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Animated GIF generator from Picsart makes AI fun again
Remember the early days of the AI hype train, when everyone spent their time making stupid images using text prompts? If you want to recapture the nostalgic haze of, uh, late 2022, Picsart has got you covered. The popular image editor just launched an AI-powered animated GIF generator.
Gfycat is shutting down on September 1st
Gfycat is shutting down later this year.
Giphy is adding alt text to make GIFs more accessible
This is a welcome accessibility improvement that could help visually impaired people better understand what's happening in GIFs.
Reddit won’t make you pay to comment in GIF form anymore
Most subreddits can switch them on for all their community members starting today.
TikTok users will soon have an easier way to add popular GIFs
The TikTok Library will feature clips from TV shows that you can use too.
GIF inventor Stephen Wilhite has died
GIF inventor Stephen Wilhite has died from COVID-19 at the age of 74 with his wife Kathaleen at his bedside.
Twitter can now create GIFs using your iOS camera
If you’re a frequent Twitter user, the company is making it easier to create and share those clips.
Facebook may be forced to sell Giphy following UK regulator findings
Facebook's acquisition of GIF-sharing platform Giphy raises competition concerns within social media and advertising, the UK's competition regulator has found.
Spotify and Giphy are 'enhancing' GIFs with music
Spotify and Giphy now give you a way to 'listen' to GIFs by pointing you to a musician's Spotify page.
Reddit finally supports native image galleries
Redditors will finally be able to share multiple images in a single post without leaving the site.
Facebook just bought Giphy
The GIF-sharing platform reportedly cost Facebook $400 million.
Instagram will let you reply to Stories with GIFs
For a couple of years, Instagram users have been able to pull GIFs from Giphy to use as animated stickers in Stories. When your friend posts something that you just have to respond to and words or a static image just won't cut it, you might want to reply with a GIF of your own. And guess what? You can do just that following the app's latest update.
Twitter lets you upload iOS Live Photos as GIFs at last
Twitter is offering iOS users another way to get more out of Live Photos by letting you turn them into GIFs "anywhere you upload photos on Twitter." It's not clear whether this'll work for Pixel motion photos as well. Engadget has asked Twitter for clarification.
Giphy's new video platform is basically GIFs with sound
Wherever you side on the pronunciation of GIF (JIF?), it's undeniable that they've become a critical part of our everyday communications. WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook support them as standard, and you've likely received more than one email from zany creative types with them embedded in their signature. Now, like the silent movie coming of age, they're getting a voice: Giphy is adding sound to its library of animated GIFs and stickers.
Snapchat's Cameo test slips your face into GIFs
GIFs are great for conveying your reactions, but they're not usually very personal -- and recording yourself probably won't be that exciting. Snap might have found a way to bridge those two worlds. The company has confirmed to TechCrunch that it's testing a Cameo feature which inserts your face into a selection of (currently pre-made) GIFs. You just take a selfie, pick a generic body type and your face will animate as if it were you, including mouth movements. Think of it like a deepfake, but this time friendly instead of creepy.
Adorable 'Baby Yoda' GIFs return after Giphy mix-up
One of the most relentlessly adorable characters in Star Wars history just got caught up in some copyright confusion. Giphy has restored GIFs of Disney+ series The Mandalorian's stand-out character The Child (nicknamed "baby Yoda" because... well, look at him) after "confusion" over whether or not the animations were allowed. Vulture claimed in a spoiler-laden piece that the GIFs of the cute-as-hell character were taken down for "copyright reasons," but Giphy has stressed that Disney wasn't responsible. Giphy only pulled the snippets temporarily while it "reviewed the situation," the company said in a statement to the BBC.
Twitter lets you add GIFs to retweets
As of today, Twitter users can include GIFs in their retweets. Users can also include up to four photos or a video. The update is rolling out on iOS, Android and mobile.twitter.com, and accounts like @GameOfThrones and @NASA are already putting it to the test. It's a function many Twitter users have called for and just one of several recent changes the platform has made.
Giphy’s film festival turns GIFs into art
As I made my way into the Metrograph movie theater in New York City, I felt like I was attending a screening for the Tribeca Film Festival. There was a red carpet, people posing for professional photographers, an official film guide and, of course, drinks and popcorn. This isn't quite what I expected when I learned I'd be attending Giphy's first Film Fest. If that name sounds like an oxymoron, the event was a showcase of 118 videos of 18 seconds or less from five different categories: narrative, animated, stop-motion, experimental and wild card. Considering that most of my GIF consumption happens on a laptop or phone, I wasn't expecting this big a to-do.
Giphy unveils its short-form video platform
Giphy is again moving beyond the traditional confines of everyone's favorite animated image format, the GIF. The company is soft launching its video platform Friday, which showcases the 118 finalist videos from the first Giphy Film Fest, held earlier this week.
Giphy's GIFs are sliding into Instagram DMs
Instagram and Giphy are teaming up yet again after their original partnership was marred by a racist GIF that slipped through the cracks. After bringing GIFs to Stories earlier this year, Instagram is now giving you access to Giphy's collection from within the main app's Direct Messages and the standalone Direct app. The Facebook-owned platform has added a new GIF button in the compose bar, and you simply need tap on it to load all of Giphy's trending GIFs. You can either surprise your friend and yourself by tapping on the "random" button or look for something specific by using keywords and phrases.
