How to make a GIF on iPhone or iPad

How to make GIF's using shortcuts
(Image credit: Apple)

GIFs (Graphics Interchange Format) may have lost their cachet among pesky millennials but they’re still fearsomely popular among those of us of an older persuasion. So while only ‘mature’ people apparently use GIFs these days – and just as we’ve mastered how to pronounce them (like ‘jif’ according to one of the lead inventors, Steve Wilhite) – we reckon it’s still worth learning how to create and share these image files in a… ahem, jiffy.

Here we look at a few methods, the primary one being the use of a Shortcuts app found on your iPhone or iPad. There are two of these; one is more specifically geared to using videos from your Photos library and the other also lets you use Live Photos. There are other ways of achieving a similar result using third-party apps, too, with some popular services having GIF-creation tools built in. Time to worry less about what people think of GIFs, then, and concentrate on how fun they can still be to produce and share.

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David Crookes

David Crookes has been writing professionally for close to 30 years largely specialising in technology for much of his career. Since becoming a freelance writer, he has written for a wide number of publications including the Apple-focussed magazines iCreate and Macworld. His love of gaming has seen him write for Retro Gamer and Wireframe among others and, despite his love of Apple, he still uses a PC – working for PC Pro and once writing for Total PC Gaming. 

One of his joys is helping others to use technology which has led him to writing many “how to” tutorials explaining many ways of getting the most out of various devices. He's become an expert user of the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. He also likes to kick back with a gaming session on an PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X | S while getting his retro fix on an Evercade handheld.