In this guide, we explain four ways to save GIFs from the X app (formerly known as Twitter) to the iOS Photos app on your iPhone or iPad.

X allows all users to effortlessly save static images from the platform to the Photos app.

Additionally, you can save videos to your iPhone photo library with just a few taps; however, you need to subscribe to X Premium and the poster must allow downloads.

However, when it comes to GIFs, you cannot save them like photos, and you will not see the download button that appears in video posts. This leads you to indirect methods, none of which are straightforward. Still, if you need to save GIFs from X to your iPhone Photos app, here are four ways to do it.

Use the Twitter Video and GIF Download Shortcut

After trying countless Siri shortcuts, I found this shortcut that saves X GIFs to the iOS Photos app. However, this shortcut does not directly obtain the X post link from the Share Sheet; it only reads the post URL from the clipboard. Therefore, you must follow the steps shown below exactly.

1) Scan the QR code at routinehub.co/shortcut/16877/ to add the shortcut to your iPhone or iPad.

2) Open X app on your iPhone and go to a post that contains a GIF. You can simply search for "GIF" to find something.

3) Tap the share button located under the X post and select Copy Link.

4) Tap the same share button again and this time select Share via to open the iOS Share Sheet. From there, tap on Twitter Video & Gif Downloads.

5) You will now need to grant a series of permissions that this shortcut offers you. Then, when you reach the 'Select Server' prompt, choose the first option that says 'x2twitter'. After granting more permissions, when you see the 'What's next?' option, tap on 'Make GIF'. You can also choose to receive notifications from this shortcut if you wish.

6) Finally, open the Photos app and you will see that the GIF has been saved there.

When you need to save a second GIF, you should not start from step 4 above; instead, start from step 3 (i.e., copying the post link to the clipboard) and follow the remaining process.

Use the TVDL Shortcut

Like the iOS shortcuts above, this shortcut also requires you to copy the GIF post link from X and then select TVDL 4.1.0 from the iOS Share Sheet. We explained how to use this shortcut in our guide on downloading videos from X to the iPhone Photos app.

Use Local Screen Recording

If you are not saving too many GIFs from X, this method is one you should know.

By using the screen recording option in the iOS Control Center, record your iPhone screen showing the GIF. Then, crop the screen recording to only show the GIF section and remove the rest.

Finally, share this screen recording video via Messages, WhatsApp, email, etc. If the video is very short, WhatsApp may even offer you the option to send it as a GIF instead of a video.

Related: How to convert a video or screen recording to GIF on iPhone and Mac?

Use a Twitter Video Download Website

Websites that allow you to download videos from Twitter are quite popular, and most also support saving GIFs (as small video files). The entire process is the same as saving a video. Here’s a summary:

1) Copy the X post link that contains the GIF, go to ssstwitter.com in Safari on your iPhone, paste the link there, and tap Download > Download Original Video. After closing the ads, in the Safari pop-up asking what to do with the GIF, tap Download (not View).

2) Then, go to Safari Downloads as shown in the screenshots below.

3) Tap on it to open the GIF. Then, tap on the share icon and select Save Video to save this GIF as a video in your iPhone Photos app.

Either Share the Post Link or Find the GIF Elsewhere

Finally, if none of the above steps seem feasible or easy, share the direct X post link instead of downloading and sharing the GIF.

Most GIFs on X are also available on Google, GIPHY, and other GIF-focused platforms. Simply search for the GIF by its description and save it from somewhere else.