It’s only been two days since OpenAI abandoned the Android-compatible version of its Sora app, but the AI social media app’s popularity seems to know no bounds. A new report from Appfigures reveals that the Android app was downloaded 470,000 times on its first day of availability. That’s four times more downloads than Sora’s initial iOS app launch in September, according to TechCrunchwho initially broke the news.
Keep in mind that the iOS app has been downloaded over a million times in less than five days. It was also limited to North America and required an invite code. Since Sora has dropped its invite code requirement and opened the app to more countries, it makes sense that downloads on Android are higher than those on iOS. But it’s still a staggering statistic, even for an application that has quickly become one of the most powerful and controversial AI developments to date.
The Android app is just one of several updates OpenAI has released in recent weeks. In a new post, Bill Peebles, head of Sora at OpenAI, explained what’s coming soon for the AI-video app, including new creation tools, improved social features, and the highly anticipated Android support. OpenAI also stated that it would working with unions like SAG-AFTRA and other celebrities and public figures to help manage the creation of potentially inappropriate or illegal videos, including deepfakes.
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Cameos and editing tools
Sora recently gained new creation tools in the form of character cameos, which now extend beyond people. Cameo is Sora’s core feature that lets you use other people’s likenesses to create almost any type of AI video. Soon you’ll be able to spawn your dog, your guinea pig, your favorite stuffed animal, or your characters generated from existing Sora videos. Several Halloween themed characters have been added recently.
The app’s generation interface will also highlight trending cameos in real-time, likely leveraging existing popular social media features, such as the For You page or the Explore page on Instagram.
OpenAI also introduces basic video editing tools, starting with the ability to stitch clips together directly within the app. Peebles says more advanced editing features are on the way, hinting at a broader creative suite that aims to take Sora beyond short, one-off builds to an app that can be used by professional creators.
On the social side, the team is experimenting with new ways to use Sora with friends and communities, rather than just a global feed. That could mean channels for your college, workplace, entertainment, or sports teams, bringing a more localized vibe to what has until now been a mostly chaotic public feed of AI videos.
These changes follow Sora’s first major update earlier this month, which introduced longer video limits and storyboard functionality. The company announced that free Sora users can create videos up to 15 seconds long on the iPhone app and on the web (which is the only way Android users can use Sora at the moment). Pro users also get an extra 10 seconds when creating on the web, for a total of 35 seconds. The announcement came a day after Google upgraded its popular AI video modelVeo 3, to manage longer video generations.
New payment options for videos
While OpenAI has added new features and opened its application to everyone (no invitation code is needed), it is also introduced payment plans. Previously, free users could generate up to 30 videos per day, while Pro users had a limit of 100 videos per day. Now, if someone reaches their generation limit, they can pay $4 for 10 additional video generations.
Since your Sora account is linked to your ChatGPT account, if you pay for ChatGPT Pro, you are a paid Sora user. For more information, see all payment plans.
Storyboard
Storyboarding, available only to Pro users on the web, allows creators to plan videos on the web before generating them. Storyboarding has long been part of the professional filmmaking process and is sometimes included in more professional software. Google AI Flow Filmmaking Programfor example, allows storyboarding. But it’s an interesting and somewhat unexpected addition to Sora.
Sora has only been around a short time, but the app’s vibe is focused on shorter, fun videos, echoing OpenAI’s claim that the app is designed to help people connect with their friends. Professional-quality, longer, better-planned videos aren’t very common, but these upcoming updates will likely change that.
This could be a sign that OpenAI is trying to attract the professional creators it had previously alienated. Professional creators would need storyboarding, video editing, longer runtimes, and higher resolutions, and OpenAI appears to be quickly meeting these needs.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, filed a lawsuit in April against OpenAI, alleging that it violated Ziff Davis’ copyrights in the training and operation of its AI systems.)
