A couple of months ago, Twitter announced that it will be shutting down Vine, the once popular six-second video service that highlighted the creativity of content creators.
Twitter has now released an update on its plans for Vine. No, the company is not withdrawing its decision to shut down the app, but Twitter did reveal that Vine will still live on, one way or another.
Vine To Become Vine Camera
According to a Medium post by Team Vine and Twitter, the Vine app will be rebranded as Vine Camera in January.
The difference between the two apps is that Vine Camera will allow users to keep making six-second looping videos, which can then be posted directly on Twitter or saved on the user's device. That will be the only function that Vine Camera will be capable of though, as the rest of the Vine social network will still continue to be disabled in the near future.
The Vine website will also undergo a transition, as it will become a website that will function as a Vine archive for all the videos created through the soon-to-be-rebranded app.
Twitter will also soon roll out a "Follow on Twitter" notification, which will allow users who follow Vine personalities to follow them on their official Twitter accounts.
Download Your Vines Now
According to the FAQ that Vine uploaded regarding the transition into Vine Camera, once the new app is launched, users will no longer be able to download their Vines through the original app.
Users who would like to download Vines should do so now, either through the iOS and Android apps or through the Vine website. It should be noted, however, that downloading from the apps will only save the video files with no additional information such as captions, while downloading from the Vine website will also save an index.html file which contains information such as captions, along with the number of likes, comments, and revines.
The End Of The Line For Vine
In October, it was reported that the top Vine stars tried to save the video service from being shut down, collectively sending a proposal to Twitter that will boost Vine's engagement levels through an influx of original videos. The proposal, however, was eventually set aside by Twitter, leading to the planned shutdown for Vine.
Twitter never mentioned that the Vine app, used to create six-second videos, will live on, so at the very least a part of the service will continue to be available. This also likely means that Twitter will not be selling off Vine, after the company was said to have received numerous offers from possible buyers.
