GIF Distillery
GIF Distillery is a native Apple app for turning video moments into polished GIFs, built for Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
No ads. No clutter. Just a focused GIF-making workflow that feels at home on Apple platforms. GIF Distillery is a 100% local tool—your videos never leave your device.
Trim precisely, crop, resize, adjust frame rate and quality, preview instantly, and export with confidence. GIF Distillery brings back the feeling of classic Mac creative utilities: direct, tactile, friendly, and made for people who just want a good tool that gets out of the way.
GIF Distillery is a universal app available as a one-time purchase.
On iPhone and iPad, an optional one-time in-app purchase unlocks Live Photo to GIF conversion and removes the GIF Distillery watermark. On Mac, these features are included with no additional in-app purchase.
Across Mac, iPhone, and iPad, GIF Distillery supports the Shortcuts app, so you can automate exports and build GIF creation into your own workflows. On Mac, it also supports keyboard shortcuts, drag and drop, and multiple windows, giving it the feel of a true native desktop app.
GIF Distillery is for anyone who misses the warmth and simplicity of beloved Mac media tools, with that spirit distilled into something native, modern, private, and quietly delightful.
It’s especially useful for UI designers, developers, and product managers who want to capture a moment, turn it into a small animated image, and share ideas quickly—without bloating file size.
Features
- Multi-platform support: iPhone, iPad, and Mac (Universal app—buy once, use on all platforms.)
- 100% on-device processing (GIF Distillery never uploads your videos unless you choose to share them)
- Supported formats:
- Videos (.mov)
- Live Photos (requires an in-app purchase on iOS/iPadOS)
- File size estimation
- Preview the estimated file size instantly—before exporting—without generating the GIF.
- Annotation:
- Add a simple text overlay to highlight what matters in your clip
- Segment-based timeline editing:
- Split a video into multiple sections and keep only the moments that matter
- Remove mistakes, loading screens, pauses, and other unnecessary footage without losing the flow of the recording
- Native Undo and Redo:
- Safely reverse and reapply timeline edits and export adjustments as you work
- Fine-grained export controls for optimizing file size and quality:
- Crop
- Trim
- FPS (frames per second), adjustable down to 1 FPS
- Playback speed
- Width (pixel size)
- Number of colors
- Loop on/off
- Fade-out on/off
- Helps visually indicate the end of the clip
- Watermark (GIF Distillery logo) on / off
- available via an in-app purchase on iOS/iPadOS, or with the one-time Mac purchase
- Apple Shortcuts app support:
- Build GIF creation into automated workflows using Apple’s Shortcuts app
- Accepts videos (.mov) and Live Photos
- Exports to GIF with the same fine-tuning parameters available in the UI
- Share Extension support: send a video to GIF Distillery from the Share Sheet to create a GIF
- Easy sharing:
- Share via Apple’s Share Sheet, copy to the clipboard, or drag-and-drop to other apps on Mac
- Drag & Drop support
- On Mac, drag a video onto the GIF Distillery window (or the app icon) to open the editor instantly.
- On Mac, drag a video onto the GIF Distillery window (or the app icon) to open the editor instantly.
- Keyboard shortcuts on iPad and Mac
- Supports familiar shortcuts like ⌘O to open a file and ⌘N to open a new window—built for a native experience that feels instantly familiar