By Alexandra Burlacu email: a.burlacu@mobilenapps.com | Jan 25, 2013 02:50 PM EST
Twitter has launched its new Vine video service, but despite being well received, the app got off to a rocky start due to some bugs and an apparent Facebook block.
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Vine is Twitter's new video service and just like the micro-blogging site only allows short 140-character bursts of info, Vine allows only short looping videos. Short, in this case, means actually short as each video lasts six seconds or less. Basically, Vine videos are GIFs, but with sound.
"Posts on Vine are about abbreviation - the shortened form of something larger," Vine co-founder and general manager Dom Hofmann wrote in a blog post. "They're little windows into the people, settings, ideas and objects that make up your life. They're quirky, and we think that's part of what makes them so special."
The service launched on Thursday, Jan. 24, and was generally well-received. It did, however, encounter some issues. First, users ended up signing into other people's accounts due to some bugs on the server side, as AllThingsD reported. Needles to mention, such crossed-log-in issues could affect users' privacy. It is unclear at this point how many users are experiencing this issue.
Second, the service had to disable video sharing to social networks. Only hours after launch, Vine disabled the option of sharing videos from the app to Facebook and/or Twitter. A number of users reported that they were no longer able to sign into Vine through their Twitter account and as of Thursday evening, it also seems that Facebook had blocked Vine's access to its network.
"Vine is not authorized to make this Facebook request," reads a message when trying to find Facebook-connected friends. This message appeared only hours after the service was able to connect to, and pull data from one's Facebook network.
Vine is available as a free app on the App Store. It currently works only with Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch, but Twitter said that it is working on making Vine available on other platforms as well, so an Android version should not be too far off.
Vine users don't necessarily have to set up a Twitter account, but signing up is quicker if they do, noted Hoffman.
With one rocky product launch, Vine is now out in the world, aiming to take Twitter's video efforts to the next level. The app's initial reception may not have been as smooth as the company possibly hoped for, but the service still has the potential of becoming viral. Perhaps Day Two will prove better and less marred with glitches and inconveniences.
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