After releasing it on the Apple iOS ecosystem, OpenAI has now released the Sora app on Android, thus broadening the reach of its cutting-edge text-to-video generation technology. Following its initial, invite-only release on iOS, the app is now available on the Google Play Store for users in select regions. At the time of writing, the Sora Android app is available only in the United States, Canada, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
For those in the unknown, the Sora app is built around the power of OpenAI’s Sora 2 video model. The app functions similarly to a social media feed like that of TikTok or Instagram Reels, where users can browse, create, and share AI-generated videos. With the release on Android, OpenAI removes the previous barrier of an invite code or waitlist.
The Sora app is yet to be released for everyone on iOS.
OpenAI Sora features at a glance
Sora is an advanced diffusion transformer model that translates natural language prompts or even images into rich and detailed video clips with automatically synchronised audio. In plain English, it means that Sora is an AI model that can generate video clips based on your text-based prompt or a provided image, complete with synchronised audio. Some of the key technical features of the OpenAI Sora model include:
Long-range coherence: Sora excels at maintaining visual consistency across multiple shots, ensuring characters and objects remain the same even when they exit and re-enter the frame, unlike Google’s Veo 3 model.
Scene complexity: Sora can generate videos up to 60 seconds long featuring complex scenes with multiple characters, specific actions, and accurate representations of the physical world.
High fidelity: The model generated videos up to 1080p resolution with complex camera motions, a significant leap in realism for the text-to-video space.
Special features for Sora app
Sora’s mobile app integrates these powerful generation tools and adds a couple of social and creative functions:
Cameos feature: A highlight of the app is Cameos, which allows users to upload a single video and voice clip to create a personalised AI avatar of themselves. This cameo can then be cast into any scenario generated by Sora’s prompts. The feature is now expanding beyond people to pets and generated characters.
Remixing and community: Users can remix existing creations by swapping characters, changing the style, or extending the story. The Sora app wanted to create a collaborative, experimentation-focused community.
Pro features: For professional users, Sora 2 Pro offers higher-quality, more stable, and production-grade output, alongside features like Storyboarding for planning complex video narratives.
