Drops

A Drop is a video message of up to 10 minutes, recorded right there with the phone or computer camera: a welcome to someone who just joined, the weekly update, an answer to a question in the comments. No need to record in another app, save the file and upload it: tap Drops, record, review and post.

#Where it is

In short posts and comments, video is Drops only, recorded on the spot ("Video here is Drops only, recorded on the spot."). Comments in Courses, Events and Recognition don't have Drops.

Drops in comments depend on the Allow Drops in comments switch, in Settings › Features, which starts off: members can reply with a short video recorded on the spot; with it off, comments take text only, and Drops already posted keep showing. Only the owner and admins change it.

Each item takes one Drop. With a Drop, text is optional: a short post or a comment can be just the video.

#Who can record

Whoever can post or comment in the space, just like text: the owner, the admin, the moderator and the member the space lets post or comment. People who can't post don't see the composer; people without access to the space can't comment or record.

Only the author adds a Drop. Adding or replacing the Drop of a short post or comment belongs to whoever wrote it, even when the team posted on someone's behalf (then the author is that person). The team can only remove the video; if it tries to add one, the screen says "Only the author can add a video here. The team can only remove it."

#Record a Drop

1. Tap Drops. Only now does the browser ask for the camera and microphone; opening the composer never asks.
2. Record a Drop opens, with the live preview (mirrored on the front camera) and the limit Up to 3:00. On a phone, Switch camera toggles between front and back; on a computer with more than one camera or microphone, pick each under Camera and Microphone.
3. Tap Record. The screen shows the elapsed time, "… left" and a bar. Tap Stop when you're done; at 3:00 recording stops on its own.
4. In the review, watch what you recorded, with sound. Record again discards it and goes back to the camera; Use this Drop uploads the video, with the progress bar and Cancel.
5. Write the text, if you like, and post (or save the edit, or send the comment).

• Countdown and upload. Record counts 3, 2, 1 before it starts (with Cancel). When you stop, the video starts uploading in the background while you review and write; offline, a notice says the upload restarts on its own when the connection is back. A Drops post in New content, the Feed's New Drop and comments open straight on the camera.

To replace a Drop already uploaded, Record again; to take it out, Remove Drop. Replacing or removing deletes the previous video.

• Nothing is uploaded without "Use this Drop". Closing the camera, closing the composer, changing the post type or leaving the comment box while recording or reviewing asks first: "Discard the Drop? The recorded Drop hasn't been posted yet and will be lost."
• The camera turns off. When you stop, switch cameras, record again or close, the app releases the camera and microphone: the camera light goes off.
• Size. A 10-minute Drop is about 200 MB; the cap is 350 MB. If it goes over, the screen asks you to record again, a little shorter.

#Microphone settings

In the recorder, the Audio button opens Microphone settings, with three switches, all on by default: Reduce noise, Cancel echo and Adjust volume automatically. The choice is remembered in this browser. A switch the browser doesn't support is hidden.

#Text written by AI

After you record, AI writes the text from what you said in the Drop:

• In a Drops post (Content), the post's description: two to four sentences, in the language you spoke.
• In a short post (Feed), the status text, in the first person, up to 280 characters.
• In a comment (with Allow Drops in comments on), the comment text, in the first person, one to three sentences: up to 280 characters on a short post's comment and about 400 on a post's comment.

Meanwhile, the field shows "Transcribing your video…"; when it's ready, "Written by AI from what you said. Review it before publishing." The text is a suggestion: edit it as you like before publishing.

• Only the author. AI works only with the Drop you recorded yourself.
• Up to 10 minutes of speech. A longer video, or one with no speech, doesn't generate text ("We didn't detect speech in the video. Write the text yourself.").
• Generate again writes another version, up to 5 times per Drop.
• Transcription limits. A member has up to 30 transcriptions and 120 minutes of audio a day; the owner, admin and moderator have no daily limit. The community also has a quota of transcription minutes per month, which applies to everyone and comes from the plan. Past a limit, write the text yourself; at the monthly quota, the screen shows "The community reached its monthly limit of transcription minutes. Write the description or talk to the community's admins." The AI-written description also counts toward AI uses per month.
• If AI is down, the field says so and you write the text, or try Generate again in a moment.

To generate the text, the Drop's voice is transcribed by an AI provider. The transcript isn't kept after use: it's deleted when the Drop goes into the post, or within 24 hours at most. See Terms of use › Personal data.

#The cover

Every Drop (and every uploaded video) gets a cover on its own: a frame from the video itself, at about a quarter of its length, never a dark frame. It shows in the player before play.

Under the recorded video, Cover shows three frames from the Drop itself (at about a quarter, half and three quarters of its length); the app already picks the sharpest, best-lit one, and you tap another to switch. Upload image uses your own image (JPEG, PNG or WebP). After posting, whoever recorded it can still change the cover. Changing the cover deletes the previous one.

Choose cover. Every uploaded video (the Drop of a lesson, a Video post or a short post, and a video uploaded from your computer) gets, a few seconds after the upload, up to six frames taken across it. When editing the lesson or the post, Choose cover shows those frames, with the chosen one marked, and the video's Duration; click a frame to use it as the cover.

#Camera and microphone blocked

Permission belongs to the browser, per site. If the camera doesn't open, the notice says why, and text (and, in a post, the file upload) keeps working:

#The player

A Drop shows in a rectangular player with rounded corners, in the aspect it was recorded in: portrait when it came from a phone, landscape when it came from a computer. The time bar shows the full length.

The new player, with the bar at the bottom: play, time, volume, captions, Settings (Speed and Quality, with Auto), picture-in-picture and fullscreen. Keyboard shortcuts: space or K pauses and resumes, J and L go back and forward 10 seconds, the arrows 5 seconds, M mutes, F fullscreen, I picture-in-picture, C captions, <** and **> change the speed.

Every Drop is prepared for streaming (the quality adjusts to the viewer's connection), up to 720p. Meanwhile, the player says "Optimizing for streaming. The video can already be watched." and the video already plays.

Known limitation: a Drop recorded in Firefox may not play on an iPhone with iOS older than 17.4 while it is still being optimized (or if optimization fails). Once optimized, it plays everywhere.

#Who can see it

A Drop follows the item it's in:

• The file is private, even in a public space. Whoever opens the item gets a link valid for 1 hour, renewed automatically, and only people who can read the item get it.
• With moderation: in a space with approval, a short post or comment with a Drop is pending like any other, and the video opens only for the author and the team until it's approved (see Moderation).
• Deleting the item deletes the Drop. Deleting the post, short post or comment deletes the video; deleting a post also deletes the Drops in its comments.
• A Drop counts toward the community's storage, like a hosted video.

#Through the assistant

The assistant doesn't record (it has no camera), but it sends a ready-made video, by link or file, wherever a Drop goes: create_short_post, update_post (with type: status), create_comment and update_comment take video_file_url or video_file_base64 (MP4, WebM or MOV, up to 100 MB). remove_post_video (with type: status) and remove_comment_video remove the video and ask for confirmation. See Tools · Content.

#In the API

A Drop uses the same path as a hosted video: POST /api/media/upload-url with the purpose statusVideo, contentCommentVideo or statusCommentVideo (up to 100 MB), the file upload and POST /api/media/confirm. Then the videoMediaId goes in POST /api/status, PUT /api/status/{id} and in creating and editing comments on posts and short posts (POST /api/content/{id}/comment, POST /api/status/{id}/comment and the PUTs). videoMediaId: null removes it. Only the person who recorded the video can attach it; commenting requires access to the post's space (403).

#Frequently asked questions

Does AI publish the text on its own? No. It only fills in the field; nothing goes out until you publish.

Can I pause and resume recording? No. Record in one go; if you don't like it, Record again.

Can I upload a ready-made video in a short post or comment? Not in the app: there, video is Drops only. Through the assistant, yes (see Through the assistant). For a long video, use a Video post in Content.

Who sees that I recorded a Drop? Whoever can read the post, short post or comment, as with text.

#Related

• Feed
• Content
• Moderation
• Tools · Content