Will this app be the next social media giant?

Move over selfies, duckfaces and sepia-toned photographs – GIFs are about to crank it up a notch.

Phhhoto, a new camera app, allows users to record GIFs and upload them to a feed much like Instagram. From there, you can “heart” and comment on other people’s GIFs, post them on Facebook or even message them to friends.

The idea is to revamp the traditional selfie, and it is reported Phhhoto is already being used by celebrities such as Katy Perry.

The app works by taking a series of successive photographs and looping them together to create an animated frame. And unlike Instagram, Phhhoto only has two filters – a normal view and a black-and-white option.

The app is free from the iTunes store and Google Play. While Phhhoto has launched worldwide, a spokesperson told StartupSmart the app had to be taken down from the Australian iTunes store for “technical reasons”.

“It will be back up in a few days,” the spokesperson says.

It goes without saying, but photo sharing apps are wildly popular around the world. Last year Snapchat was reportedly offered a $US3 billion takeover deal by Facebook which it rejected. Meanwhile, Instagram has more than 200 million active monthly users.