P: Support for Live Photos

Report · Nov 15, 2018

I’ve been testing out Lightroom CC for a bit. I am considering a switch from Apple Photos. Is there a reason you cannot support Live Photo’s? Google Photos does on apple device, so I know its not a totally closed down format. Even if you could only view them on apple devices it would still be nice. Sometimes the Live Photo feature captures really special moments. I’m not sure I could give them up.

Report · Nov 16, 2018

Lightroom CC has support for Live Photos. Can you tell us what you are not able to do with regard to Live Photos?

Rikk Flohr: Adobe Photography Org

Report · Nov 16, 2018

It doesn’t seem to have any support. None of my auto upload photos retain the live portion. The migration from Apple Photos split any Live Photo’s into a separate photo and video file, which is far from optimal.

Report · Nov 16, 2018

Organization-wise, supporting "stacks" via mobile would address the issue of the separate photo and videos of Live Photos. Granted, it wouldn't display like a Live Photo does on iOS, but I think it would meet many users organizational needs.

See: Lightroom Mobile: Ability to sync Stacks

Report · Nov 16, 2018

That would. Google Photos has great Live Photo implementation. Almost just like Apples. It would be nice for Adobe to tap into that API.

Report · Nov 16, 2018

That's exactly why I'm still hesitating. Transfer all my Photos library to a subscription based service is a big commitment. And it doesn't even support live photo? I think I'm inclined to still use Photos.

Report · Dec 21, 2018

I also would be interested in this. At the least I would like it so they are treated the same as when Raw and Jpg are captured at the same time. They are shown as a single photo in the viewer but both exist. Even if you can edit them the same as a Live Photo. I just don’t like having to go through a bunch of Video captures.

Report · Jan 13, 2019

Same here, that is the only thing holding me back!

Report · Jan 22, 2019

Agreed -- if Google can build a functional Live Photo implementation into Google Photos, there's no reason Adobe shouldn't be able to add one to Lightroom CC.

This is pretty much the one thing holding me back from signing up, since as far as I can tell there's no way to automatically import the live portion of photos at all, which would mean I'd still have to physically connect the phone to the computer in order to transfer the live photos, which kind of defeats the purpose of a cloud service.

Report · Feb 03, 2019

Correction. LR has partial support for Live Photos. The more important and logical place for LR to support Live Photos isn't there. i.e. via LR mobile. If you import Live Photos through the Lightroom Mobile app you just get still HEIC for jpeg format not the video portion.

This is a glaring gap in the LR workflow and I would argue this is the place that Live Photos should have been supported first

You could argue that's outside of LR itself because it's LR Mobile that's the first break in this chain but being that Adobe is treating this as an ecosystem more than individual apps and pushing for everything in the could this huge failing still fall under the LR umbrella.

Report · Feb 03, 2019

If you're getting a video and image file for your Live Photos in Lightroom this is expected behaviour. Live Photos are just that an image file and a video. Apple just hides that behind a facade and presents them as if they're a single entity called a "Live Photo". Sure in some ways it would be nicer if they behaved as a single entity in LR but at least you're getting all the content. If uploaded / sync'd from LR Mobile you only get an image. What a ridiculous oversight.

Report · Feb 06, 2019

Also, why has it been 3 months since your comment with no follow ups despite multiple replies from the original author and multiple other people? What's the point of asking for additional info if you do not follow up?

Report · Feb 06, 2019

Let's keep it friendly in here Digital. I get emails with everyones replies, which might be the same for him. What is expected to be said? The general consensus is it doesn't work as it does with Apple Photos of Google Photos. There's not much to say.

Report · Feb 27, 2019

You don't, though. You only get the image file, and therein lies the problem. Not much point to a cloud backup service if it's not backing up everything.

Report · Feb 27, 2019

Ok, so now that I have done the Apple Photos migration to LR CC and all of my Live Photos are appearing as videos what do I do? Fine, do want the video file but also need the pic so I don't have to see the "play" button blocking it??? What is the process to fix this?

I had started a discussion about why I am not seeing Live Photos in LR CC on new pics taken after the migration but at this stage I would rather have Live Photos reside in the Photos app and pics in LR CC until they can address this.

Please advise....feel like I have quit a bit of manual work to do to fix this.

Report · Feb 27, 2019

Good luck..that's literally why I didn't start using LR cc.
Maybe you can delete all pics(& videos) taken by iPhone in LR and manage all iPhone pics in Photos.

Report · Feb 27, 2019

No, don't like that plan.

Something interesting...when I do a search I see the pics as individual hard to tell if Live Photo and original pic however, if not searching on Mac it does show them as a stack (see pic). Confusing, trying to figure out this puzzle.

I will make it work one way or another as I see LR CC worth it!

Report · Apr 24, 2019

Live Photo’s WHEN

Report · Jul 18, 2019

Checked in on this every several months hoping for full Live Photo support. That is, being able to export a Live Photo from Photos import into Lightroom, have Lightroom show it as a state where you can choose which is the featured image and if I export it back to Photos, it should show up as it did originally with the special Live photos UI where its not a video but a photo with multiple photos inside and you can choose the exact one that captured the moment. Same with Portrait mode, being able to export portrait photos edit depth of field in Lightroom and being able to export back to Photos later on. In the meantime I leave all Live Photos and Portrait photos in Apple Photos until we can be assure we can move them back later without losing any functionality.

Report · Aug 03, 2019

Yes please add Live Photos support, if not everywhere, then at least to the iOS apps specifically. I stopped using Lightroom for a while to see if I could live with just photos and Google Photos, and to be honest I found it really hard apart from one thing - Live Photos. They are a game changer for capturing not just the photo but the context, background noise laughter music wind etc. Brings the memory to life. Please support this at least similar to Google Photos, if not better 🙂

Report · Nov 05, 2019

Just curious if there is any kind of update on a possible ETA for a feature like this?

Report · Nov 14, 2019

Something funny I noticed is that Adobe Spark supports them. Gave me a bit of a laugh.

Report · Jun 30, 2020

Any update from Adobe? If released along with a Lightroom-Rush mobile Integration for video backup and editing, Adobe could take the fight with Google and Apple cloud services. As it is you still need Google or Apple for mobile Live photos and videos, severely limiting the day to day usefulness of Adobe cloud storage.

Report · Mar 17, 2021

Please add support for Live Photos to Lightroom Mobile on iOS.

Expected behavior:
- LP should be automatically added (both photo and video)

- LP should be visible as a one item - photo with an option to play the video (eg. button or force touch)

Report · Mar 22, 2022

Has this still not been solved? What have all mobile users been doing in the meantime? Lightroom Mobile simply doesn't solve basic needs...

Live Photo support along with Lightroom CC - Premiere Rush integration for video editing and video backup to CC on iOS would make a compelling alternative to Apple and Google photos.

Report · May 29, 2022

It is crazy Live Photo support hasn't been added still. I am starting to look for alternatives before my subscription renews this year. What a gap... and this gap has been recognized for years.