How to post Live Photos on Instagram

The iPhone camera’s “Live Photos” functionality is a little bit of technological magic, bringing moments to life in a way that just isn’t possible with ordinary still images. Live Photos are great to share, offering special glimpses of moments captured in time.

However, you can’t share them to the world’s most popular image-based social network, as Instagram doesn’t support Live Photos. Never fear: There is a workaround.

Here’s how to share Live Photos to Instagram. 

Apple iPhone’s “Live Photo” functionality 

With Live Photos, your iPhone will record what happens 1.5 seconds before and 1.5 seconds after you’ve taken a picture. You take a Live Photo the same way you take a traditional photo. 

Credit: Screenshot: Apple

You just need to ensure you have the Live Photo setting turned on in order to capture this kind of an image. When you’re in your iPhone’s Camera app, look to the top right of your screen to make sure the Live Photos icon does not have a line through it. If it does, press it, and the line should go away.

How to post a Live Photo on Instagram

The workaround to post Live Photos to Instagram is to post the image as a “Boomerang.” An Instagram “Boomerang” takes a burst of photos and stitches them together into a high-quality mini one-second video that plays forward and backward. For Live Photos, Boomerangs use that single image.  

Here’s how to post a Live Photo as a Boomerang: When in the Instagram app, swipe left to bring up the live capture screen. Ensure you’re on the “Story” setting at the bottom of the screen, and tap the infinity sign icon to create a Boomerang. 

Credit: Screenshot: Instagram

Once you’re in the Boomerang creation screen, tap on the Camera Roll icon at the bottom left of your screen.  

Credit: Live Photos: Instagram

Now, select the Live Photo you want to post. 

Credit: Live Photos: Instagram

Once you’ve selected the Live Photo, you can tap the icons at the bottom of the screen to decide whether you want to create a classic Boomerang or a slow-mo, echo, or duo version. 

Credit: Live Photos: Instagram

The slow-mo option slows the image to half its original speed. The echo option adds a blur effect. Duo speeds up the video with a glitch effect. 

Tapping each option gives you a preview of how the effects will look. Once you’re happy with your settings, tap the arrow at the bottom right of your screen to post it and see further sharing options.

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