---
title: "Live Photos | Apple Developer Documentation"
source: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/live-photos

# Live Photos

Live Photos lets people capture favorite memories in a sound- and motion-rich interactive experience that adds vitality to traditional still photos.

![A sketch of the Live Photos icon. The image is overlaid with rectangular and circular grid lines and is tinted blue to subtly reflect the blue in the original six-color Apple logo.](https://docs-assets.developer.apple.com/published/dc6a4a0eb43d1336511cf15379c03a04/technologies-Live-Photos-intro%402x.png)

When Live Photos is available, the Camera app captures additional content — including audio and extra frames — before and after people take a photo. People press a Live Photo to see it spring to life.

## [Best practices](https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/live-photos#Best-practices)

**Apply adjustments to all frames.** If your app lets people apply effects or adjustments to a Live Photo, make sure those changes are applied to the entire photo. If you don’t support this, give people the option of converting it to a still photo.

**Keep Live Photo content intact.** It’s important for people to experience Live Photos in a consistent way that uses the same visual treatment and interaction model across all apps. Don’t disassemble a Live Photo and present its frames or audio separately.

**Implement a great photo sharing experience.** If your app supports photo sharing, let people preview the entire contents of Live Photos before deciding to share. Always offer the option to share Live Photos as traditional photos.

**Clearly indicate when a Live Photo is downloading and when the photo is playable.** Show a progress indicator during the download process and provide some indication when the download is complete.

**Display Live Photos as traditional photos in environments that don’t support Live Photos.** Don’t attempt to replicate the Live Photos experience provided in a supported environment. Instead, show a traditional, still representation of the photo.

**Make Live Photos easily distinguishable from still photos.** The best way to identify a Live Photo is through a hint of movement. Because there are no built-in Live Photo motion effects, like the one that appears as you swipe through photos in the full-screen browser of Photos app, you need to design and implement custom motion effects.

In cases where movement isn’t possible, show a system-provided badge above the photo, either with or without text. Never include a playback button that a viewer can interpret as a video playback button.

![A nighttime photo of an alpine lake with a system-provided Live Photo badge with the text Live in the upper left corner.](https://docs-assets.developer.apple.com/published/a87d82a66bbb1352833d3bf3deb1e325/live-photo-badge-with-text%402x.png)

![A nighttime photo of an alpine lake with a system-provided Live Photo badge without text in the upper left corner.](https://docs-assets.developer.apple.com/published/912dc316a86639661c2f1758145e55db/live-photo-badge%402x.png)

**Keep badge placement consistent.** If you show a badge, put it in the same location on every photo. Typically, a badge looks best in a corner of a photo.

## [Platform considerations](https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/live-photos#Platform-considerations)

 _No additional considerations for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, or tvOS. Not supported in watchOS._

### [visionOS](https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/live-photos#visionOS)

In visionOS, people can view a Live Photo, but they can’t capture one.

## [Resources](https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/live-photos#Resources)

#### [Developer documentation](https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/live-photos#Developer-documentation)

[`PHLivePhoto`](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/Photos/PHLivePhoto) — PhotoKit

[LivePhotosKit JS](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/LivePhotosKitJS) — LivePhotosKit JS

#### [Videos](https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/live-photos#Videos)

[![](https://devimages-cdn.apple.com/wwdc-services/images/119/80B5C413-F0CF-44C1-9EE1-7BBC8C8978F0/4937_wide_250x141_1x.jpg) What’s new in camera capture ](https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2021/10047)