Preserving Live Photos outside of iCloud ecosystem

Question

Preserving Live Photos outside of iCloud ecosystem

How can I preserve a Live Photo outside of the iCloud / iOS MacOS ecosystem?

Very simple question. Live Photo with .heic extension is saved to a non apple platform like Dropbox then put back on an iOS device, it’s now just a static photo and I want it to still be a Live Photo.

Please no lengthy explanations on how Live Photos work or how to turn them into JPGs and short movies, GIFs or how to approximate their effects on another platform and I know how to buy more iCloud storage. I’m good on that. I got that.

☺️👍

iPhone 14 Pro

Posted on Mar 3, 2024 9:43 AM

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Answer 1

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Mac Jim ID

Community+ 2026

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Mar 3, 2024 9:58 AM in response to NoHoWarlordIsMe

Not supported by DropBox. You can send them feedback or review their Support Forums.

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Delete-edit-and-organize/What-do-I-do-about-my-Live-Photos-and-metadata-on-other-uploads/td-p/496430

and as of last month, they still do not support it:

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-ideas/Automatic-Upload-of-Live-Photos/idi-p/569242

You can upload Live Photos to services that support them such as Instagram, TikTok, Google Photos, Amazon or others.

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Answer 2

Mar 4, 2024 1:20 PM in response to Mac Jim ID

Thanks so very much! I think I have this. If I simply export all my Live Photos as originals, I get three files, an XMP with the metadata, the .heic file, and a .mov file. If I import those back I get the Live Photo without the meta data (it ignores the xmp file, I would love to be able to just have that restored as well. )

So .heic file + .mov file = Live Photo

Agreed it would be great for the camera upload feature on Dropbox to just do this for us.

I wonder what else I miss when I upload to Dropbox via camera uploads? Like SloMo Video? We'll see and I can report back or open a new thread, but thanks very much for all you do for the community.

Michael

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Answer 3

Mar 3, 2024 12:33 PM in response to Mac Jim ID

Hey! Thanks *very* much! Can you give me a hint as to what’s happening here though? I don’t care if the system “supports” Live Photos, I just don’t want it changing my data. any system that will survive a round trip of backup and restore.

Is there some reading I can do to better understand what’s happening when a Live Photo makes a round trip to another file system? Thanks for the prompt and helpful response!!

Michael

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Answer 4

Mar 3, 2024 1:39 PM in response to NoHoWarlordIsMe

Sorry, I don't have much information about the other services or competitors to DropBox. The obvious answer is iCloud. I am not familiar with Google Photos other than the fact that they say they support Live Photos.

For your workflow, the best solution would be for DropBox to support Live Photos. The only information I have seen from them is that they are looking into providing the feature, but do not offer any timeline. It seems like a glaring oversight on their part when other services do support them. Currently Dropbox changes the format of a Live Photo which is why when you bring it back it no longer displays as a Live Photo.

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Preserving Live Photos outside of iCloud ecosystem

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