{"id":75900,"date":"2021-06-29T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/?p=75900"},"modified":"2021-06-28T15:44:14","modified_gmt":"2021-06-28T20:44:14","slug":"convert-iphone-videos-into-gifs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/75900-convert-iphone-videos-into-gifs\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Turn iPhone & iPad Videos Into GIFs Using Shortcuts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After capturing a meme-worthy piece of video, you might want to convert it into the popular GIF<\/a> format. GIFs are smaller in size and compatible with more devices than most video formats. There are many apps in the App Store that perform the video to GIF conversion, but here’s a way to do the deed using nothing but your iPhone or iPad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Take a Shortcut<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The answer lies in the powerful, but woefully underused Shortcuts<\/strong> app that is currently available for iOS and iPadOS. Shortcuts debuts on macOS Monterey<\/strong><\/a> this fall. Here are the steps to turn any iPhone video into a GIF you can share on Instagram, WhatsApp, and any other social media outlet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Launch the Shortcuts app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.<\/li>
  2. Tap the “+” button (highlighted in red below) to add a new Shortcut.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \"Start
    Start adding a new Shortcut by tapping the + button<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
    1. Tap the Add Action button (highlighted in red below).<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      \"Tap
      Tap the Add Action button<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
      1. In the search field at the top of the Actions page, type “gif” to search for GIF-related actions<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
        \"Search
        Search for GIF in the Actions search field<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
        1. Do you see what I see? Make GIF<\/strong> is one of the actions built into Shortcuts. Tap on Make GIF. The following shortcut appears:<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
          \"Let's
          Let’s add another step to this Shortcut<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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          Adding a Save Action<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
          1. Tap the Plus (+) button. Our goal now is to save the GIF that is created by the shortcut. Type Save into the search field at the top of the page that appears. You’ll see a list of actions:<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
            \"Some
            Some of the Save actions<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
            1. Tap “Save to Photo Album”. On the screen that appears (see below), tap the … button (highlighted in red):<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
              \"Tapping
              Tapping the … button allows us to name and save the shortcut<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
              1. On the next screen, do two things: name the shortcut and tap the Show in Share Sheet button. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                \"Give
                Give the Shortcut a name, and tap Show in Share Sheet<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
                1. Tap Done. We’re not actually finished creating our Shortcut, but this saves our work to this point. Now tap on “Content” in the “Make GIF from Content” step of the Shortcut.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                  \"\"
                  Tap “Content,” then “Select Magic Variable”<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
                  1. On the next screen to appear, tap “Shortcut Input”. What this does is pass whatever video we’ve selected to the Shortcut function that converts a video to GIF format.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                    \"Tap
                    Tap Shortcut Input to pass the video to the GIF conversion function. <\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
                    1. Tap “Done”. This saves the shortcut on the standard iOS \/ iPadOS Share Sheet. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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                      Using the Shortcut<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

                      You now have a shortcut that converts any video on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch into a GIF. Let’s give it a try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      1. Select a video in the Photos Library. GIFs are usually 15 seconds or less in length, so keep that in mind. To select the video, tap Select (highlighted in red below) and then tap the video you want to convert. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                        \"Tap
                        Tap the Select button, then the video you wish to convert to GIF<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
                        1. At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see “1 Video Selected”, the Share button (in red below), and the trash button. Tap the share button.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                          \"Tap
                          Tap the Share button<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
                          1. Scroll down in the list of share options until you see “Convert Video to GIF” (or whatever you named the shortcut). Tap it. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                            \"Tap
                            Tap Convert Video to GIF to complete the conversion<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

                            Your video is converted to a GIF file and saved to the Recents album in your Photos Library. Keep in mind that the GIF is likely to be less smooth than your original video, but it’s also smaller. A long (15-second) .MOV video, 17.8 MB in size, became a 6.8 MB GIF. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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                            The Power of Shortcuts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

                            What this example shows is just how powerful Shortcuts can be. Actions are available for most Apple and many third-party apps, letting Apple users string those apps together in creative ways. I have no doubt that Shortcuts in macOS Monterey is going to unleash a lot of creative shortcuts on the Mac. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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