We tried Giphy Cam, the new Instagram of gifs. Yes, it’s rad.
Right now, we at HelloGiggles are busy making our own fabulous, sparkly GIFs. . . with our iPhones. Why? Because of Giphy Cam, a brand-spankin’ new app that just rolled out today thanks to Giphy, the gif search-and-share website we all know and love.
“Giphy was originally created to solve a very simple problem – there was no easy way to search for animated gifs online,” Julie Logan, the company’s director of brand strategy (also known as the company “queen glitter bomb,” which we love) told HG.
But there was still something missing — the ability for people to easily create their own personal gifs on their phones. “People want to create gifs and share them anywhere, with anyone,” Logan told us. “So, for us, the next natural step was Giphy Cam.”
Hence, the super rad app which just came out today. It allows you to create your own gifs in seconds and share them via email, text, or any of your social media platforms. It’s very simple to use; there’s pretty much only one screen with multiple options underneath, much like on Instagram, but minus the feed. (Here’s what the app looks like, featuring my dog, Eevee.)
“You know the saying, give an artist a blank page? It can be a struggle to figure out, in all the world of possible things they could create, what [to] commit to the page,” Logan told HG. “Instead, give them a ‘box’ to work within. Whether they stay inside or break the ‘box,’ the restriction it imposes can actually spark incredible creativity.”
And creativity was indeed sparked. I tested out Giphy Cam and made some gifs to show you the awesomeness of this app. So you’ll be seeing a lot of my face. Hi there!
So, inside Giphy Cam’s “box” are just four simple options. Firstly, there’s burst mode, which is sort of like a mixture of a photo-booth and stop-motion animation. Pretty much, it puts together a whole bunch of snapshots of you.
To use burst mode, you tap the shutter. I discovered you can make some pretty intense eye-roll gifs with it:
Secondly, there’s REC mode, which is like more like the standard GIF we all know and love. “This has more of a cinematic storytelling style, which is great for capturing moments or expressions to share with friends,” Logan explained. To use it, you hold the shutter. I took a GIF of Eevee carrying an apple so you could see:
Thirdly, you can add filters to your GIFs, which is pretty rad. There are a ton of different filters to choose from; some of them are like Instagram, such as “Toast” and “Faded” (the latter of which is applied to the above GIFs of myself), while others are more flashy, such as “3DEE” (blue and red to make it look like you’re wearing 3D glasses), “Mono” (evolving rainbow colors), and “CRT” (makes your GIF look like it’s inside a television).
But my personal absolute fave? Special FX. Curated and created by creative director Jess Gilliam, these are SO much fun to play with. (Thanks to Special FX, I was able to visually illustrate my rise to the title of Pizza Queen.)
There are a ton of awesome filters, overlays, and effects that you can add to your GIFs. You can show your friends how you’re rollin’ in the cash:
Or use the background feature to make your hair into a rainbow sensation (you typically use it for the sky or the wall, but I personally enjoyed my new accidental hairstyle):
Or . . . uh, this:
THE OPTIONS ARE ENDLESS, GUYS. You can easily make your own gifs and share them on any of your social media accounts, text them to your friends, or email them to a coworker.
Giphy Cam is available to download today. Get the app at the Apple Store here, and start making GIFS stat! But beware of the creepy purple doll hands.
(Images via author via Giphy Cam)
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