Fans of Vine took to Twitter to share their delight after the co-creator of the video-sharing platform launched a new app just like it.
Vine attracted a legion of loyal fans who used the platform to share and watch six-second videos that play in a loop. They were devastated when Twitter, which owned it, announced in 2016 that it was shutting it down.
Since then, short-form video app TikTok has become massively popular—and now, more than two years after first announcing he was working on a successor to Vine, co-creator Dom Hofmann has launched his reimagined version as a new app called Byte.
dear friends,
— byte (@byte_app) January 25, 2020
today we’re bringing back 6-second looping videos and a new community for people who love them.
it’s called byte and it’s both familiar and new. we hope it’ll resonate with people who feel something’s been missing. https://t.co/g5qOIdM8qG
"Byte's out," Hofmann wrote on Twitter as the app debuted on iOS and Android on Friday.
On Byte's Twitter page, a tweet said: "Dear friends, today we're bringing back 6-second looping videos and a new community for people who love them.
"It's called byte and it's both familiar and new. we hope it'll resonate with people who feel something's been missing."
Plenty of nostalgic Vine fans took to Twitter to comment on the release and both Vine and Byte began trending on Twitter.
"VINE IS BACK," tweeted Alex Buck. Another user tweeted: "So Vine is back. Like legit Vine 2. Its called Byte. So dont post your Tik Toks down there."
VINE IS BACK. https://t.co/v4XS1vCaee
— Alex Buck (@BUK20) January 25, 2020
Checking out Vine 2, and GOD it feels good to see seamless looping videos that no other app can seem to figure out after all these years. I’ve MISSED this
— Courtney Miller (@Co_Mill) January 25, 2020
Courtney Miller added: "Checking out Vine 2, and GOD it feels good to see seamless looping videos that no other app can seem to figure out after all these years. I've MISSED this."
Maria Mellor tweeted: "The BALLS of this company - Byte are trying to rival TikTok by bringing back a more Vine-style video app. Can't wait to see how this one goes."
Another Twitter user noted that that Byte users have the ability to change the app's icon to look more like the original Vine app's logo."#byteapp I love the fact that you can change the app logo to look like the vine logo," the user wrote.
According to TechCrunch, Hofmann founded Vine with Colin Kroll and Rus Yusupov in 2012 but it was sold to Twitter before it launched in January 2013. A few months later, Hofmann left the company.
Vine had amassed more than 200 million active users, according to NPR, and created numerous "Vine stars" who had millions of followers when Twitter announced it was killing off the app in October 2016.
Hofmann had already built a first version of Byte by then, according to TechCrunch, but it was it wasn't until 2018 that he announced the name of the new app.
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