ios12 facetime iconWith Apple's FaceTime, you can take Live Photos during ‌FaceTime‌ video calls, allowing you to capture special moments as they happen onscreen when chatting with friends and family.

‌Live Photos‌ record what happens 1.5 seconds before and after you take a picture, allowing them to come alive when you view them in Apple's Photos app.

Apple gives you control over whether ‌Live Photos‌ can be taken during your ‌FaceTime‌ calls. The service also notifies users when a Live Photo is taken, so they can't be shot in secret. In addition, ‌FaceTime‌ strips out audio from ‌Live Photos‌, so nothing you say will be recorded.

How to Allow Live Photos to Be Taken in a FaceTime Call

If you want other people to be able to take ‌FaceTime‌ ‌Live Photos‌ when you're on a call with them, make sure you have ‌FaceTime‌ ‌Live Photos‌ enabled.

settings
On an iOS device, launch the Settings app, tap FaceTime, and check that the FaceTime Live Photos switch is toggled to the green ON position.

FaceTime
On Mac, launch the FaceTime app, click the ‌FaceTime‌ menu bar in the top-left corner of the screen and click Preferences, then tick the box next to Allow Live Photos to be captured during Video calls.

FaceTime

How to Take Live Photos in FaceTime on iPhone and iPad

  1. Launch the FaceTime app on your iOS device.
  2. Initiate a ‌FaceTime‌ call, either by tapping on a contact in the recent calls list, or choosing a person in your Contacts to call by tapping the plus (+) icon.
    FaceTime

  3. Once the call connects and you can see the other person, tap the screen and look for the camera icon, to the left of the red button. If you don't see the icon, the other person needs to enable ‌Live Photos‌, as described above.
    FaceTime

  4. Tap the camera icon when you're ready to take a Live Photo. The photo will be automatically saved in your Photo Library.

How to Take Live Photos in FaceTime on Mac

  1. Launch the FaceTime app on your Mac, from your Dock or the Applications folder.
    apps

  2. Initiate a ‌FaceTime‌ call by clicking on a contact in the recent calls list, typing a contact's name in the search bar and clicking a match, or choosing a person in your contacts list to call by clicking the Plus icon.
    facetime

  3. Once the call connects and you can see the other person, look for the camera icon, to the left of the red button. If you don't see the icon, the other person needs to enable ‌Live Photos‌, as described above.
    FaceTime

  4. Click the camera icon when you're ready to take a Live Photo. The photo will be automatically saved in your Photo Library.

When taking a Live Photo during a ‌FaceTime‌ video call, don't worry about your own image in the corner of the screen. This is automatically removed from the Live Photo that's saved in your ‌Photos‌ Library, along with any other interface elements.

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 17 air dummy unbox therapy

iPhone 17 Air's Extreme Thinness Demoed in New Video

Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
ipad air windows 11 arm

M2 iPad Air Runs Windows 11 ARM via Emulation, Thanks to EU Rules

Tuesday April 22, 2025 5:01 am PDT by
A developer has demonstrated Windows 11 ARM running on an M2 iPad Air using emulation, which has become much easier since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations came into effect. As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...
iphone 17 pro majin bu sky blue

iPhone 17 Pro Allegedly Coming in Sky Blue Color Used for MacBook Air

Tuesday April 22, 2025 4:08 am PDT by
Apple will unveil the iPhone 17 Pro in a new Sky Blue color, the same color that debuted on the latest M4 MacBook Air models Apple released in March. That's according to the leaker Majin Bu. Concept mockup from Majin Bu Writing on his website, Bu claims that "sources close to the supply chain confirm that several iPhone 17 Pro prototypes have been made in various colors, with Sky Blue...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...