Apple Ends Support for Clips Video Editing App

Apple Just Deleted Clips. Export Your Videos Before It's Too Late.

Image: Apple

Apple is officially saying goodbye to its video editing app, “Clips.” After a seven-year run, the Silicon Valley giant has announced the discontinuation of the app, a tool primarily focused on creating videos for social media sharing. As of today, Clips has been removed from the App Store.

The End of an Era for Apple's Clips App

Back in 2017, Apple introduced Clips as a simple video editing tool, allowing users to easily merge video clips with text, music, and filters. Over the years, Apple rolled out several updates to the editing app, including innovative AR features using Memoji and Animoji, LiDAR Scanner support for creating augmented reality spaces, and a variety of new filters and graphics.

Despite these enhancements, the company has now halted all development. On a dedicated support page, Apple confirmed that the Clips app will no longer receive updates and, as of October 10, is not available for new downloads from the App Store.

What Does This Mean for Existing Clips Users?

For existing users who have already downloaded the app, it will continue to function on devices running “iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 or earlier.” So, if the app is on your device, you can still use it. However, as future iOS versions are released, its functionality may eventually cease.

Therefore, it is crucial to save or export your video projects directly to your Photos library. This will ensure your video creations are not lost due to future iOS upgrades. The support page provides clear instructions on how to export your videos, giving you the choice to save them with or without their applied effects. If you've previously downloaded the app and deleted it, the support page notes that “you can still redownload it from your purchase history in the App Store.”

Why Did Apple Discontinue the Clips App?

While Apple hasn't issued a detailed official statement on the reasoning, our guess is that the discontinuation stems from a clear strategic shift. In the years leading up to this decision, the Clips app received very few significant feature updates, signaling that Apple's focus was moving elsewhere.

The primary reason for its removal is likely that its features became redundant. It's widely believed that the app's purpose was better served by other, more popular applications, both from Apple and third parties. More importantly, powerful video tools are now integrated directly into the iPhone's native Camera app. Features like Cinematic Mode and Action Mode are built-in, making them far more accessible and widely used than a separate application. From this perspective, removing Clips is a logical step to help streamline and simplify the user experience on iOS.