Giphy Cam is a free video/animations app that’s been a leading tool for social media addicts on iOS. It has finally come to Android.

DIY easy animation

Giphy Cam users can make gif files directly from their mobile device in a few different ways—from a video snippet recorded through the app, shooting 5 still frames or selecting images that are already on the device. Giphy then links and loops them into an animation.

Once satisfied with the gif, users can save it, send it via SMS or share it to social media.

iOS success

Available in the iTunes App Store for over a year, Giphy Cam consistently ranks up around the top 20 apps for photo and video. It was in Apple’s list of the 25 best apps for 2015 on iTunes App Store.

It’s got a massive 5-star average on the customer ratings.

Shareable gifs

One thing that has made GiphyCam a success on iOS is its social-networking appeal. Giphy Inc’s own marketing heavy-handedly endorses this. It suggests that animated gifs give users ‘a better way to say LOL’. It asserts them as a successor to old-fashioned emojis.

The app also includes filters and special effects that let users add all sorts of extras. It’s all good fun for the right audience: that audience probably likes Snapchat.

Android reception

Since October 5, in its first five days on Android, Giphy Cam was yet to crack 5,000 downloads. The Android market for gif creators is perhaps more competitive that the iOS one was when Giphy launched there.

Gif Camera and the aptly named Gif creator both rate 4 out of 5 in the Play Store and both have well established user bases

Still, early Play Store responses have been positive, with an average Android user rating of 4.5. The iOS success of GiphyCam suggests it may yet go big after a slow build.