What is Byte? Vine’s successor is getting some strong early ratings
An all new social video platform launched over the weekend. It’s called Byte, and it was created by Dom Hoffman, the same Dom Hoffman behind popular video app Vine.
What is Byte?
Byte is available on Android and iOS, and represents an attempt from Hoffman to recapture the success of Vine, which had been hugely successful but died a slow death after being acquired by Twitter.
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Byte is entering a different marketplace to the one Vine entered several years ago. Its key competitor is TikTok.
“Dear friends, we’re bringing back 6-second looping videos and the community that loved them. You know the drill: upload from your camera roll or use the byte camera to capture stuff. Stay under the time limit and get lost in the loop. Explore what’s loved by the community, handpicked by our human editors, or just served up at random,” the app’s description reads.
“There are lots of ways to discover surprising new personalities, voices, and moments. Byte celebrates life, community, and pure creativity. Nostalgia is our starting point, but where we go next is up to you. to add your perspective, join our forum (community.byte.co) or leave a review and let us know what you’d like to see. everyone says it, but we really mean it: we read *everything*.”
Image credit: App Annie
At the time of publication, around 90% of those who have rated Byte on the Apple App Store have given it a four or five star rating. 81.85% of those ratings were five star ones too! (via App Annie.)
The app also spent some time at the top of the Google Play and App Store charts, immediately following release.
still working on some important issues, but the first 36 hours of byte have been awesome. here's a note about what we're working on https://t.co/oHwhpyfvjO pic.twitter.com/HduipnC0XN
— dom hofmann (@dhof) January 26, 2020
Byte has apparently had one or two teething problems though, with founder Dom Hoffman posting on Twitter about “comment spam” and explaining that the company will make “dramatic changes” to some elements of the app. These changes will seemingly include more video and comment moderation.
that’s it for now. you can download byte for free on Android (https://t.co/Rj4D6iwVYP) and iOS (https://t.co/duF2P1G2UO).
see you soon!
— byte (@byte_app) January 25, 2020
Have you tried out Byte yet? Let us know your thoughts on Twitter @TrustedReviews.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
