Sending GIFs is one of the easiest things you can do on your iPhone — but what can you do if your GIFs stop working? Apple has made it super easy to share GIFs on iMessage. When composing a message, just tap the red image icon, tap one of the suggested GIFs, or search for a specific GIF. Tapping a GIF will instantly add it to your message, making it easy to send a funny GIF in the blink of an eye. But sometimes these GIFs fail.
If you find that GIFs aren’t working on your iPhone, one of the easiest ways to fix this is to delete and re-add the Photos app in iMessage. Open the Messages app on your iPhone, then swipe left on the list of apps at the bottom of the screen until you see a button with three dots. Click the button, click ‘Editor‘ in the upper left corner, click the ‘-‘ icon next to ‘#image,’then tap’remove from favorites.’ Now click on the green switch next to#image,” to turn off the app completely, tap the switch again to turn it back on and the app will return to normal.
Other ways to fix broken GIFs on iPhone
If iPhone GIFs still aren’t working after that, you can try some other troubleshooting tips. Another possibility is that the iPhone language and language are not set to support the “#images” feature in iMessage. In this case, open the Settings app, tap the “overview‘clap’Language and region,” and switch to a language that supports this feature (for example, iPhone language is English and region is US). Another possibility is that an accessibility feature is preventing images from loading. From the Settings app again, scroll down the page and click “free barrier.’clap’sports‘at the top of the screen and make sure’reduce exercise‘ unselected. If so, try disabling the feature and see if GIFs start working again.
But that’s not all you can do. If the GIFs on your iPhone continue to break, you might just need to restart the Messages app. Swipe up from the bottom of your iPhone’s Home screen and hold to open the Recents menu (or double-tap the Home button if your iPhone has one). Find the Messages app, swipe up to close it, and then reopen it. If you’re using a third-party keyboard and you’re having trouble with GIFs, it’s probably running out-of-date software. Open the App Store, tap your profile icon in the upper right corner, swipe down the page to check for new app updates, and see if there’s one for your keyboard.
Last but not least, GIFs not working on iPhone could be related to a more general issue. Double check that your iPhone is connected to a cellular data or Wi-Fi network and has a proper internet connection. If other apps and websites don’t work, you may need to switch to another network. Also, if all of the steps above didn’t fix your GIFs, your iPhone may be running out-of-date software. Open the Settings app, tap the . iconoverview‘clap’Software updates,’ and download the update (if available). Follow the steps above, one of these will fix the GIF on your iPhone and make it work again.
Use a third-party GIF app
While the Pictures in Messages app has an extensive library of GIFs, iPhone users also have the option to download third-party apps for iMessage and use them for GIFs. GIPHY is one of the best options as it has one of the largest GIF collections and can be accessed directly from Messages. To download the app, open a text message and tap the app store icon below the search bar. search”at a glance” and download the app. It should now show up in the apps list above the keyboard, which is where the user accesses the pictures app.
You can now tap the GIPHY app and search for GIFs, images, emojis, and stickers. There’s also an option to add GIPHY clips, which are GIFs with sound. Click the GIF and it will appear in the text field, now sendable to others. If using stickers in GIPHY, touch and hold the sticker, then drag it over the image and text. Before releasing the sticker, use two fingers to resize or reposition the sticker if desired.
Another great option is the GIF keyboard. Search for the app in the App Store using the same method as above. GIF Keyboard has a huge library of GIFs and stickers. Alternatively, long-pressing any GIF will turn it into a shareable circular sticker in a chat. You can even create your own GIFs by recording with the front and rear cameras and then sending them in chat. GIF Keyboard for iPhone also lets you create your favorite sticker packs and share them with friends and family.
Source: Apple, GIPHY