What is so special about 6-second looping videos? Nothing much, but if they are made by somebody as creative as Zach King or as funny as Jerome Jarre, they can be addictive. No wonder then that Vine, the video-sharing and social network that publishes these very short clips, have gone on to amass 40 million users last year, no doubt drawn by its thriving community of clever Vine creators.
Now, users have more time to enjoy their favorite Vine stars because the Vine app for iOS has now been updated to allow viewers to follow entire Vine channels (such as Music or Comedy) to get the most interesting editor-picked video loops in their main feeds.
Also, the Vine app is now optimized for the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus. Which means that users will be able to enjoy all the looped videos they can get through the devices' 4.7- and 5.5-inch display screens, respectively.
Furthermore, the videos you make outside Vine can now be easily shared on it via the new sharing extensions of iOS 8. Before this update, users used to launch Vine and then upload their videos before they can share them. But now, you can shoot a video, press Send To, select Vine from the sharing extensions, and voila! -- the video you just shot gets automatically uploaded in the Trim and Crop screen of the Vine app.
But what will really delight users is the new channel follow button. Before, it was either you follow each creator account, or browse the channels in the Discover section. But in order to watch a specific channel, users often have to go through a few clicks, especially if the channel they are searching for is buried underneath other channels.
But with the channel follow button, you can just follow a specific channel, say, the Comedy channel, for example, and then instantly get to view the best Vine videos picked by the editors themselves, as well as those shared by your friends or made recently by your favorite Vine creators. Needless to say, it makes for a better Vine-viewing experience.
The update is now being rolled out for users who already have the Vine app installed in their iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus devices. As for those who do not have the app yet, they can download it for free from the App Store. There is no word yet with regards to how soon the channel following feature will be made available for the Vine apps for Android or Windows Phone.
