Hype. Image: Shutterstock/enterlinedesign
Meet Hype, a new app for people bored with Vine and restricted by Periscope. It’s essentially a souped-up, feature-filled alternative.
The makers of Vine should be wallowing in self-pity following Twitter’s recent decision to drop it from its service.
Vine emerged as a wonderful instant-video tool but, despite the enthusiasm surrounding its 2013 introduction into the world, it was soon overtaken by Instagram’s sleek style and Snapchat’s gaudy enthusiasm.
Twitter, perhaps distracted by other things, left Vine to die a slow, four-year death and two of its creators, Colin Kroll and Rus Yusupov, were surely downbeat.
However, it seems nothing could be further from the truth. Less than one week after Vine’s tombstone was placed into the digital earth, they’re releasing something as 2016 as anything could ever possibly be.
Hype is a live streaming video service, much like Periscope. But it has a twist, or a few twists, with users able to incorporate other media into their live streams.
For example; if you’re recording a vlog, you can throw photos, videos or gifs from your camera roll into the live stream. You can play music from your phone’s library, add text and emoji.
You can also change how you appear in the video, with interaction tools for viewers such as votes, sharing and tapping on the screen to add ‘sparkles’ to the host’s video. Very 2016.
It essentially seems like Snapchat and Periscope combined. At the moment, it’s only available on iOS.
“As technology evolves – phones get faster, networks grow stronger and better tools become possible – people seek out new platforms to express themselves and engage with the world digitally,” said Hype in a blog post.
“We believe we’re at a point today where creators are ready for a more immersive experience, complete with rich, creative tools to tell their stories.
“We’re setting out to create something colourful, visceral and wonderfully unexpected and hope creators will follow.”
