Apple has quietly stopped accepting new downloads for its Clips video-editing app as the company rethinks its video strategy, The Information has learned.
The app has reached what Apple refers to as end-of-life status, which means it will no longer get new features or bug fixes, according to Apple’s support document. Users who already have Clips installed on their devices can continue to use it, but the app is no longer available in the App Store for new users.
Clips debuted in 2017 as a lightweight editor for creating social-ready videos with animated captions, filters, and music. It sat somewhere in between the simplicity of the Camera app and iMovie’s more structured timeline, implementing new flourishes such as auto-captioning with “Live Titles” and imaginative selfie effects. But over time, those features were swallowed up by the platforms where people actually publish — TikTok, Instagram, YouTube — and then each of those built more powerful native editors.
Why Apple Is Ending New Downloads for the Clips App
The reason implied in Apple’s note: the social video landscape now boasts fairly powerful in-app editors, making a middle-ground tool feel slightly pointless. Market trackers show that platforms increasingly favor content authored by their native editors and companion tools like CapCut, which has become for short-form creators what Final Cut Pro was for independent filmmakers in the early 2000s. Having a stand-alone, effects-first app was probably turning out to be not so beneficial in that context.
There’s also a strategic pattern involved here by which the privileged minority seeks to put down the rising majority. Apple likes to prune niche creative utilities, but incorporates key ideas into system apps. Music Memos fell by the wayside even as Voice Memos and GarageBand matured; iPhoto was replaced with Photos, which has richer editing to boot; and on video, the company has been investing in camera features like Cinematic Mode, ProRes shooting support, and increasingly capable editing within Photos. At the high end, Apple moved into pro workflows with Final Cut Pro for iPad, suggesting a focus on clear product tiers rather than redundant tools.
What Current Clips Users Should Do Right Now
Users are advised to save their Clips projects to the Photos library or elsewhere for future use. When you export, your edits and effects are kept intact, and you can also save individual segments without any effects to re-edit in other places. The app will continue to open on devices where it is already installed, but without updates, you will not receive any new features and may run into future compatibility issues.
Practical preparations for a seamless transition include consolidating source media into Photos or Files, exporting any custom soundtracks used in Clips, and saving a “clean” copy of the main footage that will need to be re-edited. If you work across devices, try a different editor now to prevent any shocks when iOS updates are pushed. Apple specifically directs users to iMovie as well as popular third-party options such as InShot, VN Video Editor, and GoPro Quik.
Quick-edit Alternatives for iPhone Video Creation
iMovie is still the easiest Apple-made way to stitch clips together, drop in titles, and export as standard files. It doesn’t have the AR-style flair of Clips, but it’s solid, free, and integrates perfectly with Photos and iCloud.
There’s CapCut, the short-form creator app of the moment, with its templates, auto-captions, beat syncing, and deep effects library. It’s so popular for TikTok, Reels, and Shorts because it reflects the pacing and formats that work on those platforms.
LumaFusion is for advanced users who seek multi-track editing, keyframing, and fine-grained audio control on mobile. It’s not free, but it gets close to desktop-class ability and exports cleanly for cross-platform workflows.
VN, InShot, and GoPro Quik all share fast editing based on templates and social-first aspect ratios. Where they shine is the quick-and-easy turnaround — that’s precisely the niche Clips was intended to fill, after all — with on-trend captioning styles and transitions that are more in keeping with what people expect now.
What This Move Means for Apple’s Creative Tools
Discontinuing new downloads of Clips indicates that Apple is focusing on two anchors: system-level capture and light edits for all comers; and pro-grade creation for power users. As iPhone cameras introduce tighter formats like ProRes and spatial video, and Photos gets even smarter edits, Apple can deliver creation features where people already shoot and manage media. For professionals or future pros, the company has been pouring resources into iPad workflows and desktop-class editing that argue for an ecosystem lock-in.
The paint has dried for the broad market. Social platforms and their suite of tools are now defining what “good” looks like for short-form editing, and independent editors win in one of two ways: either surfing those trends or having pro control. Clips played a role in popularizing mobile-first captioning and playful effects; now the baton has been handed to the apps where audiences live.
The bottom line for iPhone owners is clear: if you still use Clips, take the time to export projects and prepare to move on. The inventive ideas that it propagated have not disappeared; they’ve relocated to areas where the momentum has headed.