Facebook-owned photo sharing app Instagram has announced that users can now record and upload video clips using the service.
At a Facebook media event, the social network announced version 4.0 of the popular app, which enables up to 15-second bursts of video, complete with signature filters, to be posted within the main feed.
In the app update, launched today and available now for iPhone and soon for Android, users will see a video camera icon, which will switch the capture mode from still photos to video.
From there, the capture process is remarkably similar to Twitter’s Vine video sharing app, which is ironic in a way, seeing as Vine’s design and upload process owed such a lot to Instagram!
Users can combine several shots to make up their video clip by holding and releasing the record button for the desired intervals.
Users also have access to the front and rear facing cameras and can also tap the screen in order to focus the video on a certain area of the frame.
However, it wouldn’t be Instagram without the filters and the company has included 13 filters to choose from, which can be added and previewed while the clip is playing back.
Instagram says it has also added “world class” image stabilisation tech called ‘Instagram Cinema’ which can also be added in post production on the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 versions of the app.
Users will also be asked to pick a cover frame to appear on the post before it starts playing
From there, the clip can be uploaded as with photos with users able to choose captions, geo-tag a location and choose where they’d like to share the video too.
Video clips appear alongside photos within the feeds and are identified by a ‘play’ icon in the top right corner. Unlike Vine, however, clips don’t operate on an infinite loop, which does somewhat limit the possibilities for creativity.
Instagram founder Kevin Systrom wrote on the company blog: “We’re excited to see what the community will bring to video, whether it’s your local cafe showing you just how they made your latte art this morning or an Instagrammer on the other side of the world taking you on a tour of their city, a mother sharing her joys in parenting as her children laugh and play or your favorite athlete taking you behind the scenes.”
It’s the second Twitter-born feature Facebook has added in the last few weeks after finally adding hashtags to assist its Graph Search engine.
What’s your take on the Instagram video announcement? Is it simply to derail Twitter’s efforts with Vine? Will it ruin your Instagram experience? Or are you excited to see what the community comes up with?
Let us know in the comments section below.
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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.
