



What's funnier than a video message, more advanced than a photo message and almost as easy to create as a regular text? An original animated GIF message, of course!

Meet the MyFaceWhen iPhone app, a $0.99 (but free for a limited time) offering just released on Thursday. It lets users quickly record videos, then convert the videos into animated GIFs to punctuate previously ho-hum text messages to friends. So, for example, a GIF of yourself emulating Success Kid could accompany a text saying you got that new promotion at work.

The app was created by Rodney Curl and Ethan Diamond, a pair of buddies from Washington, D.C. Although the pair has been developing the idea for the last year, they only started building the app in earnest two months ago. Over the past several months, animated GIFs have exploded in popularity online, so Curl and Diamond's timing is perfect.

"We think an animated GIF of you laughing at your buddy is more entertaining than typing 'haha,' and a GIF of Spongebob dancing is funnier than typing 'yay,'" Curl told Mashable in an email. "GIFs are a fun new channel for people to communicate with their family and friends."

MyFaceWhen users can create GIFs from downloaded videos, too, but it's the capability for original creations that's really cool. Mashable had a hands-on test drive of the app before its release, and came away very impressed.

SEE ALSO: How to Respond to Any Situation With an Animated GIF







One of the best things about MyFaceWhen is its utter ease of use. Open the app and you'll see yourself staring right back at you. Then tap the big fat Record button in the middle of the screen, and tap it again when you're finished acting out the video you want to have looped into a GIF.

The next screen previews your GIF, which you compress by saving. Then the new creation is added to a library of your previously saved GIFs. Tap the one you'd like to send, and it's automatically copied. Another button takes you straight to iMessage, where you paste the GIF into your text and hit Send. Simple as that.

It's easy to imagine people tiring of the novelty of sending (and receiving) GIFs with text messages all the time. But for a few laughs and occasional use, MyFaceWhen is $0.99 well spent.

Does MyFaceWhen seem like a cool idea to you? Let us know in the comments.