Twitter Reveals Vine Video App for iOS

After acquiring the video startup Vine last year, Twitter has unveiled the first offspring of its purchase, an iOS app for the iPhone and iPod touch that lets users capture and share short looping videos.

Available for free in the App Store, the Vine app allows users to shoot videos up to 6-seconds long and embed them on Twitter or other social media outlets. The clips play in continuous loops, similar to GIFs, and can be recorded in one take or in multiple shots, which can then be stitched together.

Referred to by many as Twitter's "Instagram for video," the service turns clips into shareable digital flipbooks of sorts, offering users another way to tap into their creative sides, according to Twitter's vice president of product, Michael Sippey.

"Like Tweets, the brevity of videos on Vine (6 seconds or less) inspires creativity," wrote Sippey on the company's blog. "Now that you can easily capture motion and sound, we look forward to seeing what you create."

Users can record clips with the sound on or off, with those watching the videos having the same option. While Vine offers no play or pause button on the videos, the clips can be stopped by clicking on them.

Already being used by quite a few on Twitter, the Vine app made its first appearance on the social media site last night when CEO Dick Costolo tweeted a video using the service. Despite its backing, the Vine app can be used by non-Twitter users, as it is an independent program that works in conjunction with the site.

Twitter also announced that versions for other platforms would eventually be released, though gave no word on what systems would see the app.