Skip to main content

One month later, how are video apps faring in the face of Vine?

vine logoSince launching less than a month ago, Vine has catapulted to some admirable success. The Twitter-owned app loops six seconds of video to create GIF-like, quick moments that have proved a valuable, experimental asset not only to users, but to journalists, celebrities, and brands (although, that very corporate, professional adoption could have some consequences for Vine – but I digress).

In the midst of Vine’s success comes news that another, more veteran social video app, Viddy, has had a rough go of it lately. While a big update was just released, the company also just lost its CEO and a third of its staff.

In lieu of the news, it’s time to take a look at how Vine competitors are faring since the app’s launch a month ago.

According to AppAnnie, a free app ranking stats and analytics site, there’s been only a subtle dip for apps Vine poses a threat to (with the exception of Klip).

app annie lightt
Image used with permission by copyright holder
app annie cinemagram
Image used with permission by copyright holder
app annie klip
Image used with permission by copyright holder
app annie viddy
Image used with permission by copyright holder
app annie twitvid
Image used with permission by copyright holder

twitter supportStill, the stats show something interesting: Vine might not actually be challenging video apps all that much. Instead, apps like Cinemagram and Lightt could be what actually feel the wrath of Vine more. These apps help you create cinemagraphs, or (basically) animated GIFs, and share them. They don’t, however, support Twitter cards, so when you see them shared, you’re limited to being bumped out to their own sites (they do, however, both integrate with Facebook, much to their benefit). 

Just to show you in yet another graph the interest levels in a handful of video apps, check out a Google Trends chart for searches over the last month. 

gtrends
Image used with permission by copyright holder

What’s so interesting about Vine is that it really isn’t doing anything new. Cinemagram and Lightt are arguably more interesting apps that give you more features to play with (if you don’t want to go through the trouble of “masking” to make a GIF, you just just push your short video). Cinemagram stands to lose more, simply because it was higher ranked in the App Store and more well known than Lightt. Still, it appears that general interest in Viddy might be tapering off. 

What they don’t have, however, is Twitter. Vine is being positioned as the video feature de facto for the entire network. It’s almost getting to the point where it feels shoved down our throats a bit (has anyone else seen the ramp up in celebrity accounts as a bit suspicious? (Am I getting all conspiracy theorist here for no reason?).

Whatever the case may be, Vine is certainly getting some sweet, sweet love from Twitter, and while no one is out of the social video race yet (one which, really, might be unwinnable – we simply don’t want to interact with video like we do with stills), there is probably some reasonable concern amongst Vine’s more niche competitors. 

Editors' Recommendations

Molly McHugh
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Before coming to Digital Trends, Molly worked as a freelance writer, occasional photographer, and general technical lackey…
The Twitter app is crashing for Android users: Here’s how to fix it
Hand holding a Twitter phone

If you have the Twitter app downloaded on your phone, you may have noticed it hasn’t been working right. A recent update made the app crash before opening, but there’s a way to fix it. 

Version 8.28 of the Twitter app crashes as soon as it is opened on your phone, according to users’ reports and Techradar. Android users appear to be the ones most affected since Android devices allow automatic app updates. 

Read more
Vine co-founder launches beta test for new video-looping app Byte
LG Q6

Remember Vine? Of course you do. The video-looping app caused a quite a stir in its short life, but its closure by owner Twitter in 2017 left many of its fans hoping for a replacement.

Since then, Vine co-founder Dom Hofmann has periodically suggested there's something in the works, though a string of challenges meant the project was far from certain.

Read more
X rival Threads could be about to get millions of more users
Instagram Threads app.

Threads -- Meta’s rival to X, formerly Twitter -- has just launched in the European Union (EU), a market with nearly half a billion people.

The app launched in the U.S. to much fanfare in July, with Meta hoping to attract X users disillusioned with the turbulence on the platform since Elon Musk acquired it for $44 billion 14 months ago.

Read more