Twitter rolls out Vine app for Android
The world's top mobile operating system gets access to the 6-second looping videos, which adds a new zoom feature even coming months after the iOS debut.
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Twitter is bringing Vine, the popular 6-second looping video application, to Google's Android operating system, months after debuting it for Apple's iOS.
Vine launched on January 24 for people with iPhones and iPads and has climbed to 13 million users, but none for Android. That vacuum, on world's No. 1 mobile operating system platform, forced Android smartphone users into circumventions to view the snippets.
The Android version gets many of the same capabilities: easy video creation with automatic playback and sound; the Explore feature, for discovering popular posts and seeing what's trending; and Find Friends, to find and invite people.
Plus, Twitter added a feature unique to Android: zoom.
The company seems to be girding itself for some bugginess. It says users will see frequent updates with new features over the coming weeks -- including front-facing camera, search, mentions and hashtags, and the ability to share to Facebook -- as well as bug fixes and performance improvements.
The news was met with many tweeted cheers, but some Android users were reporting problems with the new app--trouble finding it in the Google Play store, speculation it was quickly pulled from the store, and complaints it trips up on download.
"Error: the item that you were attempting to purchase could not be found." Talk about a botched launch. #vine
— Louis Goddard (@ltrgoddard) June 3, 2013
@joan_e Can't seem to find the new Android Vine app on my HTC DNA. Is the app only supported on a limited number of devices?
— Ryan Johnson (@C_Ryan_Johnson) June 3, 2013
Twitter is working on it.
Android owners: thanks for your enthusiasm! Hang tight -- Vine is still propagating through Google Play. We'll tweet when it's available.
— Dom Hofmann (@dhof) June 3, 2013
It now appears to be live in Google Play store.
Twitter has been updating and adding features to the iOS app while working on the Android release, meaning the two apps are not perfectly in sync. But Twitter promises "that won't be the case for long."
Though Twitter users already had options for other video looping apps, Vine kept its controls simple and seamless, making it easy to create short videos you can share with friends and on social networks.