A Motionleap alternative for photos of people and pets
Motionleap by Lightricks, once called Pixaloop, is a hands-on photo animator: you set the motion with arrows, anchor points and paths. Tada is one tap: pick a photo, tap Make it Live, and people and pets move, saved to Photos as a Live Photo.
What Motionleap does
Motionleap’s own page announced that Pixaloop now goes by the name Motionleap. Its App Store page describes these tools:
- Animate a photo with taps and swipes. Arrows show the direction of motion, anchor points hold parts of the image in place, and a Freeze brush locks areas that shouldn’t move.
- One-tap AI water animation, and sky replacement with animated skies and clouds.
- Camera effects like Tilt, Zoom and Dolly, overlays, and geometric motion for buildings.
- Freeform drawn paths and a cinemagraph look where one element moves, like a candle flame or coffee steam.
- Export to social media in several formats, or as a Live Wallpaper, plus a text-to-image AI art generator.
It suits landscapes and creative edits where you want to decide exactly what flows: water, clouds, hair or clothing.
How Tada is different
Tada doesn’t ask you to draw anything. You choose how the photo moves and Tada does the rest:
- Breathe makes people breathe softly and Puff puffs up whatever you tap. Both are free and made on your phone in about a second.
- Natural and Lively use AI. People blink, smile, laugh and turn their heads; pets sniff, look around and wag; with no people or pets, what’s already there moves, like water, steam or leaves. The camera stays still.
- Add effects places stickers on the person (hats on heads, glasses on eyes) that keep moving, and Draw turns your finger doodles into lines that wiggle like a cartoon.
| Motionleap | Tada | |
|---|---|---|
| How you animate | Arrows, anchors, Freeze brush, drawn paths | Pick a way to move; one tap |
| Made for | Any element you choose: water, clouds, hair, clothing | People and pets, and the scene around them |
| What you get | Exports for social media, Live Wallpaper | A Live Photo in your Photos app, about 3 seconds |
| Devices | iPhone and iPad (iOS 17 or later) | iPhone (iOS 26 or later) |
Try it in Tada
- Open Tada and tap Make it Live, then pick a photo of a person, a pet or a view.
- Choose Breathe, Puff, Natural or Lively.
- Tap Save. It’s in Photos as a Live Photo. To post it as a video, see how to make a photo into a video.
Natural and Lively use 1 AI tada each (you get 3 free) and send your photo to Tada’s AI partners, OpenAI and xAI; Tada asks first. See the Privacy Policy.
Which to use
Use Motionleap when you want control: you decide which part flows, which part stays still and how fast. Use Tada when the photo is of people or pets and you want them to move without drawing paths, with the result kept in Photos as a Live Photo. Turning a video into a Live Photo instead? See intoLive vs Tada.
Questions
Is Motionleap the same as Pixaloop?
Yes. Motionleap’s own page announced that Pixaloop now goes by the name Motionleap. It is made by Lightricks.
Can Tada animate water and skies?
With Natural, when a photo has no people or pets, what is already there moves, like water ripples, steam, leaves or lights. You can’t draw your own motion paths or replace the sky.
Do I have to draw anything in Tada?
No. Pick a photo, choose how it moves and tap Save. Drawing is only for Draw, where your own doodles wiggle on the photo.
Is Tada free?
Breathe, Puff, the free sticker packs and My lines are free, as many as you like. The AI options use AI tadas; you get 3 free.
Sources: App Store: Motionleap: 3D Photo Animator · Motionleap by Lightricks on Facebook: Pixaloop is now Motionleap