TikTok live slideshows explained

What a Live Photo actually is

Not one file, but two: a photo and a short video, tied together by an identifier that sits inside both. On top of that the video carries a small metadata track that marks which moment is the still image. If any of those three pieces is missing, iOS shows a photo and a video, and nothing moves. That is also why sending only the video through a chat app breaks it.

From a video to a moving slide

1. 1 Pick the moment. Between one and a half and five seconds, and it should carry itself without sound.
2. 2 Decide which frame people see first. That one becomes the photo, and it is what stops the scroll.
3. 3 Build the pair, for example with the free tool on this site. It runs in your browser, nothing is uploaded.
4. 4 Import both files together into Photos on a Mac. That is where they become one Live Photo, and iCloud Photos carries it to the iPhone. Saving them on the iPhone directly gives you a photo and a video, not a Live Photo.
5. 5 In TikTok, start a photo slideshow and pick the Live Photos. Each slide now moves.

What works well as a slide

• A movement that finishes: a hand that lifts something, a door that opens, a bite that gets taken.
• A moment before and after: the plate empty, the plate full.
• Faces that turn towards the camera. Motion around eyes reads instantly.
• What does not work: shaky pans, slow zooms, and anything that only makes sense with sound.

The same pair as an iPhone wallpaper

A Live Photo can also be a moving lock screen. In Photos, share the Live Photo, choose to use it as wallpaper, and switch the Live setting on. Then it moves when you press and hold the lock screen. Not every model supports it, and iOS only offers it when the pair is properly linked, which is what the metadata track above is for. Beyond that, Apple applies rules for the lock screen that it does not publish, so an imported Live Photo can still show "Motion not available".