Making a gift

Who it is for

A gift is made for the person receiving it, who may be older, may be on an iPad or a Windows PC, and will not unzip anything. So every gift has three layers, from the least effort to the most: a video that plays with one tap; a page that opens in any web browser; and the files themselves, the photos with the names, story and place written into them, which is what makes it something to keep rather than a link that expires.

Making one

Open a Memory and tap Share › Make a Gift…, press and hold a Memory’s card in Memory Lane and tap Make a Gift…, or in Capsules tap + › Make a Gift… and choose the Memory.

1. The dedication. Who it is for, from (your name, already filled in), the occasion (Birthday, Anniversary, Holiday, Just because, In memory of) and a few words in your own. They become the first screen of the video, the top of the page inside the gift, and the first lines of its README, and the gift is named for them (“For Grandma - Birthday”, or “In memory of Dad”, which gets the quieter wording throughout). The sheet also says how much room the phone needs while the gift is made, and how much it has.
2. Make the gift. Livo fetches the photos at full size, makes the video (the dedication, then each photo with the names of the people in it and the story, your narration over it, and “Made by …” at the end, with a small “with Livo” line unless you have Livo Plus), and seals everything as a Time Capsule with the video first in the folder. A progress card shows each step, with Stop. Stopping keeps nothing, and the dedication stays on the Memory for next time. If the video could not be made, the gift is still complete without it, and Capsules can make the video later.
3. Your gift is ready. One screen with everything you can do with it.

Your gift is ready

• Send the video: the video alone, by Messages or AirDrop, or saved to Files. The line under it says the size and whether it fits in Messages.
• Give the whole gift: the sealed capsule, by AirDrop, Messages, Mail or Files. Whoever receives it unzips it and opens START HERE; with Livo on an iPhone, tapping it brings the Memory in.
• Save the photos for a frame or a TV: the photos as plain JPEGs in a folder, for a digital frame’s app, a USB stick or a TV.
• Order prints: print-size photos as plain JPEGs (free); and, with Livo Plus, the same with a strip under each that says who it is and when, the gift book (an 8 × 8 inch PDF with a page per photo and the names under each) and a 16 × 20 collage poster. Each opens the share sheet on the file or folder, ready for a photo kiosk, a print service’s app, or your own printer. See Order prints.

Every export shows a progress bar and a Stop button while it runs; Stop leaves nothing behind. A copy of the gift is kept where your capsules go (see Keeping capsules safe), and the gift’s video and book can be pulled out again any time from its screen in Capsules; Give it again there (Livo Plus) reopens this whole screen.

What the person receives

On an iPhone with Livo, the gift opens with its dedication and a Watch button; Add to My Livo brings the Memory in, and Save to Photos as an album keeps the photos and the video in Photos. On any computer, unzipping it and opening START HERE shows the dedication, plays the video, and lists the photos with their names and stories. A photo frame or a TV takes the folder of photos. See Sending to someone.

In memory of

Choosing In memory of changes the words everywhere: the title card, the page, the README and the gift’s name, with nothing playful.