Skip to main content

Vine is officially dead and gone, but there’s still time to save your old uploads

Vine Windows Phone App
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Vine is officially shutting down today on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. In its place, users can update to the Vine Camera app: a pared-back offering that lacks the social networking features offered by its predecessor. The new app simply allows users to share auto-looping videos on Twitter or save them to a smartphone’s library. Additionally, the Vine.co desktop site is transitioning into an archive of uploads that were created through the original Vine app.

If you’re looking to save all your old files, you can download them to your smartphone from the Vine iOS and Android apps (if you haven’t yet updated to Vine Camera), and to your desktop via the web. Additionally, you can request to have an email link containing all your prior uploads sent to you — this option will include an index.html file that contains your Vine captions, along with the number of likes, comments, and re-Vines.

Vine is archiving old content on its site for viewers to access Image used with permission by copyright holder

As it turns out, Twitter is now looping all short-form videos (6.5 seconds and under) on its service, no matter their origin.

The new Vine Camera app itself is pretty straightforward. It essentially offers the ability to record videos using your front and rear-facing cameras by pressing down on your smartphone screen (as you did with Vine). There are a limited number of editing options available, and the ability to save your creations to your phone’s library, or share them on Twitter with a 140-character caption.

Twitter broke millions of hearts earlier in 2016 when it announced it was shutting down its Vine platform. The stagnant app had been hemorrhaging users and was too costly to keep running. Following an online outcry and an outpouring of love, it seems Twitter decided to save the video-looping service — albeit in a new form that could prove more cost-efficient.

Bearing in mind that Vine’s servers, staff, and general upkeep costs were reportedly setting its parent company back $10 million per month, the move came across as a compromise on Twitter’s part.

At this stage, it remains unclear whether Twitter still plans to sell the platform (reports emerged in November claiming Twitter had several takeover bids on the table). Perhaps Twitter is still keen to see if it can gain some leverage from the app — after all, it was reportedly only receiving offers in the range of $10 million.

Overall, the decision to salvage the app (albeit in a stripped-down form) ties into Twitter’s overarching video strategy, which has seen it introduce user-generated and third-party live video to its service.

Tapping its remaining Viners to continue creating content could see the short-form video format live on through its service — diversifying its video lineup in the process. The only problem is that Vine’s biggest creators (such as Logan Paul, King Bach, Lele Pons, and Zach King) have already moved on to other platforms, some of which (YouTube Red and Facebook Live, for example) are doling out cash for their services. The reason they ditched Vine in the first place was due to Twitter’s alleged refusal to grant them more revenue-sharing solutions, so it seems unlikely they will return to the app in the near future.

Updated 01/05/2017 by Saqib Shah: Added info of official shutdown date for Vine app. Updated 01/17/2017 by Saqib Shah: Added news of Vine Camera availability.

Editors' Recommendations

Saqib Shah
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Saqib Shah is a Twitter addict and film fan with an obsessive interest in pop culture trends. In his spare time he can be…
WhatsApp now lets you add short video messages to chats
WhatsApp logo on a phone.

You can now send short video messages in a WhatsApp chat, Meta announced on Thursday.

A video message can last for up to 60 seconds long and is protected with end-to-end encryption.

Read more
Musk shows off new X sign on top of San Francisco HQ, but the city’s not happy
The new X sign replacing the Twitter logo on the company's headquarters in San Francisco.

Soon after Elon Musk tweeted a drone video showing a new white light in the shape of an X atop the company’s headquarters in San Francisco on Friday, the Associated Press (AP) reported that the city had decided to launch in investigation over concerns that the sign's installation may have broken rules.

The X logo is replacing the iconic Twitter bird as Musk continues efforts to rebrand the social media platform that he acquired in October.

Read more
Threads has lost half its users, according to Meta chief Zuckerberg
Instagram Threads app.

Meta’s Threads app looks set for an uphill climb if it’s ever to take the microblogging crown from Twitter, which is currently being rebranded as X.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently told employees that despite its impressive start in early July when around 100 million people activated a Threads account in its first five days of availability, more than half of those users have stopped checking in.

Read more