Vine rises from the dead as Byte
For those mourning the loss of Vine, there is good news: it’s making a comeback next spring. On Thursday, Vine’s founder, Dom Hofmann, announced via Twitter that a new looping video app is hitting the market in Spring 2019: Byte.
our new looping video app is called byte. launching spring 2019 pic.twitter.com/C3FMvkcIwc
— dom hofmann (@dhof) November 8, 2018
Vine, a short-lived 6-second video hosting service was created back in 2012 and bought later that year by Twitter. The platform was launched in 2013 only to be shut down four years later due to inadequate growth.
Vine communities everywhere were disheartened to see the discontinuation of the app; Hofmann committed himself to the resurrection of 6-second loops, and thus, development to bring back the app began last November in conjunction with dedicated fan forums.
This project, previously code-named v2, faced an indefinite halt in early 2018 for reasons similar to Vine’s complications: lack of funding and logistical complications. Nevertheless, the fan forums continued to wheedle away at the project until Byte finally made it off the ground.
In Spring 2019, Byte will be available beside derivatives of the short-video social platform that have taken off since Vine’s demise. Tik Tok features similarly structured videos, except that they are accompanied by music.
In many cases, this condition keeps users from giving the platform a shot. On the other hand, because dedicated Vine users chose to further their digital video production with YouTube or Instagram, it’s difficult to tell if this platform will be able draw users back.
Hofmann provided no further information about Byte except for what was written in the single tweet: “our new looping video app is called byte. launching spring 2019.” With over 3,000 retweets, 12,000 likes, and a plethora of enthusiastic comments, at least right now, things are looking bright for this Vine successor. JB
