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Giphy adds animated emoji and text to its apps
Giphy is moving past just GIFs and getting into the business of everything animated. Starting today, the company is rolling out two new formats: Giphy Emoji and Giphy Text. The new features expand upon the company's huge reservoir of GIFs by adding new collections of animated emoji and text stickers that can be shared across conversations. Both features will be available through the Giphy app for iOS and Android starting today, as well as the Giphy Keyboard available for both operating systems. The company plans to open the features up to developers in the near future.
Giphy offers easy access to GIFs with iOS keyboard extension
Giphy announced an update to its iOS app that will give users the ability to quickly share GIFs from the Giphy Keyboard extension within any app that supports multimedia. The company responsible for providing GIFs in Instagram DMs is also launching a new animated sticker tool only available for the line of iPhone X devices. The update should start rolling out to users starting today.
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.
Giphy will host a film festival for 18-second movies in NYC
Because there isn't already enough original content out there, a new player is entering the film festival scene. Giphy has announced The Giphy Film Fest, which will feature looped films that are just 18 seconds long.
Giphy's redesigned homepage puts GIF Stories in the spotlight
Giphy has been growing beyond its roots as a GIF warehouse, but you wouldn't know that if you've looked at the wave of largely unrelated animations on its home page in the past few years. The company is addressing that today by launching a redesigned home page that provides more of an editorial bent. You'll still see trending GIFs, but the front portal now focuses on curated, shareable Stories that revolve around common themes, whether it's awards shows or celebrity reactions. If you want a glimpse of the GIF zeitgeist, you won't have to go far.
Twitch is giving the people what they want: GIFs
Twitch's next way of letting viewers interact with streams is with GIFs. The latest customization tool for the popular broadcasting service arrives via a partnership with Giphy, and the way it works sounds pretty simple. A broadcaster sets a location on the screen for where users can drop GIFs, and once a stream starts viewers click the Giphy icon to start searching for the perfect reaction to the 'caster's on-screen antics. From there, it'll overlay on the stream. Cool! Before you get any crazy ideas for trolling, GIFs will be curated for appropriateness.
Snapchat reinstates Giphy stickers following removal of racist GIFs
Last month, both Snapchat and Instagram pulled Giphy stickers from their apps after users discovered a racist GIF with a slur. At the time, Giphy said that it had removed the GIF in question and fixed the bug that let it through. It also said it would be reviewing all of its GIF stickers manually. Last week, Instagram reinstated Giphy stickers and now, so has Snapchat.
Instagram restores Giphy stickers now that racist GIFs are gone
Instagram and Snapchat completely removed Giphy stickers from their apps after finding racist GIFs, but the feature is now ready to come back... on Instagram, that is. The photo-centric social network has restored stickers after Giphy said it "made specific changes to our [moderation] process" to prevent a repeat incident. Snapchat hadn't made a similar move as of this writing (it reiterated its earlier position in a statement to TechCrunch), but it may be just a matter of time if the company is satisfied with Giphy's response.
Snapchat and Instagram pull Giphy stickers over racist GIF
When Snapchat and Instagram introduced Giphy stickers for Stories, they expected to offer PG-rated GIFs that even their young patrons can use. Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned: both platforms have disabled the feature after users discovered an extremely racist GIF that says "N---- Crime Death Counter -- Keep Cranking Bonzo, the Numbers Just Keep on Climbing!" among Giphy's offerings. Since the sticker was first discovered on Snapchat, the ephemeral messaging app yanked it first. A spokesperson told TechCrunch that it disabled the feature while it waits "for Giphy's team to take a look at it."
Snapchat adds Giphy's GIF stickers to liven up your Stories
Usually you see Instagram borrowing features from Snapchat, but the reverse is true this time around. Snapchat has added GIF stickers from Giphy's library to its Android and iOS apps, giving you a considerably wider selection to choose from when crafting your Stories -- just like Instagram did a few weeks ago. The stickers are singled out in the app when you search for them, so you don't have to wade through regular Snap-created stickers if you're looking for some variety. There are some interface tweaks coming along for the ride, too.
Giphy taps Google AI tech to help you find the right GIF
Giphy's collection is a good way to find the right GIF to express your feelings... up until you're tracking down that one elusive GIF that's improperly tagged. The company has a clever solution, though: make AI technology look through the GIFs itself. It's implementing Google machine learning that combs through the animated image files looking for caption text. If you're trying to find the "where are the turtles" quote from The Office, you'll actually see GIFs related to that quote -- not every vaguely turtle-related picture under the Sun.
Giphy will tell you what the most popular GIFs are
For the first time ever you'll be able to see how many times a GIF has been viewed, so long as it's hosted by Giphy. That sounds pretty useful for internet professionals and social media celebs. As for the rest of us, well, it'll at least be easy to figure out the best reaction GIFs -- and we'll have a pretty good indicator of which memes have jumped the shark.
Giphy's GIF-making tool is now available in your mobile browser
Last October, Giphy reported that users made 100 million daily users serving 1 billion GIFs per day. But how many of those views -- and creations -- are on mobile? The moving image repository site has updated its GIF Maker to work while viewing from a device or smartphone, allowing mobile users to make joke animations on the go.
Facebook’s camera can now make GIFs
Facebook has sneakily added a new feature to its app's camera. Some people are now seeing an option that allows users to make a short GIF directly through the camera, which can then be shared on Facebook stories or on your page. You can also bump up the GIF with a number of frames and filters. However, the downside is you can only share the GIFs on Facebook. They only save as videos and can't be sent to other platforms through Facebook.
Facebook rolls out GIF comments to everybody
Facebook has had strange relationship with GIFs over the years. For a long time, they weren't supported at all, but as the social network grew, they came to Messenger and then to comments -- as long as they were shared via a service like Giphy or Imgur. Earlier this year, Facebook made things more official by launching a dedicated GIF button, but again it was hamstrung by the fact it only extended to a small subset of users.
Giphy and Vimeo trade video thumbnails for GIFs
Ever gone to watch a video online and thought to yourself, "Man, this thumbnail could be a bit more animated?" If so, you're probably going to freak out a bit and think Giphy and Vimeo have been reading your mind. That's because starting today, Vimeo thumbnails will be brief, looping clips rather than static images. Or, as the press release puts it, "Now, you can watch what you're going to watch before you watch it." And given Vimeo's focus on the creator, these GIFs are directly tied to the origin video and feature attribution for the author.
Giphy's latest app is exclusively for animated stickers
When is a GIF not a GIF? Well, when it's pronounced JIF, for one; but also, when it's actually a sticker. Blurring this boundary is lord of the looping image Giphy, which recently introduced a neat, educational set of signing GIFs -- or a new toolkit for creating complex reaction memes, depending on how you look at it. Getting back to tomfoolery, the company is launching Giphy Stickers today.
Giphy made 2,000 GIFs to help you learn sign language
A GIF can be more than a well-timed punchline for a tweet or group chat. Now, the looping clips can be used to teach people new languages. As Mashable reports, GIF provider Giphy has launched a new "channel" containing more than 2,000 educational sign language clips. They're all dead simple: just the hand movements and a text caption explaining what they mean. These bite-sized flash cards have been pulled from Sign With Robert, an instructional series for American Sign Language (different versions are used throughout the world). The hope is that people will pick up a word or two by sharing them at convenient moments online.
