Bitstrips’ spin-off app, Bitmoji, (founded in 2014, but also acquired by Snapchat) which is a similar service, is still popular today and has been integrated as a Snapchat filter as well as a stand-alone app that can be used with other types of messaging services.
What Was Bitstrips?
Bitstrips was a popular comic builder app that people used to create funny cartoons and emoji of themselves and tell stories about their lives through personalized web comics. Since all the tools were provided for you through the app, along with a range of scenes to choose from, making your own characters and building your comic was easy. You could have your own Bitstrips comic built and published in a few minutes.
Downloading the App and Signing in Through Facebook
To get started with Bitstrips, you needed to download the app for iPhone or for Android (which are now unavailable). Alternatively, if you didn’t have a compatible mobile device, you could use it through its Facebook app. Sharing Bitstrips was once a popular trend on Facebook. If you decided to use the mobile apps, you were asked to sign in through your Facebook account.
Designing Your Own Bitstrips Avatar
Once signed in, Bitstrips asked you to choose your gender and gave you a basic avatar design to start with. You could then tap the list icon found on the left to display the physical features you could customize. There were lots of options, so you could have fun making your avatar look exactly like you in cartoon form.
Adding Friends (AKA Co-Stars)
When you were done creating your avatar, you could access your home feed and a button labeled +Co-star at the top to see your Facebook friends who used Bitstrips to add anybody you want. The home feed featured a few default scenes with your avatar, prompting you to share them or to add a new co-star friend.
Making a Bitstrips Comic
You could tap the pencil icon on the bottom menu to create your own comics featuring you and your friends’ personalities with the storylines you like. You could then choose from three formats: status comics, friend comics, or greeting cards. Once you chose a comic style, you were shown different scene options to fit specific situations. For example, if you made a status comic, you could choose a scene from the #Good, #Bad, #Weird, or other categories depending on what type of story you wanted to share.
Editing and Sharing Your Comic
After you chose a scene, you could edit it to make it even more personalized. A green edit button in the upper-right corner of the screen allowed you to edit the facial expression of your avatars. You could also tap the default text shown beneath the image to change it and make it your own. And lastly, you could share your finished comic on Bitstrips and Facebook. You could uncheck the Facebook option beneath the blue share button if you’d rather not share it on Facebook. If you wanted to edit your avatar, you could do so any time by tapping the user icon in the middle of the lower menu, and you could tap the book icon to look at archived comics that your friends previously shared. New customizable scenes were added every day to the app, so it was fun to keep checking in for new comic ideas and scenes available to share funny stories with your friends.
