Everyone love a good animated GIF (even if we can’t agree on how to pronounce the word). We love GIFs so much that our inherent right to make them wherever and whenever is no longer hampered by technology. There are a handful of great GIF-making apps, but now there’s Stilly, which lets you post your creations directly to Tumblr or send via iMessage. Is there a funny squirrel in your immediate vicinity? Is someone doing something wildly inappropriate on the subway? Now you’re no longer limited to staid stills and overlong videos. Now you can harness the power of the GIF in a matter of seconds.
Unfortunately, Android users aren’t afforded this luxury just yet, since Stilly is only available on iOS. Stilly just hit the App Store recently, but it’s by the maker of Versagram, which lets you make text-based updates on Instagram.
So how does one make a GIF with Stilly? First, you download the app – it’s $1.99, but it’s worth spending a few bucks, although there is definite room for improvement. Once you’ve downloaded Stilly (and you need iOS 6 to do it, FYI) then you’re pretty much all set. The app opens to the viewfinder, and your only real option is to simply press the big yellow and red button and hold it to create your GIF. You can make the viewfinder larger or smaller, but right now you can’t zoom in, and the only special feature is turning the color on and off. It’s a lot shorter a loop than Vine – about a fraction of a second and no matter how long you hold down the button, it simply takes the last little bit. So it’s not good for making longer GIFs yet. And you can’t stop and start it like you can with Vine, so it’s limited to one continual movement.
You might struggle at first (like this writer did … most likely because I had nothing interesting to make a GIF of). But I tried:
The second attempt was more successful, since it involved puppy-wrangling – although Stilly’s GIFs are still very, very herky-jerky:
Right now, I’d only get Stilly if you really want a one-step way to get short GIFs on Tumblr or sent in an iMessage. If you just want to make looping videos in general, there are more appealing options, like Vine, or Loopcam. But hey, instant Tumblr GIF-posting makes just about anything worth a try, right?! It’s also Tumblr-endorsed, so give ‘er a go.
