Byte (app)

Byte (stylized as byte) is an American social networking short-form video hosting service where users can create 16-second looping videos. It was created by a team that was led by Dom Hofmann as a successor to Vine, which he co-founded. Byte had been referred to as "v2" during the development stages,[2] before it was postponed in 2018,[3] and it was later resumed as being of the "Byte" project. After a closed beta period that lasted for three years, it was officially launched for most of the iOS and Android platforms on January 24, 2020.[4] On January 26th, 2021, it was announced that Clash, another short-form video app, would be acquiring Byte. The deal was finalized the following month.[5]

Not to be confused with ByteDance.
This article is about the video sharing service. For the unit of information, see Byte. For other uses, see Byte (disambiguation).
Byte
Original author(s)Dom Hofmann
Developer(s)Byte Inc. (until 2021)
Clash App, Inc. (2021–present)
Initial releaseJanuary 24, 2020 (2020-01-24)
Stable release
0.6 (iOS), 1.0.16 (Android)
Operating systemiOS, Android
Size40 MB
Available in41[1] languages
TypeVideo sharing
LicenseProprietary software
Websitebyte.co

History

Vine

Byte's predecessor, which is named Vine, was founded in June 2012. It was acquired under the name by Twitter in October 2012. It underwent a staggered update on iOS,[6] Android[7] and Windows Phone[8] throughout much of 2013. It was shut down as a new standalone platform by Twitter in January 2017,[9][10] disallowing all new videos to be uploaded, but being able to maintain the service within the ability for users to actually view previously uploaded content from the past.

v2 and Byte

Vine co-founder Dom Hofmann announced in the December of 2017 via a Tweet that he intended to launch a successor to Vine. At the time, he called it "v2".[11] In the May of 2018, Hofmann posted an update on the v2 community forum titled "Taking a step back", announcing that the project was being put on hold. Among other things, he said that the biggest reason for this was "financial and legal hurdles". He described that his intention was to fund the new service himself as a personal project, but the attention that the announcement generated suggested that the cost to build and run a service that was sustainable at launch would be too high.[12] In November 2018, Hofmann announced that the project was moving forward once again with new funding and a team, under the new "Byte" branding. At the time, the Byte website invited users to sign up for updates and for content creators to join its "creator program".[13] The partner program was shut down in August, with the byte team announcing that they “will be using this time to take everything... [they’ve] learned and apply it toward future opportunities and programs.”[14]

Byte's logo during beta, 2018.

Byte was officially launched to the public on the iOS and Android platforms in over 40 countries on January 24, 2020,[4] with the tagline "creativity first".

Additionally, the company has promised a program that intends to compensate creators for their work,[15] saying "Byte celebrates creativity and community, and compensating creators is one important way we can support both."[16]

In the media, Byte has been referred to as a direct competitor to TikTok and Likee, a similar short-form video sharing platform popular with teens.[17][18][19][20]

Features

Byte allows users to publish videos from two up to sixteen seconds long either captured through the app or previously recorded and stored on their devices.

Similarly to other social media platforms, Byte allows users to follow other accounts. New accounts automatically follow Byte's official account on their service. The main home screen features a scrollable feed of content from accounts that the user is following. The platform also supports the ability to "like" and "rebyte" videos. In November 2020, a color customizer and a chat feature were added.

The app also features a search screen with tiles for popular and latest content along with video categories like Comedy, Animation and others.[15]

See also

References
  1. "When will byte become available in my country?". help.byte.co. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
  2. Blumenthal, Eli. "Ready for Vine 2.0? Co-founder teases new app". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  3. Chang, Lulu (May 6, 2018). "Don't hold your breath for Vine 2 — it's on hold indefinitely, co-founder says". Digital Trends. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  4. Business, Shannon Liao, CNN. "Byte, the sequel to Vine and potential competitor to TikTok, launches on mobile". CNN. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  5. ""A Vine Reunion? Video Apps Clash and Byte Join Forces "".
  6. "Vine: A new way to share video". blog.twitter.com. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  7. Dredge, Stuart (2013-06-04). "Twitter Vine app launches on Android after attracting 13m iPhone users". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  8. "Twitter Launches Vine for Windows Phone". PCMAG. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  9. Roettgers, Janko (2016-10-27). "Twitter Is Shutting Down Vine". Variety. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  10. Roettgers, Janko (2017-01-17). "It's Official: Twitter Has Shut Down Vine". Variety. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  11. "Is Vine Making A Comeback? Vine 2.0 Teased By Vine Co-Founder". www.inquisitr.com. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  12. "Vine co-founder halts development of its replacement, v2". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  13. Browne, Ryan (2018-11-09). "Vine's co-founder says he's launching a new video-looping app called Byte next year". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  14. "Partner Program - Back to the drawing board". the byte community forums. 2020-07-31. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
  15. Li, Abner (2020-01-25). "'Byte' brings back Vine, launches on Android and iOS". 9to5Google. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  16. byte (2020-01-24). "very soon, we'll introduce a pilot version of our partner program which we will use to pay creators. byte celebrates creativity and community, and compensating creators is one important way we can support both. stay tuned for more info". @byte_app. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  17. "Byte, a TikTok rival from the co-founder of Vine, tops the U.S. App Store chart". adage.com. 2020-01-27. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  18. "Vine Is Back and It's Already Beating TikTok in the App Store". Time. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  19. Brown, Shelby. "Byte vs. TikTok: The apps vying to be Vine's successor in the hearts of Gen Z and snake people". CNET. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  20. "TikTok rival Byte becomes 'most downloaded iPhone app' in US". Livemint. 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
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