Motionleap: 3d Photo Animator Reviews

by Ben Kenon

First of all, I don’t like subscriptions- especially for one-trick-pony niche apps like this. The developers want $20 a year to add barely perceptible animations to your pics, like bobbing water or moving clouds. What?!?

What you can accomplish with the free version of Motionleap is laughably bad pseudo-animations that look cheap and/or silly. I assume the effects look much better if you subscribe, but what is my incentive to pay so much money for a subscription? True, one month is *only* $3.99- but I’d rather buy a coffee than animate clouds and water around grandpa.

It sounds like your best deal is a $60(!!!) lifetime purchase BUT do no not put it past the devs to come up with Pixaloop 2 in two years for another $60. These are the same guys who made Enlight, after all (which I did purchase, and then it turned into a subscription-based app, rendering my original purchase pointless).

If you look at all of their apps, every single one has a free or cheaper alternative without a subscription (like Snapseed or Pixelmator), or a subscription-based app (like Lightroom) that’s light-years ahead. It seems like Pixaloop is their most creative app, but a similar (but more realistic) effect can be had for free if you use a tripod and capture a Live Photo while everyone stands still for three seconds. Pass.

by Dah Master Of All

I’ve had Motionleap since it was called Pixaloop. Loved it, and I used it every day mostly for the animation tool. Then a little while back you updated it and blocked the animation behind a paywall. I was super ticked from that firstly, but yknow what? I went and bought your extremely overpriced full version. No biggie. But now?? You remove all of the advanced tools in the latest update! Why did you feel the need to do that? I regret updating Motionleap. I relied so much on those tools, and now they’re so simplified it boggles me how you thought it was a good idea. If there was a way to get back my money I would. Please, please listen to the other reviewers when we say we want those advanced tools back. I will be looking for other apps in the meantime. I hope I get a response as to why this decision was made and if you guys will be rolling back on that decision.

by ELECTRIC OUTLAW

Is not Apple Pencil friendly. (Has serious lag in this area).
Does not follow desired path. Inadequate masking feature. Lacks extreme precision. Extremely sloppy.
Lacks multiple layering within animation packs. No add feature... what if I want to add 10,000 butterflies? I’m not able to do this.
Some of the features are very nice and very well animated but not enough layering options. Correct me if I’m wrong and not doing something right. I do feel Motionleap has an extreme amount of potential and I downloaded it for obvious reasons. I suggest taking a lesson from#superimpose app and how their masking tools work. They are a very precise tool and things should be done in this fashion. I definitely think that you guys would benefit from that me being a beta tester for this tool. I am an accomplished artist. I am using iPad Pro 12.9” with the Apple Pencil, of course. Your tools are not matched to qualify using with the Apple Pencil. As well I had to pay to see what Motionleap and goes instead of getting a late version. This makes me extremely cautious in having to pay to use your video lab application in which I I am very interested in using for my artwork. Again I would love to beta-test for you guys I would definitely upgrade to five stars if you were to fix these options that I have listed.

by Picsarama

2nd Update: Omg, please stop ruining Motionleap with your “improvements”. Why did you mess with the Sky layers? It was great before, but now you can’t control the sky’s overlay color strength and there’s no way of controlling the transparency either. Just return everything to it’s original way of operation. Motionleap just keeps getting more difficult to work with. 1st Update: I wish you would stop messing with Motionleap design. Every change that has been made in the last few months was a hit and miss. I wish it would go back to the original design and layout. —— Previous review: While I love Motionleap , this version is really not good. You can’t see the number of layers in the Elements section and that means having to tap on screen over and over until you stumble on the element you need to adjust. Fix, please.

by Sassyandfifi

You seriously made it where to use animate you have to go pro? This is ridiculous and never should have changed. Garbage app. I don't even see the option where you could loop the pictures to move a certain way. Taken off I guess considering I've seen subscribers complain in the reviews. Whoever had that idea needs a mental evaluation if they honestly thought that was a good idea.

Don't even bother replying with "email customer service" and claiming that Motionleap is "free", because it's not, and that's simply untrue and you know it. You have to pay now to use any good features in Motionleap, so now it is virtually useless. There's no point in anyone using Motionleap at this point. You literally can't do anything on Motionleap now. You took away the only good part because you're ✨greedy✨.

You baited us to update saying you added free elements and stuff. Lol do you think that makes up for what you took away or something? Will be deleting this shoddy app. Thanks a lot, god-awful developers.

by Drukgyalpo

Update- customer support confirmed that animations done with the animate tool prior to the last major update are now gone. They reassured me I could do the same animations with the newly updated animate tools.

Motionleap probably has the most intuitive Ui out of all the cinemagraph apps I’ve tried so far. I was on the free version but I would pay for the one time app purchase just based on overall UX

I’m still leaving a 1 star because I don’t see the point in having project drafts because you’ll lose any animations of any tools that have updated functionality like others have mentioned in their review and that’s a dealbreaker for me.

I think there should be some feature added like a “read only” to projects drafts. An option to export as is for projects that have legacy tools that no longer exist or have been updated instead of completely removing animations from said projects. That sort of feature would get my purchase for premium features.

I enjoyed animating with the free version of Motionleap but I would rather just buy a cheaper app alternative at this point than buying premium to start over on older projects that would require premium features to animate

by BrainierRain

I was first introduced to Motionleap at the Apple Store. I loved it and immediately got it on my device. The first thing that popped up when I opened Motionleap was it asking me to get their Pro Pack for like six dollars a month. I closed out of it, and began to edit a photo. I was all of a sudden extremely disappointed to see that only a very VERY small number of filters, exporting options, and editing tools are available to you if you do not have the Pro Pack. I soon realized that Motionleap at the Apple Store was a demo, therefore every filter was unlocked. So, basically, if you get Pixaloop and don’t pay for the Pro Pack, you are essentially getting just a preview of Motionleap with the Pro Pack.😕
I really really wanted to love Motionleap, which is why I put two stars instead of one. Sadly, I will most likely will be deleting it soon due to the fact that you have to pay (MONTHLY) for access to all of the filters. Also, you can get a one time purchase but it’s sixty dollars which I will NOT pay. The pro pack is probably worth about five dollars (maybe ten, but that’s pushing it) for a one time purchase.

by EcoNadder77

I downloaded this application to add some motion to a few photos of mine. When I originally downloaded Motionleap, it gave you the choice of either paying a monthly subscription to add motion to photos or you could do so for free with a very limited set of tools and export options. While it was quite restrictive, it still produced good results with relative ease.

Today I launch Motionleap to animate a new photo only to discover it had updated and now all aspects of adding motion to photos is locked behind a subscription based paywall. You’ve taken an app that I enjoyed using and have changed it to lock what was once free to use. I hate it so much when apps do this and will be uninstalling it as a result.

I can not recommend apps to people that do this. Please reconsider.

by Dbpickel

It’s really easy to make creations and stuff and I love the all I made like 10 different pictures the problem is I can’t make no more

A week ago I try to make a picture and it looks like the best one I made so far I try to export it to my photos and it didn’t work!!!! I kept trying all day I even lower the quality to see if it would work then but it still didn’t. I thought maybe if I delete some of my pictures in my gallery and the photos in my project thing but it still didn’t work.

I been trying every day but no matter what I do it won’t work. I spent money on Motionleap just for it to not work after I try it. Maybe it’s a update or something but it’s not working

by Patrickl27

Motionleap is a really cool concept, and goes perfectly with Live Photos, but unfortunately you can't export to Live Photos without paying $20 a year or $60 once. Without that, it's really not worth using at all. Videos are so much less convenient to glance at in the photo album, while Live Photos were pretty much made for Motionleap!

If there was an option to buy an individual feature for a few dollars, such as the Live Photo export, or a certain filter you wanted, that would be a lot more palatable of an expense. You'd definitely have my purchase! As it is though, I likely will only use Motionleap once or twice, then forget about it as a random novelty.

by Miss Winkler

I love Motionleap, but it has one major, decent sized problem...
I got Motionleap and loved it, in fact I loved it so much I decided to become a premium member for a year. Paid the $60 myself (I was like 12). Next year comes around and I don’t use this as much anymore, don’t get me wrong it was great and it was so much better like this. So I canceled my subscription. Well I was looking back at some of the animations I did using the premium options and non of them would load! See, I prefer if my animation is “live” as my phone calls it, because it has a better effect. Well the editors of Motionleap know as well, so unless you pay premium you are not going to be able do that. Anyway, I realize now that after my subscription time was up this happened. Interesting isn’t it? I paid $60 so I could animate save live and when I go to look back at it, it won’t work! Now I could go back and do it again, but like I said, cant use live unless you are a premium member. That was a major reason I got it! So if I don’t keep paying, I won’t be able to see anything I ever do with the premium?! That’s seems unfair is really all I’m trying to say. 😕

by Mynicknameistaken1

I got Motionleap a while back and I loved it. Later though I started to forget about it and slowly stopped using it. I never had the premium because I could easily animate the images and add cool effects. When I came back to Motionleap recently I noticed how the animate option was no longer free. This is really annoying to me because the only reason I had Motionleap was to animate my images in the advanced way that Motionleap offered me. But no, the developers had to make this feature premium now. Motionleap is now pointless and is just like any photo editor out there. If you are seeing this and are confused either because you don’t agree or this problem has been address. Don’t worry I’m aware that this problem might have been solved by the time you read this.

by Thoughtsofknots

I’ve been working on a project with a lot of moving pieces, for weeks now & I just opened Motionleap to work on it some more... and BAM!! You guys made the “animate” pro!
It was not “pro” a couple of weeks ago... I even exported some creations that were “animated”... I’m so upset about this... You can’t just give something and then in the middle just take it away! You know, I absolutely love your editing apps and use them religiously, but this is low... I understand making some of the overlays and fancy effects pro, but the option to select and put into motion should be given! It’s the main attraction of the this app app!
Like I said I love your apps, and I refer people to them all the time, but at this moment in my life, I cannot afford to pay the monthly fees...
Please I’d truly appreciate it if you could make the “animate” option “not pro”.
Thank you!

by CryOfDavid

It’s a fun little animation app. A cool way to take some social media posts up a notch.
Here is the big problem....
If I am rating Motionleap as a little fun photo app I would give it 5 stars. I would even pay a single .99 or maybe 1.99 fee for a pro version and recommend it to my friends. However, the problem is they are charging like this is an Adobe product. The monthly fee is absolutely silly for an app this featureless. It’s a fun little product that totally missed in the monetization method. I see this going one of two ways. Either add a mountain of continually expanding features, think Adobe products, or make this a one time .99 fee for the “pro” version. Otherwise, I guarantee most people will do what I do. Play with the very limited version for a week or so and never use it again. The devs built a cool little app. It would be sad to see it fade because of a poorly thought out compensation strategy.

by SheWriter

I liked the free version of Pixaloop a lot so I upgraded to the paid one year pro version. It works fine on my phone, but when I am using it on my iPad (same Apple ID), it still tells me to upgrade and remove the pro limit. I should be able to use Motionleap on both devices. I deinstalled and reinstalled Motionleap , which makes it now possible for me to use the pro features on pictures (even though Motionleap still displays the „pro only“ icon). But I am unable to export the projects in a better quality or in any format that is not supported in the free version. If I click „remove pro limit“ I am directed to the subscription screen, from where there is nowhere to go, because I don‘t want to subscribe double of course, plus, I get a pop up from Apple reminding me that I already subscribe to pro (which is correct). If anyone can help fix this, I would be grateful, because I‘m not wanting to pay for this and not be able to fully use it since I do most projects on my iPad.

Updated on 7/5:
There is actually a link underneath the subscription button saying „already paid?“ that allows one to put in your Apple ID password, I did not see that before, it is tiny, but it is there.

I‘m still giving Motionleap 4 stars because it could be a bit more up to date on weather/seasons and holidays when it comes to themes. It‘s July right now and it has rain overlays, fall leaves and haunted house themes.

But otherwise I LOVE it!

by Ttip82

This is has been one of my favorite apps for the last several years and I have paid membership. I used it almost every day... until the latest update. No disrespect, but I am extremely disappointed about the changes made after this last update. Every feature that I used before is no longer there. No pins, no freeze, no bounce option... I have not been able to use Motionleap since and it’s extremely frustrating. However, I’m still going to give a good rating because I have a paid subscription to several other apps by Lightricks that I absolutely love and use on the daily. I hope Lightricks will consider adding back the previous features to Motionleap because I can’t use it the way it is, and I’ll have to cancel my subscription.

by PuppyDog$1234

I recommend Motionleap! There’s not too many premium features which is nice! I only have one complaint, you can’t export with the premium! This is really upsetting. And I feel you need to realize not everyone can pay for things like that. If you could just make that one feature non premium I would really appreciate it! Have a great day and stay safe.

Update: There is a way to export it!! You just cannot have any pro features on the photo! But if you wanted the pro features I guess you could either pay or you could just screenshot it!

by HelenaRomaniovaDarnova

We love your app especially the animations it offers (our main reason using it). It’s also intuitive and easy to use. As someone who use Motionleap on daily basis I think it would be beneficial to provide a few things to improve as Motionleap has tremendous potential that I would be willing to pay more if only Motionleap has more extras and freedom to personalize.
1. More animations regularly or having some cloud where to buy/download/add more (sand, succulents, palm trees, clouds, sky, moon, sun… nature in general). 2. Freedom to move animation from one point to another. (Example moving moon from bottom to top). 3. Allow changing colors of animation item? (I guess that would be hard but thought I mention it) 4. , In app photo editor w layers (we are aware u have another photo editor but it would be cool to edit in an app. At least some basic like layers and colors.

by Nickname00019384748422

First, the idea of Motionleap is neat, but I will be deleting the enlight Pixaloop application as you have no option to export or save the animated picture to my photos (I am using an iPhone 11 Pro Max). With that being said I don’t want to upgrade to pro but in order to save any animated photo, you have to upgrade? This is not good user experience. I would charge money for the “pro” upgrade options and at least make it so the basic version can save the photo? Second, get a hyperlink added to your “contact us” option at the bottom of your HELP section, so users can be directed to their email with your email link attached. At least remove the “Pro” words above the options so it doesn’t lead users to believe they can save the photo or upload to Instagram for free.

by Mal3D

Very easy to use. Masking is not hard. You can zoom in for smaller details. Output is high quality. For me, 6 sec of 2k quality works best for Instagram. Love the lightning, rain, and fireworks overlays. Also, the fire element is totally dope. I used it on a ghost rider photo from the Long Beach Comic Expo. I’m having a blast using it. You can check out my malphotoz Instagram for proof. I have a desktop version of a much more expensive app, and I much prefer this. I love being able to do this all on my iPhone. Please keep adding overlays and elements. They are what really add to this. I purchased the one time price. Well worth the money IMHO. I have never left a better review for any other app. Keep up the great work!

by ChaChisO

Your app looks nice and professional. However there are so many rip off apps, users are hesitant to click on anything with a subscription. I did not purchase your product due to the following two reasons. To allow users to have a great experience before purchasing or subscribing I would suggest the following:
1. You have easy access to purchase but not unsubscribe. This looks suspicious. Add unsubscribe button. Not that hard.
2. Like many users, I load apps when I see it advertised. I do a few things and then plan on doing the review later. When I finally get around to it the trial has expired. Suggestion: Give the user a couple of stock pictures and access to all the tools. This allows them to see how and if the product works as advertised. If they are comfortable, they would purchase.

by Moneygotstolen

You guys have done a very poor job of making it clear that you just go in and unsubscribe after deleting Motionleap that it still will charge you’re account after deleting your poorly designed application from my phone almost instantly it turns out that a month later(today) it charged me $20 without a single heads up that I would be getting charged. Learn how to make a better system so you stop stealing people’s money. Considering that I can see that almost all of you’re reviews are people complaining that you designed a app built to just take my money. You should refund everyone who complained about being charged because there was no way to unsubscribe. Worst application ever made.

by N@hn@hn@h

Sure, Motionleap is neat. Moving pictures are pretty. Unfortunately, the impossibly short free trial period for the full app is pretty obviously designed to screw you out of $20 dollars (a year subscription). An app with users in mind would at the very least default to a monthly one ($3.99). Better yet, it wouldn’t rely on counterintuitive design to trick users into losing money at all. There should be information on how to unsubscribe IN Motionleap ! I shouldn’t have had to dig through reviews to find answers. And before I get the canned response from the developer about contacting you at any time with questions - I DID. Nobody responded, and something tells me if I’d waited for you to get around to me it would have conveniently happened after y’all charged my account. ✌🏼

by Bellabuscus121

For starters, please don’t make the holiday / special event overlays and assets be seasonal / temporary? Just make them available 24/7, don’t be silly. Also, it didn’t used to do this but now there seems to be a problem with the animation lines, now when I have multiple lines and continue to draw new ones, the new lines interfere with the old ones movement often stopping them completely. I’d also like for there to be a way to copy paste your frozen area drawn to the overlay erase, so I don’t have to trace the same complicated shape twice. A symmetry option for those tools would be a cherry on top. Overall love this program, it’s super close to being perfect.

by BEinCO

This is an incredible start for Motionleap! For the features it has, I absolutely love it, and am happy to pay a subscription for them! Compared to this company’s other apps though, Motionleap seems to still be in its infancy. There’s just so many things that need to be added or could be improved:
* Different water layers: right now Motionleap only allows one water layer. It would be great if we could add multiple layers of water to show called water in one part of a photo, but turbulent water in another.
* Different cloud layers (for the same reasons listed above)
* Ability to add multiple overlays, and multiple elements. One smoke animation is nice, but several would allow for so much more creativity.

After all is said and done though, Motionleap is certainly usable and I will continue to subscribe as long is significant content updates keep coming out.

by Greyangeldesigns

4 stars only because it’s not as completely intuitive as I would like it to be. It took some googling to read up on how best to utilize Motionleap, but once I did I was able to immediately make some pretty incredible images. Works best if your photo already contains part of an object or scenery that would normally “move” in real life—but, that being said, it’s also cool to see motion on something that would normally be static. Slowing the motion down adds drama, and the optional overlays for things like a gentle snowfall are just artistically wonderful. This is FUN.

by Diana Com

Update: Contact support and they cleared it up. I did not need to purchase a app for separate devices. They not only addressed my concerns but responded with in an hour. The suggested worked perfectly and I’m on to my next project.

The 2 star is only for the upgrade policy. Motionleap was easy enough to use. I was able to upload, edit a photo, experiment with the tons filters and save to IG in a couple hours. I expect the next project to go much faster. But...I upgraded to pro from my phone and now need to purchase again to use pro on my tablet. So it’s a nice app but be aware if you want to use on multiple devices you’ll pay double.

by Apple Store Review Team

I don’t usually write reviews , but you guys have impressed me yet again with an awesome app! Keep up the good work!

And for anyone who’s a little skeptical of whether or not you should download , you can animate photos in the free version as advertised on Instagram; which is tons of fun, and when you’re done with your projects it gives the options to save into your camera roll and to also post your project on social media! Totally recommend Motionleap , 10/10 !

by BAR112

It’s like that other one—without all the social bloat! I went ahead and purchased for the one-time fee; it’s totally worth it. Pixaloop is so easy to use to animate your photos; plus, they are adding new (animated) elements and overlays all the time. Also love the ability to erase parts of the overlays (other similar apps don’t allow this). In addition, a beautiful selection of professional photos to use (Unsplash, probably) is provided within Motionleap . My only request would be to please allow us to add more than one element/layer, thus upping the creative uses of this fabulous app. Highly recommended!

by Shchander

I am using the paid version of your app already. Now when after editing the video, I am trying to save it says it is for paid version only but when I have already paid yearly fees, why am I getting this option and it doesn't save the video.
Also, when i go to paid section, it says already paid. So why am i facing this problem please help and resolve this issue, asap.

by Jdhgvdjchxje

Ive never got a gif to work other than the little video clips many people call gifs. Thats not a gif, but with Motionleap and a few dollars. Ive been making gifs for real for the first time ever. Im not good yet but with the help demo’s and a bit of practice, mine are getting better. The smoke realism's are fun to use plus the anchors and the direction paths. Depending on what you are doing or trying to do. Depends on how long it takes to make a gif the way you want it. I can even zoom in on the picture and fine tune what im trying to do. Hope a few more options are made for Motionleap in the near future.