Google has released an update to its Motion Stills app that lets users create moving text effects for inclusion in their videos.

Motion Stills is designed to create unique GIFs from Live Photo images captured with the iPhone 7, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone SE. The app was released earlier this year and its main features were subsequently integrated into Google Photos for iOS.

googlemotionstills
The update means that users can add motion-tracked text overlays to their high-resolution videos and fun gifs, as described and demonstrated in the company's research blog post.

We've added motion text so you can create moving text effects, similar to what you might see in movies and TV shows, directly on your phone. With Motion Text, you can easily position text anywhere over your video to get the exact result you want. It only takes a second to initialize while you type, and a tracks at 1000 FPS throughout the whole Live Photo, so the process feels instantaneous.

The update also brings Google's RAISR machine learning technology to the app to create super-resolution detail in images, adds 3D Touch support to the interface, and introduces fully automatic cinemagraphs – looping moving images in which the foreground subject moves while the background remains static.

Google's updated Motion Stills app for iPhone and iPad can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct link]

Top Rated Comments

CarpalMac Avatar
116 months ago
I wonder in Apple HQ, what goes on.

Do Apple think such developments are beneath them, are unwanted, or do they simply not have the resources available?

It just seems like yet another kind of thing I would expect them to be implementing, not their rivals, as seems to be more the norm.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
116 months ago
Hangouts is truly awful. High in bandwidth and cpu consumption, low in quality. Facetime wipes the floor with it for 1:1 conversations.
For a lot of people, Facetime has one glaring deficiency. Platform locked. It's a decent feature no doubt, but limited in widespread usefulness.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gaanee Avatar
116 months ago
Google and Microsoft, both are developing useful apps on the iOS platform especially using machine learning, while Apple seems to be doing only incremental updates in terms of exploring the full potential of integrating machine learning into apps. iPhone does add new hardware features but it's Google and Microsoft who make full use of these features with their apps - Google Motion Stills, Microsoft Pix...
Looks like Apple is getting into the same phase of being complacent as what happened to Microsoft with Windows XP,
having customers already locked into their ecosystem, now showing very little incentive for further developing their software to compete with Google and Microsoft.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ike1707 Avatar
116 months ago
It'd be nice if they gave two sh*ts about keeping Hangouts up to date. All the potential of Whatsapp and they're just too busy with their other 5(or however many) chat apps :oops:
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
116 months ago
Apple needs to pay attention to this. Google just made a gimmicky feature a little less gimmicky.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
ios 26 1 slide to stop

iOS 26.1 Brings Back 2007 Feature in New Way

Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important. Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped. The new ...
M5 MacBook Pro

Waiting for New Macs? Apple Just Shared Bad News

Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year. Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 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 at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
Coffee Burgundy and Purple iPhone 18 Pro Mock 1

Leaker Outlines Potential New Colors for iPhone 18 Pro

Friday October 31, 2025 8:28 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models could be available in new rich and warm color option, according to a known leaker. The Weibo user known as "Instant Digital" today suggested that next-year's iPhone 18 Pro models will be available in at least one of the following color options: Coffee, purple, and burgundy. The iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Pro were all available in ...
apple tv hd

Apple Launched Its Big New Vision for TV 10 Years Ago Today

Thursday October 30, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple launched the Apple TV HD, the Siri Remote, tvOS, and their accompanying App Store a decade ago today, marking a major overhaul of the device. The new vision for the Apple TV was unveiled on September 9, 2015 during Apple's "Hey Siri" event in San Francisco, where CEO Tim Cook introduced the device with the statement, "The future of TV is apps." The announcement represented a major...