Google recently made available an Android version of their Motion Stills application on the Play Store. The application which was previously available on iOS allows people to create GIFs which are short 3 second clips. In addition to GIFs, you can take video clips that you can fast-forward it by 2x, 4x or 8x. It is similar to Instagram’s Hyperlapse feature, however, the app allows you to change the speed of the video even after it has been saved.
When you open the app, it resembles a typical camera view but with only those two modes, a settings icon and a button to toggle between front or rear camera. Once you’ve selected a mode, you just tap the main button just like you would in your default camera app and it’ll start to capture the selected type of content. When it’s done capturing and processing, the video or GIF will appear below the camera view on the same screen. You can then select it to change other settings like muting sound or speed if it was a fast-forward video.
Creating GIFs is not something new as many other developers have made apps that do just that and have more features. One thing to note is that this app doesn’t yet have all the full features that the iOS version has. The app supports GIFs in the following resolutions Low (320×240), Medium (480×360) and High (640×480). Unfortunately, your screen will not show the full camera view once you’ve taken a previous GIF as some of the screen space will be occupied by its preview.
Motion Stills (Android version) is quite basic but if you’ve ever wanted to get started in making GIFs or Fast-forward videos then it’s a good option. This largely because it doesn’t have a lot going on that could potentially overwhelm some people who just want something that works. However, something on people’s mind is why wasn’t it just added as a feature in Google Camera app. That way people who have already started using the Google Camera app can just find one feature in it to take GIFs and Fast-forward videos instead of opening a whole separate app.
It also seems like this app might be a response to iPhone’s Live Photos camera feature. The iOS feature allows iPhone users to capture images that contain motion. Basically, you get to take a photo that contains some motion and sound that took place before and after the actual still image got captured.
I would like to know how many people actually create custom GIFs locally or you just use ones that are made by someone else abroad? What do you think about GIFs in articles?
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