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You are here: Home / Troubleshooting / Live Photos not Working on iPhone 12 or 12 Pro? Fix!

Live Photos not Working on iPhone 12 or 12 Pro? Fix!

Last Updated: September 20, 2021 by iPhoneArena Staff

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Several users have reported that the Live Photos feature is not working on their iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. Some of the problems they are experiencing include the following:

  • Can’t Play/View Live Photos on iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro.
  • Live Photo previews not working, moving.
  • Live Photo has no sound.
  • Unable to take or share Live Photos on iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro.
  • Live Photos lose their effects.

If you are having these problems with Live Photos on your iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro, this guide will help you to fix them. The following fixes apply to iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, or iPhone 12 Pro Max.

A Live Photo is an extremely short iPhone moving picture. Your iPhone captures the audio and video of 1.5 seconds before and 1.5 seconds after you tap the white shutter button to snap a photo. Live Photos is on by default so that the 1.5 seconds before can easily be recorded even though you haven’t tapped the shutter button yet. Any recording not part of the Live Photo is discarded, but it’s an important part of capturing those three seconds for your iPhone moving photos. It is a great feature and many users enjoy it, it’s also prone to not working as it should.

Troubleshooting Live Photos issues on iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro

Make sure your iPhone is updated

If you find Live Photos not working on iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro, check if you’re device is running the latest version of iOS. Here is how:

  1. Head to Settings > General > Software Update.
  2. If there is an update available, follow the onscreen prompts to download and install the latest version of iOS.

Live Photo previews not working on iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro?

If you find Live Photo previews not working on iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro, you most likely need to turn off the Reduce Motion feature. Reduce Motion is an accessibility feature, when it is enabled, some of the screen effects will be disabled. And this affects how Live Photos work.

Follow these steps:

  1. Start the Settings app on your iPhone.
  2. Go to Accessibility.
  3. Select Motion.
  4. Make sure that Reduce Motion is turned off.

Unable to share a Live Photo on iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro?

Some iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro users have reported that Live Photos turn into regular, still, photos, meaning Live Photos are losing their Live Photos effects. Users have reported that this issue occurs when they share Live Photos from the Photos app or the Messages app. If you are having issues with sending a Live Photo via the Messages app, this may be because of your settings. Follow these steps to fix this issue:

  1. Start the Settings app on your iPhone.
  2. Scroll down and tap Messages.
  3. Choose Low Quality Image Mode.
  4. Turn this feature off. When this feature is enabled, you won’t be able to share Live Photos with Messages. They will be sent as regular photos.

Restart your iPhone

If you’ve been able to view live pictures without problem, but now none of your live pictures are playing, simply restart your iPhone and then check again if your Live Photo problem is fixed. Here is how you can restart your device:

Press and hold the power button (side) and the volume up (or down) together until the “slide to power off” slider appears on the screen. Drag the slider from left to right. Wait a few seconds for the iPhone to power off completely. Then press and hold the power button again until you see the Apple logo on the screen.

Restart the photos app

If non of the above steps worked, try to restart the photos app and see if you are running into the same issue with Live Photos. Here’s how:

  1. Navigate to the home screen.
  2. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause in the middle.
  3. Swipe through your open apps.
  4. Locate the photos app by swiping left or right and swipe up on it.

See also: iPhone 12 Pro Max not taking photos? Fix

Contact Apple Support

If you are still experiencing problems with Live Photos on your iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro, you may want to reach out to Apple Support for further assistance.

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  4. How to Lock Hidden Photos Album on iPhone in iOS 16

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