But what if you want to create your own instead of picking one from a library such as Giphy? Well, it’s surprisingly easy and here we’ll show you step by step how to make a GIF on your iPhone.
How can I make my own Giphy?
There are several apps you can download that let you record or use existing video for your GIF. We recommend Giphy Cam as it’s free and simple to use. The app is over 150MB so you’ll need to be connected to Wi-Fi to get it.
Once it’s installed, launch Giphy Cam and give it permission to use the camera. Now you can tap the record button to record a short ‘burst’ of video, or hold it down to record a longer clip.
Alternatively, tap the film can icon (below the video preview to the left) and choose a video or photo from your camera roll. Usually it’s best to pick a video, and they’re easily identifiable by their film frames. You’ll see a timeline of the video with handles at either end for trimming the video to just the section you want. When you’ve done this, tap the arrow pointing right. Now you can choose effects or add animated stickers, faces or monster hands. You can’t have both a video effect and stickers, though. Here we’ve chosen the Punchy effect and when you tap the blue Next button you’ll be taken to the screen below, left. Tap the arrows at the top left to change the looping mode between standard looping, reverse and ping pong. Then tap SAVE GIF to save it.
If you go for a funny face or hat, you’ll need a photo or video with a face in the frame. You can also add frames and text in a few different styles. Tap a style and you can then type in your text.
When you want to share your GIFs, just open the appropriate app and pick them from your camera roll. Unfortunately, there’s no way to tell from the main iPhone camera roll which is a GIF, but in Whatsapp you’ll see little GIF logos which helps a lot.
You can also find out how to post a GIF on Facebook. Jim has been testing and reviewing products for over 20 years. His main beats include VPN services and antivirus. He also covers smart home tech, mesh Wi-Fi and electric bikes.
