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You Can Now Make Animated GIFs From Your Phone with Giphy's New App

T-Minus like, five seconds until it’s used for porn.
Image: John Wenz

Animated GIFs just got a whole lot easier thanks to Giphy, an online repository of animated GIFS. The company is rolling out a mobile app that allows users to create a GIF directly from their phone, much in the same way you'd shoot a video. It's the latest in a line of similar functionality—including Tumblr—the Giphy app may be the one that catches on, based on the popularity of its brand and its tricked out filters and features.

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Called GiphyCam, it's currently available on iOS devices, with an Android app in the works. It has a bevy of filters, allowing users to take a five-shot GIF "video" that can be stored locally or shared on social media.

The animated GIF is a format so firmly rooted in the minds of early internet users that's managed to survive more than two decades, even as streaming video compression made web video possible.

While GiphyCam won't help Tumblr users make animated GIFs of their favorite TV shows, it will help them create a GIF to offer a simple alternative to Vine for sharing amusing, short anecdotes and goofy show-offs.