Twitter’s new Vine app for iPhone has already caused quite a stir since launching yesterday, and we’ve definitely been caught up in the hype.
So what is Vine? Well, think of it as Instagram for video – really short videos. Users can capture video clips no longer than 6 seconds on their iPhone and upload it for others to check out. Much like Instagram you can ‘follow’ people to see what they’re uploading, ‘like’ and comment on posts and share content socially.
You, as we did, might think that six seconds isn’t worth it when it comes to video, but we were wrong. Vine uses a pretty cool way of recording – it’ll only record when you hold your finger on the screen. This means you can stop and start recording as many times as you want, allowing you to get really creative.
People have already started experimenting with Vine, creating some pretty cool stop motion animations. Videos can be captured with and without sound, and when browsing through your homepage you’ll have the option to play and pause other people’s videos with a single tap.
The app itself links in to Twitter, as Twitter owns the service, and as such is really simple to set up. Once you’re in you’ll find the layout pretty easy on the eyes and quick to get used to, with a homepage that shows you new stuff from people you follow and recommended people, a drop down home icon and a record button to make a new video, or ‘Vine’ as they’re called.
Right now Vine is iPhone only, and Twitter has integrated it into the official Twitter app for iOS so you can open a Vine tweet and watch it right there without having to go elsewhere. It’s a different story if you use Twitter through Safari, as you have to follow a link to a new tab in order to watch the video.
Vine is expected to launch on new platforms in the near future, with no official word on an Android app just yet. If you’ve got an iPhone then give it a try and tweet us your best video to @Gadget_Helpline.