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Byte – Is it too late for Vine to make a comeback?

Last week the creator of Vine launched Byte, a brand new 6-second viral video sharing platform for iOS and Android. So naturally, we decided to take a look, and here are our thoughts so far.

First Impressions

After playing around with Byte for just a few minutes one thing becomes very apparent, Byte is very new. Similar to the many brand new games we are sent to review here at Edamame Reviews, Byte still feels somewhat unfinished which isn’t exactly the feel we were expecting.

*What is written below will hopefully no longer be accurate once Byte has been updated more. If you are reading this in the future, this may very well no longer be accurate.

Upon first installing the Byte we can’t actually recall there being an in-app tutorial explaining how to use the app. I know, his may not seem like that big of a deal, but when you realize that the interface users are presented with is almost identical to that of TikTok, it will probably make you think again.

Because although the interfaces look the same, the structure of these two apps is far from identical!

For starters, Byte does not have a “for you” page. Instead, Byte seems to take a much more traditional approach serving users with videos created by people they follow and videoes that have been re-byted by the Byte editorial staff as well as other users you are currently following.

It’s an interesting concept that should function great once you are actually following people, the problem is, without people to follow, Byte is actually kind of boring.

Finding content

Unlike TikTok which feeds users with an endless supply of content handpicked by AI to suit each user’s personal taste, Byte requires users to actually go out and find content. This is where the discover page comes into play.

The Byte discover page is broken up into 3 main categories Popular Now, Your Mix, and Latest. The first and last categories are exactly what they sound like, and the second “Your Mix” category is essentially a TikTok style “For You” page that is currently being developed.

Below these 3 main options are an additional 16 categories for users who really want to focus on a particular genre such as Comedy, Fitness, Gaming, etc.

In order to get really anything out of Byte, you will fist need to find content, and people to follow by exploring these categories.

The Early Adopter Byte Community

At the time of writing, the Byte community mostly seems to consist of early adopters looking to make it big on Byte. 80% of the comments go along the lines of “Follow for Follow?” or “Check out these accounts! @username @another_name @you_get_the_idea” which should probably be expected of any new social media that has generated this much hype.

Also, this could just be our feed(?) but the content currently generating the most views on Byte seems to be a tad darker than the stuff we are generally used to seeing on TikTok which could be a potential concern for parents if left unaddressed.

For Creators

Currently, the byte algorithm seems to judge a creator’s video within the first 2 seconds or so after it has been uploaded.

We uploaded a few videos as an experiment and received 8-10 likes within the first 2-5 seconds of uploading the video only to have the likes stop there. We’re still not fully sure why this happens, but we will keep playing around and let you know once we figure something out.

If you are interested in taking a look at Byte for yourself here are the links

App Store | Google Play