Vine to transition from social network to camera app on Jan. 17

Twitter-owned Vine on Wednesday laid out an official timeline for its transition from social video sharing network to dedicated camera app, saying the conversion will take place on Jan. 17.

Announced in a blurb posted to Vine's FAQ webpage, the official transition date has been a long time coming.

Twitter first revealed plans to shutter Vine in October as part of restructuring efforts that will pare down its workforce by 9 percent. A specific end-of-life date was not mentioned at the time.

Subsequent reports claimed Twitter was fielding bids from outside buyers to keep the video looping service alive, but it appears those talks fell through.

Instead of a takeover, Vine will be stripped of its social media platform and continue life as standalone camera app "Vine Camera." Like the original, Vine Camera lets users capture six-second looping videos that can be saved locally for later viewing or posted to Twitter. The ubiquitous microblogging service said it will continue to serve up native support for the looping format following Vine's demise.

Existing Vine content can be accessed, downloaded and viewed in-app until the social network shuts down later this month. Once Vine Camera launches, users looking to browse through old videos will be forced to visit the Vine.co website. The web database should remain active for the foreseeable future.

As promised, the latest Vine update includes a pop-up prompt that allows viewers to easily follow their favorite Viners on Twitter. The contingency was put in place to help high-profile content creators retain their respective fanbases.