In typical Twitter fashion, Vine success has largely been attributed to its simplicity and spontaneity. And in typical Twitter fashion, Vine is also evolving in exciting ways. Namely, Vine now lets you turn old videos from your camera roll into six-second snippets of goodness. This is great news!
The update is now available for iOS, and it will hit Android any day now. The ability to make Vines out of old videos isn’t the only fun new feature though. The camera software also gets some upgrades like a level tool and focus lock. A new “torch” feature makes it easier to shoot in dark places, and something called “ghost” mode lets you overlay the last frame of your shot onto your current shot to help you anticipate what transitions will look like. On the editing front, you can now duplicate clips or delete your current shot. Finally, you can now make silent Vines with a new mute option.
All of these new features sound pretty great, but you have to wonder whether losing a little bit of that simplicity and spontaneity will take some of Vine’s charm away. After all, impressively well-produced Vines are especially impressive when you comprehend the kinds of limitations that app puts on piecing together a little six-second loop. It’s obviously too soon what will happen, but one thing is for sure. Vine maintains a magical ability to surprise us with delight, and that will never go away. [The Verge]