Back when we launched Byte in September, we knew we had two things: a really fun and wild new thing to create, and an intentionally minimal house for these new things to live in. Anonymity, together with the relative simplicity of the structure around Bytes, put them front and center, allowing for a lot of freedom in what people created.
With that freedom, we saw many people signing their work, creating homes for their Bytes, tending to their own little domains, reaching out to other creators through comments, and featuring each other’s work. But these efforts were just that: effort. A lot of people still reported feeling like they were posting their work in a vacuum. We also heard your requests for some way to collect your Bytes and see when people make new ones.
Today’s launch of Byte 2.0 has profiles and following baked in, to support and encourage the efforts of the Byte community. Now if you see a Byte you like, you can see who made it and what else they’ve made. You can follow creators and see when they post new Bytes or update existing ones. You can mention each other in comments and have a conversation. Profiles will make people’s creativity even easier to discover and following will make it harder to miss.
Me, Myself, & Incognito
While this visibility will help people on Byte connect, there’s still a need for the freedom to post Bytes that are separate from whatever identities we set up. For that, we created Incognito.
In Byte 2.0, when you’re ready to post a Byte, you’ll have the choice to attach it to your profile or post it under Incognito. Incognito is for those times when you have a great idea that might not quite fit with your main profile. You can use it to build entirely separate identities, art, and web-like experiences—just like in the original Byte—or for those times when you simply want to “leave this here” in the New feed.
We hope this will give you more choice and ultimately more freedom to create and discover the best of Byte.
Here’s what else you’ll see in 2.0
- Design your profile just like a regular Byte.
- New navigation along the bottom makes it even easier to get around.
- Byte links and @-mentions in comments are tappable. They also notify the people mentioned, so no one misses out on the conversation.
- Remix chains are now easy to follow, just tap on the link in the lower-left to see which Byte inspired this remix.
- The Hot list is a place to see trending Bytes. We’ve also improved this section so what you see in there is always fresh.
- Starring is now simply Bookmarking. The bookmark icon in the address bar is a place to access your bookmarked Bytes and see your browsing history. Bookmarking is totally private, so the creator won’t get notified that you did it.
- Swipe right to go back from just about anywhere.
- We’ve added some helpful gesture reminders in the Creator via the “?” button.
- New Instagram Computer lets you import photos from public Instagram accounts.
Let us know if you have thoughts or feedback on these changes, big and small. Shoot us an email at support@byte.co anytime.
We have some fun new things coming very shortly, so stay tuned!
