HTC is no longer developing apps exclusively for its own handsets. Today, the smartphone maker launched a standalone Zoe app that anyone running Android 4.4 or higher on a Samsung, LG or HTC smartphone can download and enjoy.
Zoe, if you haven’t encountered the feature before, debuted with the original HTC One and gives users the ability to record a short video and a burst of around 20 photos simultaneously. In the Gallery app, HTC then automatically combines photos and videos to create Zoe montages – sometimes referred to as a Video Highlights – that include transitions, effects and background music.
Better yet, you could sort your photos however you liked in the Gallery app – say by an event, day, month or year – and new clips would be created automatically. You could also tweak the videos in the Gallery app by manually selecting which content was included, as well as the theme and soundtrack.
Now other smartphone users can access these same features, albeit with some social elements layered on top. With the new, widely available Zoe for Android app, HTC says you’ll be able to share your creations with the rest of the community and also remix other people’s highlight videos.
According to Engadget, the new app resembles a social network like Instagram, with a simple feed filled with recent uploads from the people you follow, as well as the option to like or comment on each of them individually.
HTC is keen to emphasize that the app is currently in beta and should be treated as pre-release software. In the coming months, it’ll be releasing new features and tweaking the experience based on community feedback.
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