Vine Releases Biggest Update Yet On iPhone With New Shooting Tools, Focus On Creativity

Twitter’s Vine app was at the top of the mini-video sharing game until Instagram came along and crushed it by allowing users to upload 15-second video clips. With Instagram’s massive user base, you would think that Vine doesn’t have a fighting chance.

In the biggest update the iPhone app has seen yet, Vine has proven otherwise.

The biggest additions include curated “channels” for different genres, like comedy. Users can now “revine” posts they like to share then with their followers. The in-app camera has a handy gird for aligning a composition, and there are new focus and ghosting tools.

A lot of speed and compatibility improvements have been made under the hood, and accounts can now be locked to only be viewed by approved users.

Vine’s creators teased some new features after Instagram debuted video, and it looks like the content channels made the cut. Noticeably absent is the ability to save drafts and combine different clips.

Today’s update highlights the different directions Vine and Instagram are headed with video. Vine is very much about quickly capturing moments and inspiring creativity. It’s more limited in its options (like video duration), and the endless, animated GIF-like nature of clips is more playful.

Instagram, on the other hand, allows for 15 seconds of video, and the process of shooting and sharing is a tad more involved. With filters and built-in image stabilization, Instagram is much more focused on creating pretty, meaningful moments.

Video on Instagram has already proven to be very successful, while interest in Vine seems to have waned. Hopefully today’s update breathes some life back into Twitter’s young app.

Here’s the full list of Vine’s new features and changes:

CHANNELS
Browse or submit your posts to 15 new channels — from Comedy, Art & Experimental, to Cats, and more

ON THE RISE
Discover new and interesting Viners right from your Explore screen

REVINING
Share your favorite posts with all your followers on Vine in one tap

NEW CAPTURE TOOLS
Shoot with style using the new focus, grid, and ghost tools

PROTECTED ACCOUNTS
Allow only people you approve to follow you and view your posts

Also in this update:

• Fixed an issue that caused the camera to focus unnecessarily while recording
• Improved cache control and less disk space usage
• Faster search for hashtags and people you mention frequently
• Crash fixes and other miscellaneous improvements

Source: App Store