Tumblr launches a movie talk app for watching YouTube with friends

Tumblr is getting into movie talking today with a fresh app called Cabana. The app lets up to six people movie talk at the same time, but with a twist: Cabana isn’t about just getting together to talk, it’s about getting together to witness YouTube movies.

After joining a Cabana talk, anyone in the room will be able to browse through YouTube and select a movie. It’ll embark playing for everyone in the room, and the idea is that you’ll all be able to see it together, loving each others’ muffle or talking over the entire thing.

“When I witnessed [the app for the very first time], I said, ‘Shit, I can’t believe you actually can’t do this yet,’” says Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp. “Yeah, you can drape out with your pals in a group talk, yeah you can send somebody a link to a movie. But that practice of getting to sit there there and see [a movie] with them as they observe it for the very first time, that just didn’t exist yet.”

Karp’s hope is that people will use Cabana to introduce their friends to “that ridiculous or amazing or totally insightful incredible video” they’ve just found. It’s supposed to replicate that practice of being in a room together, pulling up a beloved YouTube movie, and watching everyone’s reaction before beginning on another.

Cabana is a particularly interesting bet for Tumblr because it’s so unlike Tumblr itself. Where Tumblr is organized around strangers with collective interests, Cabana is all about bringing together close friends who actually know each other. At launch, Cabana isn’t even linked to Tumblr — you’ll have to find your friends all over again by looking up their phone numbers.

The app offers Tumblr an chance to expand its reach by connecting people in a very different way than it does today. That may be an significant aim for the company: the research stiff eMarketer pegs Tumblr’s US users at around twenty three million — a third as many as Instagram, which launched three years later. The hard believes Tumblr’s user growth is slowing, which isn’t a excellent sign for a once explosive network.

For the most part, Karp says this isn’t what Tumblr is after with Cabana. “I mean sure, we’re always looking at everything we launch as an chance to reach more people, be meaningful to more people,” he says. But Karp adds that the company’s concentrate remains on Tumblr, suggesting we won’t see more and more standalone apps. “I don’t know that it’s part of a fatter strategic direction or shove,” he says of Cabana.

Tho’ Tumblr is launching this app and has been involved in its development, Cabana didn’t originate inwards the company. The app commenced in a Yahoo incubator and caught Karp’s interest after he witnessed a demo. Then in the past duo months, it was brought under Tumblr’s umbrella. Karp wouldn’t say whether Cabana and Tumblr would integrate at any point.

Developers have attempted and failed at group movie talking innumerable times, but there’s at least some reason to think Cabana may be on to something. For one, it has Tumblr’s backing and will get slew of promotion. And the app is also built with many of the same mechanics used by Houseparty, the group movie talking app launched by the company behind Meerkat, which has seen some early success.

Like Houseparty, Cabana instantly launches users into their own broadcast, and it’ll alert all their friends with a shove notification. It’s designed to let people lightly leap in and out of talks, making movie talking a lot more casual than it’s long been on the web. Houseparty hit a million users within a year, making it something of a surprise hit.

But that also brings up another issue: what can Cabana do to stand out, if a YouTube integration is its only unique feature?

Jason Lee, the current head of Cabana, says not to count on the app’s core twist being cloned right away. “The blend of dangling out and watching in Cabana is actually super hard to accomplish,” he says. “One interesting thing we spent a lot of time on is making sure audio is balanced inbetween in talk and suspending out.” Lee also says the fresh features planned for Cabana should keep the app distinct from its competitors.

For now, it sounds like those features will all revolve around watching, rather than Cabana expanding into other areas, like games. The app only integrates with YouTube for now — using YouTube’s open extensions; there’s no partnership — and Lee wouldn’t say what’ll get added next. It’s effortless to imagine Netflix being the desire integration here, but it’s not clear that a controlling service like Netflix would be interested or even able to make such a commitment.

Cabana launches on iOS today in the United States and will come to Android in a few weeks. Karp sees the app as something anyone can use, but Lee says he expects it to connect most with teenagers and youthful adults.

There’s no question that Cabana taps into a real social interaction that doesn’t fairly exist online. And while Tumblr isn’t focusing on it, Cabana sounds like it’d be good for listening to music with friends, too.

But as someone outside the target age range, I already know I’m going to stay far away. Because as the webcomic XKCD illustrated years ago, this is what all parties turn into once someone opens up YouTube:

Tumblr launches a movie talk app for watching YouTube with friends – The Edge

Tumblr launches a movie talk app for watching YouTube with friends

Tumblr is getting into movie talking today with a fresh app called Cabana. The app lets up to six people movie talk at the same time, but with a twist: Cabana isn’t about just getting together to talk, it’s about getting together to witness YouTube movies.

After joining a Cabana talk, anyone in the room will be able to browse through YouTube and select a movie. It’ll begin playing for everyone in the room, and the idea is that you’ll all be able to see it together, liking each others’ muffle or talking over the entire thing.

“When I spotted [the app for the very first time], I said, ‘Shit, I can’t believe you actually can’t do this yet,’” says Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp. “Yeah, you can drape out with your friends in a group talk, yeah you can send somebody a link to a movie. But that practice of getting to sit there there and observe [a movie] with them as they see it for the very first time, that just didn’t exist yet.”

Karp’s hope is that people will use Cabana to introduce their friends to “that ridiculous or amazing or totally insightful incredible video” they’ve just found. It’s supposed to replicate that practice of being in a room together, pulling up a dearest YouTube movie, and watching everyone’s reaction before beginning on another.

Cabana is a particularly interesting bet for Tumblr because it’s so unlike Tumblr itself. Where Tumblr is organized around strangers with collective interests, Cabana is all about bringing together close friends who actually know each other. At launch, Cabana isn’t even linked to Tumblr — you’ll have to find your friends all over again by looking up their phone numbers.

The app offers Tumblr an chance to expand its reach by connecting people in a very different way than it does today. That may be an significant aim for the company: the research rock-hard eMarketer pegs Tumblr’s US users at around twenty three million — a third as many as Instagram, which launched three years later. The hard believes Tumblr’s user growth is slowing, which isn’t a fine sign for a once explosive network.

For the most part, Karp says this isn’t what Tumblr is after with Cabana. “I mean sure, we’re always looking at everything we launch as an chance to reach more people, be meaningful to more people,” he says. But Karp adds that the company’s concentrate remains on Tumblr, suggesting we won’t see more and more standalone apps. “I don’t know that it’s part of a fatter strategic direction or thrust,” he says of Cabana.

However Tumblr is launching this app and has been involved in its development, Cabana didn’t originate inwards the company. The app commenced in a Yahoo incubator and caught Karp’s interest after he spotted a demo. Then in the past duo months, it was brought under Tumblr’s umbrella. Karp wouldn’t say whether Cabana and Tumblr would integrate at any point.

Developers have attempted and failed at group movie talking innumerable times, but there’s at least some reason to think Cabana may be on to something. For one, it has Tumblr’s backing and will get slew of promotion. And the app is also built with many of the same mechanics used by Houseparty, the group movie talking app launched by the company behind Meerkat, which has seen some early success.

Like Houseparty, Cabana instantaneously launches users into their own broadcast, and it’ll alert all their friends with a shove notification. It’s designed to let people lightly leap in and out of talks, making movie talking a lot more casual than it’s long been on the web. Houseparty hit a million users within a year, making it something of a surprise hit.

But that also brings up another issue: what can Cabana do to stand out, if a YouTube integration is its only unique feature?

Jason Lee, the current head of Cabana, says not to count on the app’s core twist being cloned right away. “The blend of dangling out and watching in Cabana is actually super hard to accomplish,” he says. “One interesting thing we spent a lot of time on is making sure audio is balanced inbetween in talk and stringing up out.” Lee also says the fresh features planned for Cabana should keep the app distinct from its competitors.

For now, it sounds like those features will all revolve around watching, rather than Cabana expanding into other areas, like games. The app only integrates with YouTube for now — using YouTube’s open extensions; there’s no partnership — and Lee wouldn’t say what’ll get added next. It’s effortless to imagine Netflix being the fantasy integration here, but it’s not clear that a controlling service like Netflix would be interested or even able to make such a commitment.

Cabana launches on iOS today in the United States and will come to Android in a few weeks. Karp sees the app as something anyone can use, but Lee says he expects it to connect most with teenagers and youthful adults.

There’s no question that Cabana taps into a real social interaction that doesn’t fairly exist online. And while Tumblr isn’t focusing on it, Cabana sounds like it’d be good for listening to music with friends, too.

But as someone outside the target age range, I already know I’m going to stay far away. Because as the webcomic XKCD illustrated years ago, this is what all parties turn into once someone opens up YouTube:

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