Instagram announced the launch of its new stand-alone app called Boomerang that stitches together photos to create a one-second video loop that resembles a GIF.
Users simply tap on the button to start shooting, and the app takes a burst of 10 photos and strings them together, speeding up the movement to present the content as a minilooping video. Instagram is calling the finished product a "boomerang," which is essentially a GIF-like clip that self-rewinds to play backward and forward.
The best way to create a boomerang is to capture something or someone in motion, such as blowing bubbles or your dog running toward you. You can use the front- or back-facing cameras to capture your minivideo.
What's cool about Boomerang is that you don't need to create an account to start making your video loops. Once you download the app, you can start capturing shots immediately.
Of course, the app allows you to easily share your creation on Instagram and Facebook directly from the app. Users can also save the images to their camera roll. They also can save the clip as a 4-second video, which features the images going back-and-forth 5 times so it can actually be watched on its own
John Barnett, the app's product manager, said the idea for Boomerang came to its team of just five people during a hackathon over the summer. It appears that Instagram is jumping on the bandwagon of allowing users to create moving images, just like Apple's new Live Photo feature for the iPhone 6s and Facebook's GIF profile photo option.
Boomerang joins the list of Instagram's other stand-alone apps that include Layouts and Hyperlapse.
The app is available to download for free for iOS and Android.
Via: Tech Crunch
