5 Video-Sharing Apps With the Shortest Time Lengths

Keep your videos short and sweet with these social apps

By
Elise Moreau
Elise Moreau
Elise Moreau
Freelance Contributor
  • University of Ontario
  • George Brown College
Elise Moreau is a writer that has covered social media, texting, messaging, and streaming for Lifewire. Her work has appeared on Techvibes, SlashGear, Lifehack and others.
lifewire's editorial guidelines
Updated on March 4, 2020

Video is hot on the web, and the faster you can get your point across, the better. This is especially true when you're watching a video on a mobile device.

Some of the most popular video-sharing apps have time limits of only a few seconds. That might seem like nothing, but you'd be surprised at the kinds of great things you can film, edit, and publish with just a few seconds of video footage.

Check out these five popular video-sharing apps built for the average mobile web user's short attention span and craving for visual content that gets straight to the point.

01
of 05

Instagram

Tourist filming waterfall with smartphone

Santiago Urquijo / Getty Images
What We Like

  • Appealing interface.

  • Large user base.

  • Hashtags and links let you connect your videos to other social media pages.

What We Don't Like

  • No way to separate or filter video and photo content.

  • Limited editing features.

  • Not as large a platform as Facebook or Twitter.

Instagram used to be everybody's favorite mobile ​photo-sharing app, and it still is. But now that videos can be filmed through the app and uploaded from your device, you have a whole new way to interact and engage with your followers.

Instagram Stories videos must be a minimum of three seconds long and can be a maximum of 15 seconds. Videos on the main feed can run up to 60 seconds. For now, there's no way to separate or filter out video content from photos on Instagram.

02
of 05

Snapchat

Snapchat on a mobile phone
What We Like

  • Geofilters.

  • Silly and creative editing options.

  • Snapchat Stories.

What We Don't Like

  • Snaps self-destruct a few seconds after being watched (this could also be a pro, depending on your point of view.)

  • Predominantly used by teens and young adults.

Like Instagram, Snapchat lets you post both photos and videos. For a long time, videos were limited to just 10 seconds, but now you can record Snap videos that run for 60 seconds. Photos and videos self-destruct after only a few seconds once your recipients have viewed them. You can send your photo or video messages to individual friends or post them as Snapchat Stories so they can be viewed over and over again publicly by all your friends for up to 24 hours.

03
of 05

Tweak

Different screens of the Tweak app
What We Like

  • You can save clips to the camera roll.

  • Easy to find/invite friends.

  • Easy to trim videos for sharing.

What We Don't Like

  • You can't watch full videos without going to another app.

Some video apps are more about the editing features while others focus heavily on the social networking experience. Tweak is an app people use to trim down long YouTube videos into 25 seconds or less, and it's popular on big social media sites. Users get their own feed and tabs to see videos that are newest, trending, featured, and NSFW. Tapping any video will take you to the full version on YouTube.

04
of 05

Vigo Video

Vigo Video logo
​
What We Like

  • Curated feeds.

  • Lots of filters and effects.

  • Ability to add popular music to videos.

What We Don't Like

  • No option to disallow others to download your videos.

  • Resource hog.

  • In-app purchases.

Vigo Video (formerly Flipagram) is a handy tool for transforming the photos you post on social media into a short slideshow. Videos can run up to 15 seconds. The app accesses your camera roll and social media accounts so you can easily select photos to use, then it lets you set your slideshow video to music using a track on your device or from the app.

05
of 05

1 Second Everyday

Different screens of 1 Second Everyday app
What We Like

  • Free with no advertising.

  • Ability to leave notes on clips.

  • Clips are stored on your phone or your Google account.

What We Don't Like

  • Some features, like unlimited backup, only offered via the paid Pro plan.

  • Android app not up to par with iOS experience.

The name says it all. 1 Second Everyday is a video app that limits you to choosing one-second clips, so they can be stitched together into one big video. It encourages people to create one clip a day. If you stick to filming just a second a day for the next several years, you'll end up with your own personal movie.

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