Viddy rolled out a major update to its iOS app Wednesday, with the introduction of longer videos, multiple shots in a single video, 15 new filters, a bunch of new music tracks and more.
Top of the list of changes to the free video-sharing app is the ability to record 30-second sequences, double the previous limit. Users can get a whole lot more creative too, with the ability to pause recording midway through a sequence, allowing for multiple segments within a single video.
Better editing controls, improved search options and a mock stop-motion function have also been added to version 2.0.
The ‘Instagram for video’ app, which has over 40 million users, now includes 15 new filters to help jazz up your clips, including Vernon (described as “an extra dash of contrast and vibrance”), Venice (hot day at the beach, warming filter), Dudley (brightens shadows and gives a green hue) and Rose (accentuates reds and gives a rosy feel).
New music tracks from the likes of Snoop Lion, Fun. and Grouplove have been added to the app too, along with Strauss’s famous Blue Danube waltz – a piece popular with many Hollywood filmmakers – and Gray Skies, a downtempo track “perfect for a rainy day video.”
The app also moves further into the social space with simplified video descriptions with active hashtags, @ mentions and links, swipe based navigation for quicker access to videos of interest, and geo-feeds supporting video discovery by region and user location.
If you want check out the full list of new features – and there are many – head across to the Viddy blog, or better still, update the app now over at iTunes or via your mobile device. Owners of Android-powered devices can also get their hands on the app, though at the time of writing there’s no sign of the new update.
The introduction of the latest version comes just days after the LA-based start-up announced it had laid off 12 employees – equal to a third of its workforce – in an effort to streamline costs.
Viddy is clearly going through something of a rough patch – it also fired its chief executive a couple of weeks ago amid claims of falling traffic as it fights to remain a key player in an increasingly crowded social video market. It’ll certainly be hoping the rollout of version 2.0 will attract a wave of new users and mark the beginning of a brighter chapter for the company.
