Tumblr For iOS Now Supports 3D Touch, Live Photos

Apple’s new Live Photos feature might be going mainstream – kind of.

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus users that would like to share their Live Photos on Tumblr will simply have to update the app’s latest version and make sure that they are signed in, with the app given permission to access the device’s photos.

Users of the Tumblr iOS app can now add their Live Photos to their posts, which will then be identified by a little icon. Users on the iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus can then use 3D Touch, meaning pressing on the images firmly, to see the image’s animation and hear the picture’s captured audio. When someone on an iPhone comes across it in their feed, they’ll see the Live Photo icon in the corner, letting them know it can animate. But even cooler is that those with iPads or older iPhone models can still view Live Photos; just tap and hold the image to get it to play. Sharing Live Photos has so far been limited to iMessage, AirDrop, and iCloud Photo Sharing, so apps including Tumblr adding support is welcome news for the photo format.

If other apps – especially social networks with a focus on rich media – follow Tumblr’s example, Live Photos may just become the new standard for how photos are shared on the web going forward.

Grab Tumblr 5.0 for iOS for free on the App Store.

The Tumblr app’s icon on the home screen also supports 3D Touch for those on the iPhone 6s, with a firm press bringing up the search function. Additional updates include live messaging, which was originally rolled out to selected users last month.

This may be a limitation placed by Apple, or it could just be that support for other platforms isn’t ready. Choosing two or more Live Photos to create a montage turned them into regular stills.