Back in October 2016, Twitter announced that it was killing off Vine, the six-second video-sharing app, in a bid to cut costs. How do people feel about the demise of this once-hyped platform?
Many critics complained that the content of many videos was mundane, and the infinite looping annoying. By contrast, others loved it. One BBC review went as far as to say Vine aggregators were “mesmerising”.
Despite these divisions of opinion, the six-second limit proved an interesting means of creative expression for the likes of Jessi Smiles, Shawn Mendes, and Carter Reynolds. So if you’re mourning the loss of Vine – never fear! Here are some great alternatives to consider:
Initially a photo-only service, Instagram finally added a video facility in June 2013. So while there was a great deal of hype surrounding Vine on its release five months earlier, this began to quell after video uploads became possible on Instagram. Now, Instagram is the most famous Vine alternative.
Instagram allows users to post videos of between 3 and 60 seconds. As of November 19, 2015, videos include a view counter, so you know exactly how many people are watching.
Snapchat
Many social media users also prefer Snapchat. This app allows you to send photos with a lifespan of only 10 seconds before they get deleted. Snapchat offers an array of different free and sponsored filters for customising videos.
Vine Camera
According to mobilephonesdirect.co.uk, Vine isn’t actually dead. You can still use the old Vine app without the upload function. In fact, the original app now serves as an archive of the 40 million+ clips uploaded from 2013 to 2017.
In its place is Vine Camera, which is already available for download, and has most of the features of the old app. You can upload 6.5-second-long clips and make use of a few ‘assist tools’, such as ‘Grid’, ‘Ghost’, ‘Focus’ and ‘Flashlight’.
Tout
Tout first came to the public’s attention back in 2011 when Shaquille O’Neal used the app to announce his retirement from basketball. The videos you share can be up to 15 seconds long and are known as ‘touts’. You can upload videos via iPhone, Android, or PC.
While nowhere near as popular as other apps on this list, Tout boasts a number of high-profile partnerships. These include deals with WWE, Sports Illustrated, People Magazine, and Entertainment Weekly.
Periscope
Periscope is a live-streaming video app, acquired by Twitter before launch in 2015. It allows users to stream videos via Twitter and includes a re-watch function. Much like Facebook Live, Periscope Producer allows you to stream video from devices other than your mobile phone.
