A Facebook logo on a computer screen is seen through a magnifying glass. (Photo : Reuters)
In less than three months after Apple debuted the Live Photos feature on the iPhone 6S, several third party companies are already trying to integrate the feature into their respective services. The latest to join the foray is social networking giant Facebook.
Facebook announced on Dec. 21 that it is rolling out an update that will allow users to upload and view Live Photos straight from its iOS app.
According to Tech Crunch, since Live Photos is a relatively new feature, Facebook will only roll out the feature to selected users. Some iOS Facebook users might get the feature as soon as it is released and some might get them until the New Year.
Uploading via Live Photo is similar to uploading standard photos. It fact the steps are identical, except one extra step. While uploading a photo from camera roll when Live Photo is active, a "Live" box will appear in the bottom part of the photo. When the box is tapped, the photo will be uploaded as Live Photo. Ignoring it will upload the photo as a regular photo.
Users need to manually tap the box for each Live Photo upload. This was implemented in order to avoid accidental photo uploads. Live Photo also allow users to upload up to 1.5-second video with audio before and after they tap the shutter button, according to Fast Company.
Once Live Photos are on the user's Facebook feed, it will be displayed as a static image by default. However, a set of circles looking just like the default Live Photo will appear on photos uploaded using the feature. A simple press and hold on the icon will play Live Photos.
