Meta’s WhatsApp is just now adding support for Apple’s Live Photos and Android’s Motion Photos, a feature that’s been around for years. The update, announced September 29, lets users share moving photos with sound in their chats.
Live Photos, which debuted with the iPhone 6s back in September 2015, capture a quick three-second clip alongside a still photo. Google’s version, called Motion Photos, launched with the Pixel 2 in 2017. Until now, WhatsApp only showed these as regular still images, leaving out the motion and audio.
Now, when you send or receive them, the pictures will actually play like short videos—something iPhone and Android users have enjoyed in their native apps for nearly a decade. For WhatsApp, this update feels overdue. With Live Photos, just tapping the photo will see it play. You don’t need to tap and hold like you would within Messages on iPhone.
Now, we knew this feature was coming as an earlier WhatsApp beta this month revealed this Live Photos ability was coming, and here it is.
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