Instagram has launched a new app called Boomerang that allows users to record 1-second video clips and share them on social media. The app records a burst of five photos and then stitches them together into a video loop, similar to an animated GIF, and plays the loop backwards and forwards to create the Boomerang effect. The app, available on Android and iOS, does not require an Instagram account. This is the third standalone app from Instagram; Layout is used to create collages to upload to Instagram, while Hyperlapse lets users create time-lapse videos.

Boomerang is simple to operate, with only two screens, and the iOS version reportedly has better image stabilization.

“Instagram speeds up the clip to approximately double-time so the back-and-forth loop goes by in about a second,” explains TechCrunch. “That slightly fast-fowarded feel makes everything a bit funnier and more stimulating.”

The app joins similar short-form solutions such as Twitter-owned Vine and Apple’s Live Photos (available on the new iPhones). It has also been compared to photo-looping app Phhhoto, the upstart Instagram competitor.

“The app could help Facebook-owned Instagram keep pace with Snapchat, which has recently added a raft of new features,” reports Wired. “Snapchat now allows users to add filters, stickers and emoji to its images, and the platform recently announced that it had exceeded 100 million daily users.”