Twitter released its highly anticipated Vine for Android app, Monday, nearly five months after the initial iOS release.
The popular social media app takes six-second videos and loops them in what it claims is "the best way to see and share life in motion." The app makes shooting and sharing videos simple and easy, making it a favorite of both amateurs and even professionals.
Although Vine has been wildly popular since its initial release in January, it only released an Apple compatible version of the app. That decision left millions of people who use Android devices without access to the service - a service which in the last five months alone has accumulated 13 million users on iOS systems.
Instagram followed a similar path, according to CNET. That application had a solid 30 million users on iOS before they released their Android version of the app. In the 12 hours following that release, the app gained another million users.
Twitter has fine-tuned the iOS version frequently since January, adding features like being able to use the front-facing camera, hashtags, enhanced search capabilities and web embeds, among others things. But the Android version released today isn't nearly as complete as the iOS version. Vine has acknowledged this issue and is planning new features (including those already available on the iOS version) soon, opting to push additions with frequent updates within the coming weeks.
But Android users are finding difficulties with downloading the new app, which Dom Hofmann, co-founder of Vine, addressed on Twitter: "Hang tight - Vine is still propagating through Google Play. We'll tweet when it's available."
Perhaps Android users can take solace in the fact that their app already has a unique feature: zoom abilities that can be used on the Galaxy S4 and the HTC One. Whether or not this feature will tide Android users over remains to be seen.
"Of course, Android engineer Sara Haider said in a post, "this is only the beginning -- we have exciting plans for features that could exist only on Android."
Monday's release is free for download from Google Play and can be run on Android smartphones with Android 4.0 and up.
