Now Vine can twine its way into the lives of Android owners

(Vine)

Vine's magic formula of gifs + sound is finally coming to Android, with a new app for smartphones announced by the company in a blog post today.

Vine, which now has over 13 million users, allows people to shoot six seconds of video and sound that loop automatically. The key addition to this set-up is that footage can also be edited, with a tap-and-hold system meaning users can even create short stop-motion animations.

The new version of the app for Android shares many features with the iOS edition, but also adds a zoom function. In an official statement Vine announced that although "the two apps are not perfectly in sync" they promised that "that won't be the case for long."

"Over the coming weeks, you'll see frequent updates with new features - including front-facing camera, search, mentions and hashtags, and the ability to share to Facebook - as well as bug fixes and performance improvements. Of course, this is only the beginning. We have exciting plans for features that could exist only on Android."

Twitter bought Vine in January of this year, allowing users to embed content directly into their Twitter feed.  The company has since been experimenting with the service's functionality, including a recent foray into sponsored content with an official Snoopy Vine, commissioned from popular Vine-r Khoa Phan in order to promote a future Peanuts movie.