Vine for Android gets the basics: search, mentions, and hashtags
The incremental update to the Twitter-owned app comes a day after the splashy reveal of Instagram video.
Roughly three weeks after its debut, Vine for Android has been updated with fundamental features such as search, mentions, and hashtags that were initially left out at launch.
The Twitter-owned application for taking 6-second, looping videos launched on Android at the beginning of the month. At the time, the app arrived minus several functions that Vine for iPhone owners had been privy to for months, though it did come with a handy zoom feature.
With the Friday release, Vine for Android has mostly caught up to its iPhone predecessor and now includes basics so users can share their 6-second machinations to Facebook, search, use hashtags, and mention each other in posts. Selfies, however, are still out of the question, as support for the front-facing camera has yet to be introduced.
Vine's catch-up Android update doesn't include the new design or tantalizing features teased earlier this week. Rather the ho-hum news follows the splashy release of Instagram video, a rival offering for shooting and sharing snackable movies. Instagram said that members uploaded 5 million videos on the first day of the product's release.
According to the release notes, Vine for Android 1.1 also includes improvements to video capture speed and quality, and tweaks to the user interface. Vine has 13 million registered users.