Live Photos

SquirrelCache exports Live Photos as properly paired files — preserving the link between image and video so they can be re-imported as Live Photos in the future.

What Is a Live Photo?

A Live Photo is an iPhone photo format that captures a still image plus a short video clip (approximately 1.5 seconds before and after the shutter tap). Together, they form a pair:

A still image file (typically .HEIC or .JPEG)
A video component file (typically .MOV)

Apple links these two files together using a shared Content Identifier — a unique string written into the metadata of both files. If this identifier is missing or mismatched, the Live Photo cannot be re-imported as an animated Live Photo.

How SquirrelCache Exports Live Photos

When a Live Photo is included in a backup, SquirrelCache:

Exports the still image with its original EXIF metadata intact
Exports the paired video component
Writes Apple's standard Content Identifier metadata to both files, ensuring they remain properly linked
Sets the Still Image Time marker in the video metadata so apps know which frame corresponds to the captured moment

This means your exported Live Photos can be re-imported into Apple Photos (or other compatible apps) and will animate correctly — they won't be treated as separate, unrelated files.

Portrait Mode & Depth Data

SquirrelCache also supports exporting Portrait mode photos with their associated depth data. When depth data is present and the Export Live Photo Components setting is enabled, the depth map is exported alongside the main image.

Folder Organization

By default, SquirrelCache groups each Live Photo pair into its own subfolder to keep the image and video together:

YourExportFolder/
├── LivePhoto_IMG_1234/
│   ├── IMG_1234.HEIC      ← still image
│   └── IMG_1234.MOV       ← video component
├── LivePhoto_IMG_5678/
│   ├── IMG_5678.HEIC
│   └── IMG_5678.MOV
└── IMG_9012.HEIC           ← regular photo (no subfolder)

Regular photos (non-Live) are placed directly in the export folder, not in subfolders.

Subfolder names use LivePhoto_ as a prefix followed by the original filename (without extension). If you have a filename prefix configured (e.g., Date Taken), the subfolder name also reflects that prefix.

Disabling Subfolder Grouping

If you prefer to keep all files flat in one folder — without subfolders for Live Photos — disable the Group Live Photos in Folders toggle in Settings. The image and video will still be exported and still share a Content Identifier; they just won't be nested in a subfolder.

YourExportFolder/           ← flat layout (grouping disabled)
├── IMG_1234.HEIC
├── IMG_1234.MOV
├── IMG_5678.HEIC
├── IMG_5678.MOV
└── IMG_9012.HEIC

Toggling Live Photo Export

The Export Live Photo Components setting controls whether the video component is exported at all:

Setting	What gets exported
On (default)	Both the still image and the video component are exported. The Content Identifier is written to both files.
Off	Only the still image is exported. The video component is skipped. Files are treated as regular photos.

Turn this off if you only want the still images and want to reduce export size.

File Size Considerations

Live Photo video components add approximately 2–4 MB per photo to your export size. For large libraries with many Live Photos, this can be significant. The size estimate on the main screen accounts for Live Photo components when this setting is enabled.

Next: Learn how to view and analyze your backup history in Export History.