Instagram has been careful in almost anything, including the way to monetize its service. With its user base increasing to past 400 million, it's facing increasing challenges from competitors. To get more users on board, the online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service is introducing 'Boomerang' as a way for users to capture one-second video that loops.
Instagram doesn’t want its users to get the same experience over and over again. But to make richer experience, it has to make its app more heavy and sophisticated, and that is the least it wants. Instagram doesn't want to bloat its app with things that it thinks useless to its main core business.
The move is seen similar to what its parent company Facebook did with "separating the big blue app" and launching new features with their own dedicated app.
With Boomerang launched initially for Android and iOS platforms, Instagram is introducing a simple app where users can capture five photos using its burst feature to be compiled into a silent one second video.
The app's name Boomerang comes from its ability to play photos forward and then immediately reversing the sequence after it ends, produces the "boomerang" effect.
The app is obviously similar to Vine, Phhhoto, Apple's Live Photos feature, or any other app that can do similar thing. But it's not a social media on its own since it doesn't have any feed, doesn't require Instagram and doesn't require user to log in.
The interface is simple and uncluttered. When the user accesses it, the app directly opens the camera screen with very few buttons in its interface. When the user finishes shooting a video, the user can then share it directly to Instagram, Facebook or others.
When Boomerang allows infinite looping video creation, Instagram then speeds up the clip to about a double so the back-and-forth loop goes by in about a second. That slightly fast-fowarded animation is what makes videos a bit funnier and more stimulating.
According to Instagram, Boomerang is a video app "that lets you turn everyday moments into something fun and unexpected."
What Instagram is making, is an app that is much simpler than Vine, but a lot richer in experience if compare to animated GIF images.
The project was originally created by a small group of Instagram's Android engineer that consisted of five people. "It was something we built just for fun for us to play with as a team," said Product Manager John Barnett. But as more Instagram's employees fell in love for it, they realized that it might be good to share the experience to all users in general.
Boomerang is Instagram's fourth standalone app which comes after its photo messaging app, Bolt, its time-lapse app, Hyperlapse, and its photo collage creator app, Layout.
