Justin Searls

something I've seen countless times over the years: someone offers to take a photo for me with my iPhone and "does me the favor" of disabling Live Photos in the process

then I go a month or more without noticing all my memories have been cheapened due to the lack of Live Photos and I want to throttle the dude at the grand canyon who insisted on taking a picture of me in my awesome "this place is the pits" shirt what the hell

Aug 22, 2023 at 8:14pmWeb
Show threadJustin SearlsAug 23, 2023

Yesterday I heard from a lot of people who hate Live Photos and think they're worthless.

Let me just say that as someone who's had a few friends and family members pass away since Live Photos launched that being able to go back to photos and get a few seconds of video and movement on either side of a special moment is transformative in bringing me back to that memory. They've become really precious to me in a way still photos can't.

I'm excited for Apple's 3D Spatial Photos/Videos as a result.

Show threadJan Lehnardt Aug 23, 2023
@searls Live Photos are the best
Show threadmellowfishAug 23, 2023
@searls I’m definitely learning to appreciate Live Photos as my son grows. I still find many things about them obnoxious from a UX perspective, but I see the value in the end result
Show threadAndrew FranceAug 23, 2023
@mellowfish @searls yeah the UX is so awful. I'd happily use them if they could be un-lived later to reclaim the hidden storage space back.
Show threadMega “Byte” Matt Aug 23, 2023
@searls *turns on Live Photos again*
Show threadBodoAug 23, 2023
@searls as a parent I love Live Photos. Seeing the little one grow up with them is amazing.
Show threadGreg WoodsAug 23, 2023
@searls Photos that didn’t have live turned on, or taken before the feature existed, feel broken to me. It’s absolutely essential.
Show threadCaleb Hearth Aug 23, 2023
@searls People who don’t like Live Photos confuse me. They don’t hurt anything, and it makes it so easy to get the right shot that you’d otherwise miss. Also, I’m a parent of a toddler and a baby and I’m constantly changing the key frame from a Live Photo to get the smile or look.
Show threadolivierlacanAug 23, 2023

@caleb @searls As someone who doesn't use Apple products to archive my photos, they do irk me but it's a strictly personal concern.

It's really on Apple not to provide a better UI indication they're turned off honestly.

I think they're bloated proto-videos with very limited purpose when I'm the one shooting since I typically plan my shots. I would actually want them on if I ever gave my phone to a stranger because I don't expect them to be as careful as I would be taking a shot.

Show threadCaleb Hearth Aug 23, 2023
@olivierlacan @searls I'm getting into "real" photography a bit and I miss Live Photos on my x100t/α6400.
Show threadolivierlacanAug 23, 2023

@searls Oh absolutely the sheer delight of being able to have a snapshot come to life with sound is transformational to say the least.

It's frankly a bummer third-parties like Adobe haven't adapted to this mixed media to provide a better experience when you just want to interact with the still itself however.

Show threadpǝǝʌɐɾ sAug 24, 2023
@searls I only ever take Live Photos because of this. Although I just saw a picture of someone very close to me who passed away recently and she looked sad in the key photo. Holding down on it I saw that she really was sad at that time and my pain grows tenfold. I guess it’s worth remembering that they can cut both ways.
Show threadKevin R JonesAug 22, 2023

@searls A blog post I wrote that you might find interesting

How I discovered that the audio in Live Photos can help blind people identify and organize them – Accessibility Insights
https://accessibility-insights.com/2018/05/17/how-i-discovered-that-the-audio-in-live-photos-can-help-blind-people-identify-and-organize-them/

How I discovered that the audio in Live Photos can help blind people identify and organize them

Posted on May 17, 2018 When Apple announced live photos along with their iPhone 6s in 2015 almost everyone I know or read thought they were nothing more than a stupid gimmick, and promptly turned t…

Accessibility Insights
Show threadAlpha ChenAug 23, 2023
@searls Kind of surprised people are aware enough of live photos as a feature to disable it on a stranger’s phone, TBH.
Show threadZach AhnAug 23, 2023
@searls There's a setting under Camera ➡️ Preserve Settings where you can configure Live Photo to turn back on automatically after some time. (Apologies in advance if you weren't looking for a solution.)
Show threadJay McGavrenAug 23, 2023

@searls You think they're doing it on purpose? Do you think they're doing it just for the photo they're taking for you? Or they think it's feature you couldn't possibly *actually* want on, and so they're disabling it for future photos on your behalf?

This is going to bother me a great deal; I'm not OK with the idea of my settings getting f***ed with...

Show threadJustin SearlsAug 23, 2023
@jaymcgavren on at least three occasions they said something like "let me do you a favor" like turning it off was the obvious thing to do, or a pro-tip. I feel like this is a meme in some community I don't belong to, like those virtual home buttons were for years prior to iPhone X
Show threadJason LongAug 23, 2023
@searls I honestly didn't know anyone used Live Photos on purpose 😅
Show threadKevin PfefferleAug 23, 2023
@jasonlong @searls I don't know how we ever took photos of toddlers before Live Photos were invented 📸