As expected, Facebook on Thursday added video capture to its Instagram photo-sharing service.
Video on Instagram will allow for 15-second video clips and includes 13 custom filters just for video. A feature known as Cinema will also provide for image stabilization so no more dizzying shots of friends at the bar or the kids at the playground.
Instagram has already updated its iOS app with video, but it appears to still be rolling out to Android. On iOS, tap the camera icon along the bottom menu, and Instagram now has a video camera icon on the right. Just press and hold to record. Videos will be posted to your Instagram feed, and are shareable.
Users will be able to select a cover frame for their videos, rather than the blurry or random screen shots that often show up on YouTube or Vine videos.
During a press event at Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom said the company wanted to "do to video what we did to photos." The team focused on three things with Video on Instagram: simplicity, beauty, and community, he said.
Systrom revealed that Instagram now has 130 million people who use the service on a monthly basis, who "like" approximately 1 billion photos every day.
In a blog post, Instagram said photo policies will apply to video. "Nothing's different from photos. We're still committed to making sure you have control over all of your content. Only the people who you let see your photos will be able to see your videos. And as with photos, you own your videos," the company wrote.
The release is a direct shot at Twitter's Vine, which made its debut on iOS in late January, several months after Twitter acquired the video startup. An Android version was released earlier this month. The service, which allows users to create six-second, GIF-like videos, recently outpaced Instagram in total Twitter shares, but remains to be seen if it can continue that momentum after today's release.
As noted by TechCrunch, Vine is not taking Video on Instagram lying down. Vine's co-founders today posted several Vines that teased new features coming to the service, including the ability to save Vines before sharing them and a revamped video stream.