Vine was one of the first that popularized short-burst videos as social media content. But unfortunately, it didn't live as long as it was expected.
After Twitter killed it, its disappearance left a void that was made people to flock away and moved on to Instagram, Twitch, and YouTube. And in Vine’s place, TikTok, from a Chinese company quickly took off.
It appeals the crowd so much that the service become ">one of the fastest growing app the world has ever encountered.
However, Dom Hofmann, best known for being one of the co-founders of Vine, didn't see the end of Vine as the end of an era. In early 2019, he reimagined Vine, scrapped its name, and then calls the successor as 'Byte'.
Hofmann originally wanted Byte to be released in Spring 2019. He missed that target.
Then it was in January 2020, that he quietly announced Byte's release on Twitter.
byte's out https://t.co/9XcoEHqmpX
— dom hofmann (@dhof) January 25, 2020
Initially available for both iOS and Android, and only in selected countries, Byte retains Vine's idea creating six-second looping videos.
But it has a TikTok-styled vertically scrolling timeline for an endless feed. The app comes equipped with standard social features, including the Explore page, notifications, and profiles.
In order to use Byte, users must first create an account. Afterward, they can create their own Byte, as well as view those that have been shared by others.
To shoot and create a Byte, users just need to tap on the circular shutter button at the bottom-middle of the screen and hold it down to record. Users can stop the recording whenever they like, or the video recording with stop automatically after the 6 seconds maximum time is reached.
Byte has a curated discovery section where users can see six-second videos handpicked by editors. It also has multiple categories such as comedy, animation, art, pets, and sports, where users can easily find videos that interest them.
Unlike Vines, which were square, Bytes are shot in Portrait and take up the majority of the screen.
you know the drill: upload from your camera roll or use the byte camera to capture stuff. there are lots of ways to find new personalities and moments. explore what the community is watching and loving, view posts handpicked by our editors, or browse on your own.
— byte (@byte_app) January 25, 2020
Byte is a long time coming.
Hofmann co-founded Vine in June 2012 with Colin Kroll and Rus Yusupov. But before it was formally launched, Twitter quickly acquired it in January 2013. Also that year, Hofmann left the company.
Vine reached its peak popularity in 2014 and 2015. when the app reached over 200 million active users. Twitter shut it down three years after launching it, as part of Twitter's restructuring - a shift that came after Twitter redefined itself as a media company by pushing more video, and how it sees itself as a 140-character platform.
The creative web mourned, leaving many creative creators without the platform they loved.
After Vine shutdown, TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms have filled the short video consumption market.
Hofmann believes that Byte has a world on its own, and he believes in Vine's legacy and nostalgic values.
With Byte, he wants to make sure that creative individuals have the unique platform where they can stick around.
Hofmann said that Byte is trying to do something different by singing up creators for a pilot program and let them earn money through shared revenue.
In the meantime, that is what differentiates Byte from TikTok, as the latter, and other micro-entertainment apps largely don’t offer.
At its initial release, Byte lacks audio mixing, transition effects, and AR (Augmented Reality filters) - which are things that have made TikTok and other similar platforms immensely popular.