Video2Live
Turn any video into a Live Photo and import it directly into your Photos library — all in one click. A native Swift app for macOS, fully sandboxed, with audio preserved.
How It Works
From video file to Live Photo in three steps
Load
Drag and drop a video onto the app window, or click Choose File to browse. Supports MOV, MP4, M4V, AVI and more.
Trim
For longer videos, an interactive timeline scrubber appears — drag to pick the perfect 3-second segment with thumbnail preview.
Convert
One click and Video2Live extracts a key frame, writes the HEIC + MOV pair with the right metadata, and imports it as a Live Photo.
Key Features
Drag & Drop
Drop video files straight onto the app or use the file picker. No menus, no setup — just open and convert.
Timeline Scrubber
Pick the exact 3-second segment you want with a thumbnail-strip scrubber. Live preview as you drag.
One-Click Conversion
Frame extraction, HEIC writing, MOV metadata embedding, and Photos import — all handled in a single tap.
Audio Preserved
The original audio track from your video is kept in the Live Photo's MOV pair — just like a real iPhone capture.
Fully Sandboxed
Runs inside the macOS App Sandbox with read-only file access for the videos you pick — nothing else.
Photos Add-Only
Requests only the Photos Add-Only permission. Video2Live can save your Live Photo but cannot read your library.
Native Swift & SwiftUI
Built with Swift, SwiftUI and AVFoundation. Lightweight, fast, and uses Apple's own frameworks under the hood.
Open Source (MIT)
Source code is available on GitHub under the MIT license. Inspect, fork, or build from source yourself.
Download
Free, open source, and requires no account.
macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) or later
- Unlimited conversions
- MOV, MP4, M4V, AVI support
- Audio preserved
- Direct Photos library import
- Fully sandboxed
- MIT-licensed open source
Prefer to build it yourself? Clone the repo and open it in Xcode 15+.
Perfect For
Photographers & Filmmakers
Turn drone shots, B-roll, or short clips into Live Photos for use as wallpapers or shareable moments.
Content Creators
Build animated wallpaper packs or rescue Live-Photo aesthetics from regular video clips.
Apple Users
Want a real Live Photo from a video saved or downloaded elsewhere? Drop it in and you're done.
Developers & Tinkerers
Open source, hackable Swift app showing how to write Apple Live Photo metadata correctly.