Hacker News Reader

Comment by JohnFen | Hacker News Reader

I'd never heard of them either. Seems to be an iPhone thing.

"Basically, Live Photos on iPhone is a regular digital photo and a short 2 seconds video recording the few moments before the photo. Essentially, the iPhone camera captures 2 media files, one photo and one video. When viewing a Live Photo, the operating system, iOS plays the video file first and then it shows the picture."

The part that makes me feel old is that I have literally no idea why this sort of thing would be useful or desirable.

View on HN

It's actually really nice. Not only does it provide a really good effect when swiping between photos in your photo album (it plays a bit of that video during the swipe, so your photo basically animates into place), but it often captures some really good stuff. I can't tell you in how many photos of my kids I've found utter delight in the live portion.

It also lets you pick a different key frame, so if e.g. you get someone blinking, you can pick a different frame from the video to use instead.

And if you capture photos back to back such that the live portions overlap, you can convert the group of photos into a single contiguous video.

> It also lets you pick a different key frame

Note that this significantly lowers the photo quality.

They can be fun, you get a photo plus a short video "for free." Much easier than filming constantly and editing things down later. You can pick a different key frame to display as well, so it can be a good way to fix an awkwardly-timed yawn or such.

I don't use them personally, though, but I'm a curmudgeon about my camera controls ;)

I think Google added something similar in their Pixel camera app.

Eh, I think this is just one of those things I don't "get". A 2 second video seems without value to me.

From the POV of the user it's much more "a photo" than a video. It just gives you a bit of extra context and ability to pick your key frame.

A two-second video is pretty pointless. But a photo that incidentally moves a little bit is often charming.

It’s the animated photos from Harry Potter.

It’s a fun gimmick especially with kids as 2 seconds goes from not seeing you to noticing and lighting up with a smile.

I agree, they capture a moment in some ways better compared to a static photo. Not replacement but a nice feature on their own.

> It’s the animated photos from Harry Potter.

That's what I was picturing. I'm glad my impression isn't far off. Perhaps it's a "you have to use it to understand" sort of thing, but I truly struggle to see the value.

It doesn't matter, though. I don't use iPhones and even if I did, that I don't understand it is meaningless.

It's similar to the "burst mode" that digital cameras have used for decades to capture exact moments during fast action.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burst_mode_(photography)

Adding sound can make these bursts more pleasant. But there is no easy way to disable or remove the audio.

I love them. I often just swipe through memories in pictures, and it takes me back to the moment with the audio and quick movement before the shot was taken.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com