What Are Live Photos? Definition & Guide

By Jack Smith, iOS Developer at DB Labs · Updated March 8, 2026

Live Photos is an iPhone camera feature that captures 1.5 seconds of motion and audio before and after you press the shutter button. The result is a photo that comes alive when you long-press it, showing a brief animated clip with sound. Live Photos are roughly twice the file size of regular photos.

How Live Photos Work

When you take a photo with Live Photos enabled, your iPhone continuously buffers video from the camera sensor. The moment you press the shutter, the camera saves 1.5 seconds before and 1.5 seconds after that moment, creating a 3-second moving image paired with audio from the microphone. The result is stored as two files bundled together: a high-quality HEIC still image and a short MOV video clip.

Live Photos were introduced with the iPhone 6s in 2015 and are enabled by default on all iPhones since. The feature works in the standard Photo mode and is indicated by the concentric circles icon in the Camera app.

Storage Impact

Because each Live Photo contains both a still image and a video clip, they consume significantly more storage than regular photos. A typical Live Photo ranges from 3 to 7 MB, compared to 1 to 3 MB for a standard photo. If you take thousands of photos with Live Photos enabled, the extra video data can add up to several gigabytes of storage.

For users running low on iPhone storage, turning off Live Photos is one of the quickest ways to slow storage consumption. You can also convert existing Live Photos to still images to reclaim space, though this removes the animation permanently.

Live Photo Effects

Starting with iOS 11, Apple added creative effects that use the Live Photo video data:

Loop — Plays the Live Photo in a continuous loop, ideal for repetitive movements.
Bounce — Plays the clip forward and backward, similar to a boomerang video.
Long Exposure — Blurs motion over the 3-second clip to simulate a long-exposure photograph, great for waterfalls, traffic, or light trails.

These effects are applied non-destructively, meaning you can switch between them or revert to the original Live Photo at any time.

Managing Live Photos for Storage

To turn off Live Photos, open the Camera app and tap the Live Photos icon (concentric circles) at the top of the screen. A line through the icon means it is off. To make this setting permanent, go to Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings and toggle on Live Photos. Otherwise, Live Photos will reset to enabled each time you reopen the Camera app.

If you have accumulated many Live Photos you no longer need animated, consider reviewing them with a cleanup tool to quickly decide which to keep and which to delete.

Related Terms

HEIC — The image format used for the still portion of Live Photos
Burst Mode — Another camera mode that captures multiple frames rapidly
Optimize iPhone Storage — iCloud setting that keeps smaller photo versions locally

Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Live Photos take up more storage than regular photos?

Yes. A Live Photo is roughly twice the size of a regular photo because it includes both a still image and a short video clip. A typical Live Photo is 3-7 MB, compared to 1-3 MB for a standard photo.

Can I turn off Live Photos on iPhone?

Yes. Open the Camera app and tap the Live Photos icon (concentric circles) to turn it off. To keep it off permanently, go to Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings and toggle on Live Photos.

Can I convert a Live Photo to a regular still photo?

Yes. Open the Live Photo in the Photos app, tap Edit, then tap the Live Photos icon and select "Off." To fully remove the video data, duplicate the photo as a still image and delete the original.

Too Many Photos Taking Up Space?

Swype Photo Cleaner makes it easy to clean up your camera roll. Swipe left to delete, right to keep — simple and fast.

Download Swype Free