Title: GifBoom
Cost: Free
Platform: Android and iOS (this post based on the iOS version)
If you are a fan of GIFs, GifBoom is the app for you. It allows users to make, find and share GIFs from their mobile devices and includes a wide range of editing tools to make the process of customizing your GIFs as simple as possible. To get started, you will need to create an account. Accounts can be tied to your Facebook or Twitter account or can instead be created using an email address. Once you have created an account, you will see a feed of GIFs, which can be customized by following other GifBoom users. You can also search or browse through all of the GIFs created using GifBoom on the explore tab, which makes it easy to find GIFs by specific users or on specific topics. GifBoom also offers a browser-based site where you can search through content that users have created and shared using the app, though, at this time, you cannot create and share GIFs on the browser-based site.
While those features are great for discovering fun GIFs, the most useful aspect of the app is the wide range of tools that it offers for creating your own GIFs. It is designed to allow you to film either regular videos, timer videos or stop-motion animations using the camera on your device. Once you have recorded a clip, you can choose to change the speed at which it plays, create a video loop, or edit or crop the clip. You can also opt to add a filter to the video, much like in Instagram, to change the look of the picture. Once you are happy with the look of the clip, you can add text over the video or add a song or other recorded sounds to the GIF. If you would prefer, you can also upload existing content from your device, in the form of either still images or videos. A total of 9 seconds can be published and once the GIF has been published, you can caption it, add location data and then easily share it on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or Instagram or via email or iMessage. Once you have created and shared a GIF, you still have the ability to delete it later, whether to save space or because you want to fix errors. The entire process is very user friendly, making this perfect for creating GIFs on the go.

In addition to being easy to use, the app also offers some useful privacy features. In the advanced settings, you can opt to make all of your GIFs private so other users can’t see them (though this is not the default when you first login to GifBoom) and you can choose whether other GifBoom users can contact you or ask you questions within the app. Even if you opt to allow other users to contact you, there is an option to block specific users if necessary. GifBoom offers a nice combination of features that makes it a good choice for anyone interested in making GIFs, whether for themselves or for their library. For libraries that loan devices, I could easily see using GifBoom to run contests for the most creative library-related GIF that patrons create or creating GIFs of library programs to share on the website. And, I would also recommend it to teens who are interested in creating their own GIFs.
For more app recommendations visit the YALSA App of the Week Archive. If you have an app you think we should review, let us know!