Apple introduced Animoji in iOS 11 and Memoji in iOS 12, letting users create animated avatars that track facial expressions using the TrueDepth camera. While these features are primarily designed for Messages, they don’t have to stay there. With a few tricks, you can save Memoji videos and even augmented reality photos to share anywhere – not just in iMessage.
Memoji videos
To record a Memoji or Animoji video, start a conversation in Messages and tap the + button to bring up the side menu. Select Memoji and swipe horizontally to choose a character or Animoji. Position your face in view of the front camera and you’ll see it copies your movements. Tap the red record button to capture a video clip up to 30 seconds long.
Annoyingly, Apple doesn’t let you save these recordings without first sending them in a chat. The easiest workaround is to message yourself – start a conversation with your own number or email to avoid spamming a friend. After sending the clip, press and hold it, then tap Save. The video will appear in your Photos app with a plain white background.
Augmented reality images
If you want something more dynamic than a white background, you can place Memoji into the real world. Open Messages and time choose Camera from the + menu. Flip to the front-facing camera and then tap the Effects button (a swirly star) followed by the Memoji button. Instead of floating on a blank screen, your character will replace your actual head in the front camera view.
Swipe the Memoji carousel away to reveal the camera controls. Here you can tap to take a photo or hold the capture button for a video clip. When you’ve captured something you like, send it in the chat, press and hold, and tap Save to store it in your camera roll.
Workarounds
To skip the extra steps of messaging yourself, you can screenshot your Memoji pose and crop out the interface manually. It’s a fast way to grab a series of shots without sending and saving each one from Messages, which can be a slow process.
You can do something similar for video recordings by using Screen Recording from Control Center while in the camera view, although this method doesn’t save as much time as with still photos.
Sharing
Once you’ve saved your media to the Photos app, you can use the Share sheet to send them on to almost anywhere you like, ensuring your silly photos and videos live on beyond the Messages app.
Bonus: use FaceTime
You can also use Memoji in FaceTime calls by tapping the Effects button mid-call. While this isn’t a great method for capturing standalone photos or videos, it adds a fun twist to video chats!