From the creator of Pixelfed, a new short-form video app is coming to the fediverse, joining the likes of social apps Mastodon and Threads.

What is Loops?

Loops is a short-form video platform currently in beta. As of last week, sign ups are now open, so go and claim your username at loops.video. Don’t expect to be able to install and sign in right away. Confirmation emails are gradually being sent out. The app is available in beta on iOS through TestFlight and Android by sideloading. A web app will come later.

Loops comes from Daniel Supernault, the founder of decentralized social media app and Instagram alternative Pixelfed.

Based on information, screenshots and videos shared by Loops and its creator, the interface and functionality is very familiar to TikTok, from the For You page to profiles. Open up the app and you’re greeted with a feed of vertically scrollable, full-screen, up to 60-second, vertical videos. There’s a caption and menu bar along the bottom and profile, like, comment and share buttons along the right-hand side.

Supernault says that sounds, remixes and pinning to profile, as well as the ability to curate comment sections are all coming. Exactly how Loops will sort audio licensing is unclear. Hashtags and mentions aren’t supported yet.

Videos can be categorized by users. Content is moderated by humans, which builds a creator’s trust score. According to Loops FAQ section, users own their own content. Loops does not sell data to third parties, use content to train AI models, nor do they own the rights to your content. Rather than investors, the platform is relying on grants, donations and sponsorships for funding at the moment.

What is the fediverse?

The fediverse is an open social web. Rather than each platform being owned and run by one company, such as Facebook or X, the fediverse is decentralized, meaning each service can communicate with each other. Today there are more than 11.6 million users and over 1 million monthly active users on the fediverse, of which, 65% are on Mastodon. ActivityPub is the protocol that powers Mastodon, Pixelfed, PeerTube and other federated apps. Flipboard recently joined ActivityPub and Meta’s Threads are working on joining too.

Loops will be open source and are currently working on ActivityPub integration. This will make it possible for users from other platforms like Mastodon and Pixelfed to follow Loops accounts, and view, like, comment and share videos in their feed.