iPhone Video to GIF
HEVC and portrait recordings come out the way they play. Nothing is uploaded.
Open this page in Safari on the iPhone itself or in any browser on a computer with the video copied over. Drop or choose the clip; the first three seconds loop at once. The converter opens at 480 px, 15 fps, and knows how to handle two iPhone specifics — HEVC and rotation.
Open the converter → Opens the converter set to 480 px wide at 15 fps. Drag the handles to pick the part you want.- 100% freeNo account, no daily quota, no paid tier.
- Nothing is uploadedThe video is read and converted on your device and never reaches a server.
- No catch on the outputNo watermark, no forced downscaling, no size cap.
- Updated in the openEvery fix and every change is written down on the changelog page.
What is special about iPhone video
Two things. First, the codec: since iOS 11 iPhones record in HEVC (H.265) by default, labelled "High Efficiency" in Settings → Camera → Formats. Safari decodes it natively, as do Chrome and Edge on Mac and Windows; Firefox may not, and if a browser cannot, the page says so instead of producing an empty GIF. Second, orientation: the camera always records in sensor orientation and writes a rotation flag into the file. A clip shot upright is stored sideways with a note to rotate it. Players honour the note; many GIF converters do not, and produce a sideways or upside-down GIF. This one applies the rotation before it takes the first frame.
There is a third: iPhone clips are 4K at 30 or 60 fps and tens of megabytes for a few seconds. None of that needs to be uploaded anywhere — the browser reads the file in place — and the GIF is scaled down to the width you pick, so the size of the source does not matter.
On the phone, or on a computer
On the iPhone: open Safari, tap Choose video, pick the clip from Photos. The film strip handles are sized for fingers — drag them, drag the middle to slide, and the preview loops. Convert, then tap Download; the GIF lands in Files (or in Photos if you choose Save Image from the preview). Conversion on a phone is slower than on a laptop but a five-second clip takes a few seconds.
On a Mac or PC: AirDrop, cable or iCloud the clip over, or just drop it in from Photos. The same page, the same handles, with keyboard nudging. Live Photos are not video files; export the Live Photo as a video first (Share → Save as Video on iOS) and convert that. The rotation flag is preserved by AirDrop and by Files, but some chat apps strip it when they re-encode — if you got the clip through WhatsApp and it comes out sideways, that is the source, not the converter.
Frequently asked questions
The GIF is sideways or upside down.
Not from this converter, if the video plays upright in Photos. If the clip came through a messaging app that re-encoded it, the app may have baked the wrong orientation into the pixels; rotate it first with a video rotate tool.
"Cannot decode this video" on my PC.
Firefox without HEVC support, or a Windows PC without the HEVC extension. Use Chrome or Edge, or switch the iPhone camera to "Most Compatible" for future recordings.
Can I do this without a computer?
Yes, in Safari on the phone. Nothing to install; the GIF is saved to Files.
Why is the GIF so large compared with the video?
A GIF stores every frame as a full picture. Keep it short — two to five seconds — and 320–480 px wide for chat.