Live Photos is one of the new features introduced with the iPhone 6s and the 6s Plus. Basically, every picture you take is also a Live Photo, as the camera app captures two photos at a 2.5 seconds interval before and after capturing the actual shot. There’s also a new tool that you can use to quickly convert them into GIFs, as well.
And it seems that this new feature made a good impression on the folks over at Instagram, as they have released a new app which pretty much does the same thing as Live Photos. Available as a free download for iOS and Android users, here’s what Instagram said on their official blog:
Today, we’re announcing Boomerang from Instagram, a new video app that lets you turn everyday moments into something fun and unexpected. Capture a friend jumping off a diving board, defying physics as she flies back and forth through the air. Transform an ordinary selfie with your friends into a funny video. Get that exact moment your friend blows out his birthday candles, then watch them come back to life again and again.
Boomerang becomes Instagram’s fourth mobile app, besides its main mobile client, photo-collage app Layout and Hyperlapse. Since the app has a very basic feature, it comes with just one button. You just need to tap it once and it will then shoot a burst of 10 photos and will turn them into a mini video. You can then share it on Facebook and Instagram right from the app, or choose to save your video to your camera roll.
Boomerang videos are also automatically stabilized on supported devices and you don’t need an Instagram account to use Boomerang. However, if you want to share on Instagram, then you can apply filters and use creative tools to edit your video before sharing it. The single downside could be the fact that these videos do not currently include audio, but there’s a big chance of this being made available in a future version.