair. As I pointed on some other thread, I believe that most of the whining (mine included) is due to the trajectory rather than the actual status of things. It is undeniable that Apple is losing focus, be it because they're too busy with the car, with the campus, with the loops or whatever (for example I believe that buying Beats was a huge, enormous mistake).
3D Touch is an example. I love it on my iPhone 6S+... but it's clearly far from being used as it should be used. Great for the keyboard, but useless inside apps... including Apple's apps. Live Photos... well we have discussed about it in this thread. iCloud is bumpy at best. Maps, etc. I can give you that the bricked iPads is a very unfortunate event and hopefully just a single event (still inexcusable for a company that says that "it just works", but ok we are all humans), but if you look at the trajectory of things, well the outlook ain't that good.

 

[DJLAXL]

and that's fair. As I pointed on some other thread, I believe that most of the whining (mine included) is due to the trajectory rather than the actual status of things. It is undeniable that Apple is losing focus, be it because they're too busy with the car, with the campus, with the loops or whatever (for example I believe that buying Beats was a huge, enormous mistake).
3D Touch is an example. I love it on my iPhone 6S+... but it's clearly far from being used as it should be used. Great for the keyboard, but useless inside apps... including Apple's apps. Live Photos... well we have discussed about it in this thread. iCloud is bumpy at best. Maps, etc. I can give you that the bricked iPads is a very unfortunate event and hopefully just a single event (still inexcusable for a company that says that "it just works", but ok we are all humans), but if you look at the trajectory of things, well the outlook ain't that good.

And with that I could not agree with you more! We will see what the future holds in another 6 days at WWDC.

 

[yaxomoxay]

And with that I could not agree with you more! We will see what the future holds in another 6 days at WWDC.

yep, just six days. And I hope to be proven very, very wrong.
[doublepost=1465335336][/doublepost]

And with that I could not agree with you more! We will see what the future holds in another 6 days at WWDC.

Let me add one more thing. I am starting to believe that Steve Jobs chose Tim Cook because he was the best at keeping things afloat during a phase of reconstruction. During reconstruction you need beancounters. I don't dislike Tim Cook at all, he's a pretty good CEO that is standing on the shoulders of a giant, and I am sure that he loves Apple. However, looking at the beancounter that he is I think that he was supposed to stabilize the shock and aftershocks of Jobs' death, while breeding the next innovative CEO. Let's say, for two or three years. He's misinterpreting his own role.
Instead, Cook is trying to be a mini-Steve, and his environment is clearly feeding this; I lost a lot of respect for most executives after the last keynote. They looked like old guys at a spring break college party. In other words, they feel way too safe, and Cook isn't setting the example. What is Eddy Cue still doing there? Seriously.

 

[MrCrowbar]

The stabilization thing works quite nice. Handheld video, holding something in your hand and rotating it... looks a bit like CGI because the movement is so unnatural. Love it though.

 

[mejsric]

Apple makes the environment for 3rd Party apps to flourish. There is ZERO need for Apple to make an app like this. Ridiculous responses on here
[doublepost=1465327128][/doublepost]
Blah blah blah...

Welcome to MacHaters.com
[doublepost=1465337173][/doublepost]

My god can we have a thread with no apple bashing? Its pretty damn annoying at this point. Every damn thread is the same now.

So now apple should make every app themselves?

This is MacHaters.com

 

[colbertnation]

Apple makes the environment for 3rd Party apps to flourish. There is ZERO need for Apple to make an app like this. Ridiculous responses on here
[doublepost=1465327128][/doublepost]
Blah blah blah...

Riiight, just like how there was no need for Apple to make and introduce a Reminders app since no such third-party app (free and paid) existed, or the News app since no similar third party apps (free and paid) existed, or its own Maps app/service since no other Maps app/service existed, or its own Books app/marketplace since nothing like that existed, or its own Music subscription service since iOS had no prior third party options before, or a Health app since no such app existed on the App Store, or the Night Shift function since no similar third party function existed that could serve the exact role if it was allowed. And I could go on and on with iOS evolution and addition of functionalities/apps.

I don't mean to patronize you over this, but don't for a second think that Apple isn't looking at its own App Store and pondering ways to create its own profitable apps/services that will eat up third-party apps in a heartbeat. You may call me cynical, but I see the App Store market as a testing ground: all successful apps that launch on there may either get bought out by Apple or copied by Apple and introduced into iOS at a later stage. If I were an iOS or Mac developer with a successful app, I would certainly watch my back every day for the event that Apple introduces something similar.
[doublepost=1465339205][/doublepost]

So now apple should make every app themselves?

Not sure if you were being sarcastic or not, but it certainly seems like Apple wants its own app for everything. Look through the iOS history, and you'll see Apple coming out with apps and functions that existed via third-party options.

 

[b.inazawa-fan]

So you can complain about people that complain, you can ask for censorship on a FREE service, but people that paid a company to provide a service through a business transaction can't have a say on such service? For real?

I'm not calling for censorship, you have the whole forum to complain. But comments sections on news posts, particularly when they have been negative like on here, are never productive. https://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2014/sep/12/comment-sections-toxic-moderation

And, do want to have a say on the service you paid for? http://www.apple.com/feedback/

 

[kepler20b]

I wouldn't say it was half-baked. Certainly you could argue it wasn't fully exploited, but you have to start somewhere. Apple rolled it out for a very limited usage, but certainly they weren't done with it. Now, that doesn't mean that Apple's next step would be gif export - I suspect that Apple is looking for other companies to support their Live Photos file format eventually. On the other hand, motion stabilization should be a no-brainer for Apple's camera app...

Apple created a gimmick feature, and let Google figure out how to make it into a feature thats actually worthwhile.

 

[Jerel]

Fragmentation? Not available for iPad Pro 9.7.

 

[imnotthewalrus]

Dont worry Apple, just let Google do it for you. Wow, unreal.

Really? And Google's new app was built as an extension of WHOSE technology?
Bloody idiot.
[doublepost=1465348423][/doublepost]

Apple created a gimmick feature, and let Google figure out how to make it into a feature thats actually worthwhile.

...and once that "worthwhile" use has been uncovered; will it even occur to you that without the tool, the uses for the tool would be moot?

 

[doctor-don]

For quite a few years, I have been making movies and gifs manually from series of photos. This might be useful ... IF I had an iPhone with Live Photos.

 

[GregA]

Will this loop any photos from the Library? I sometimes shoot in burst mode

Edit: Nope

That's a great idea. Shame it doesn't!

 

[Seiga]

Really? And Google's new app was built as an extension of WHOSE technology?
Bloody idiot.
[doublepost=1465348423][/doublepost]
...and once that "worthwhile" use has been uncovered; will it even occur to you that without the tool, the uses for the tool would be moot?

I see what you did there. What came first, the chicken or the egg? That's a rabbit hole i'm not going down again. Eventually it got to discussing about Moore's law.

But that's not my point. My point is that you're stating that Apple granted the technology while Google wrote an app to enhance it. Ever hear, work with what you have? That's exactly what Google did. And that's what they always do. They will expose hardware components to make an optimized app. It's the biggest reason why Cardboard exists. No one thought about Cardboard until Google and all it took was an existing phone with the current standards of hardware analytics to generate VR.

Here's another example, watch a show like Master Chef. In most of their challenges, they're told what the key ingredient is and what available ingredients there are to make with the key item. There are many ways to make that key item, but only a few are selected as elite/unique. Isn't that what Google did with this app essentially?

You're defending apple like it's the only option to do because people here are questioning why apple didn't release something like this first. Not the right approach IMO.

 

[kuwxman]

Nice concept. But no, Google. You don't get access to my photos.

There it is. Sad it took until the second page before one of you showed up.

 

[JimmyHook]

it's Googles way of throwing a jab at Apple. This is not a Google ecosystem app, it a for IOS User for an iOS missing feature created by Apples #1 competitor. It's laughable at best that Google had to show up Apple by giving it's users a feature Apple will not provide as stock.

Nobody cares
[doublepost=1465357921][/doublepost]

NO NO NO! and... NO!
Being able to share Live Photos with everyone else as GIFs or videos is a very basic function, so basic that it's badly needed. Are you kidding me? The fact that Live Photos (which is a neat feature) can't be shared with anyone that doesn't own an iPhone is simply crazy. This app should be part of Photos, not a 3rd party app.

Too bad

 

[lederermc]

This is a great app. Thanks Google.

 

[JimmyHook]

There were other apps that already do this. Google is LATE to the party. Also, Google's app is busted!!! It doesn't support iCloud Photo Library. Epic fail

 

[Karma*Police]

Are we just spitballin' or is that hypothetical based on something tangible? I ask because historically Apple has been known to flesh out the features they introduce without the need for assistance. Lately though...

Actually, this is how they've always done things. I think the only thing that's changed is people's perception of Apple. This isn't much different from 2013 when negativity was at an all time high... Apple wasn't innovating, the 5 design sucked, TC should resign, etc. Coincidentally, that's also when Apple's stock was at its lows. None of that was true, obviously. Apple came back stronger than ever.

Historically Apple introduced a new feature and addressed any shortcomings over time. iPhone had multitasking from day one, for example, but it took them several years before they opened it up to 3rd parties. Creating APIs is no joke. There's a reason why top engineers usually work on that stuff. Live Photos is great. I'm sure Apple knows it would be even better with 3rd party support, so my guess is they're working on it and we may even see something next week.

 

[macbeta]

You can't expect Apple to do it's fancy colored watchbands at the same time they're doing something like this.

Don't forget the pink macbooks!

 

[Sefstah]

Really? And Google's new app was built as an extension of WHOSE technology?
Bloody idiot.
[doublepost=1465348423][/doublepost]
...and once that "worthwhile" use has been uncovered; will it even occur to you that without the tool, the uses for the tool would be moot?

Yes REALLY. I love how my post offended you so easily. "Mommy, their making fun of my iPhone again!" You go ahead and keep thinking "live photos" is some breakthrough technology. At least Google made it somewhat interesting.