4 Great GIF Maker Apps for iPhone and Android

Create your own animated pictures to share with friends

By
Elise Moreau
Elise Moreau
Elise Moreau
Freelance Contributor
  • University of Ontario
  • George Brown College
Elise Moreau is a writer that has covered social media, texting, messaging, and streaming for Lifewire. Her work has appeared on Techvibes, SlashGear, Lifehack and others.
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Updated on April 15, 2020
Reviewed by
Kayla Dube
Kayla Dube headshot
Reviewed by Kayla Dube
  • J. Everette Light Career Center
Kayla Dube has 4+ years' experience in videography and filmmaking. She frequently works in production with indie film companies.
lifewire's editorial guidelines

GIFs are a lot of fun, but they're even more fun when you can make your own. Did you know that you can make your own animated GIF images with one of the many free GIF maker apps available for your iPhone or Android, and then share them instantly?

Lifewire / Tim Liedtk​e

Animated GIFs have become wildly popular all over social media and even on popular websites and blogs too, but if you’re not too keen on creating them manually (or simply don't know how), you can download one of the many useful free apps to simplify the process and save time. Many apps also allow you to film right through the app or use existing videos on your device for your GIFs, giving you the opportunity to turn almost anything you want into a GIF – from your vacation videos to the videos you have of your cat.

Here are just four of the great, free GIF maker apps you can get started with right away on your iOS device, like your iPhone or iPad, or your Android device, like those from Samsung, Google, and other makers:

01
of 04

Gifx Helps You Add Cool Effects

Three iOS screens from GifX
What We Like

  • Embed other GIFs.

  • Import music.

  • Unique features.

  • Save as GIF or video.

What We Don't Like

  • Infrequent updates.

  • Some features require a purchase.

  • Harder to use than similar apps.

  • Makes only low quality GIFs.

  • Saves with watermark.

If you want to go beyond simply just creating cool GIFs, then you're going to want to check out Gifx, which not only allows you to apply over 300 GIF effects to your photos and videos, but also lets you add music, make editing adjustments (opacity, size, etc.) and gives you over 200 optional masks to use as well.

Gifx is truly one of the most creative and customizable GIF apps out there. Available for iOS devices.

Download Gifx

02
of 04

Giphy Stickers Lets You Create Animated Stickers

GIPHY stickers app - three iOS screens
What We Like

  • Lots of effects, stickers, GIFs, and emoji.

  • Saving requires no user account.

  • Share, save, or upload online.

  • Built into the iOS keyboard.

What We Don't Like

  • Too easy to exit without saving.

  • Few filters.

  • Uploading requires a user account.

Giphy is the internet's largest GIF search engine, now with an app called Giphy Cam that allows you to actually film videos right through the app to create GIFs or alternatively import existing videos, photos, GIFs and even live photos from your camera roll. The app also has some pretty great effects that you can apply, with new filters being added every week.

As if that weren't awesome enough, the app has face-tracking accessories, stickers and more that you can use to supercharge your GIFs. It's available for both iOS and Android devices. 

Download Giphy

03
of 04

PicsArt Gif & Sticker Maker Is Great For Capturing Imagery

Three iOS screens from PicsArt GIF and Sticker maker
What We Like

  • Unique options.

  • Overlay other GIFs.

  • Runs on iOS devices.

  • Several masks.

  • Custom text options.

What We Don't Like

  • No Android app.

  • Most ratings are at the one-star level.

  • Infrequent app upgrades.

PicsArt is another creative and versatile GIF app that lets you take almost any form of media (photos, videos, existing GIFs) to create nad customize your finished, animated GIF image. This powerful little app has its own built-in library of effects, masks, stickers and text that you can use to take your GIFs to the next level.

Like many of the other apps on this list, PicsArt also allows to capture imagery for your GIF through the in-app camera if you'd rather do it that way. It's available for iOS devices.

Download PicsArt

04
of 04

Tumblr's Built-In GIF Maker

Built-in GIF maker in Tumbler on iOS
What We Like

  • Very easy to use.

  • Reverse and/or change the GIF speed.

  • Text, filters, and objects.

  • iOS and Android apps.

What We Don't Like

  • Few filter options.

  • Can't search through object overlays.

  • Only one text font.

Tumblr is one of the most heavily used platforms by GIF enthusiasts, and thanks to this, Tumblr rolled a GIF maker tool right into its mobile app so that users can create their own GIFs from videos or photo bursts from their camera rolls. If your intention is to share your GIF on Tumblr, then you might as well take advantage of this nifty feature. 

You can follow a short tutorial to learn how to create and posts GIFs from the Tumblr app. Of course, Tumblr's apps are free for both iOS and Android devices.

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