4 video editing features users wish the Photos app on iPhone had

Here are four features users want to see in future iOS updates and where to access them now (for free).

1. Timeline

With video becoming more present on social media, the ability to stitch multiple videos together is in high demand and has been simplified by many platforms. While the Photos app allows trimming a recorded video, it's not possible to connect multiple clips. There should be a basic timeline editor where multiple videos can be selected to get simple composite clips.

Meanwhile, Capcut is a free application that allows you to edit your videos according to a simple timeline. This app appeals to both experienced and new video editors. If this is your first edit, CapCut provides templates to get you started. If you feel a little more comfortable, you can easily create a quick compilation:

1. On the Edit tab , click New Project .
2. Select the video you want to use. During first use, CapCut will ask you for permission to access your video. You can give it full or limited permissions.
3. Click Add and you'll be taken to the timeline, where you can trim the video, add and edit audio, adjust speed, add transitions, etc.

Tip : CapCut integrates seamlessly with TikTok, so it's a good app to download if TikTok is your destination for your creations!

While there are some differences between the free and paid versions of CapCut, basic timeline editing is available for free.

2. Sound design

Even if you don't want to do blockbuster audio design on your iPhone videos, it would be nice to have some basic audio functionality on the Photos app. Users would love to be able to add music to clips or at least adjust the video's volume.

In addition to the aforementioned CapCut, Instagram is another option for adding music to videos on iPhone. You can download this social media app for free.

Here's how to use Instagram to add music to videos:

1. In the Instagram app, go to the + icon located in the bottom bar.
2. Select Reel from the options along the bottom, select the video(s) you want to edit, and click Next .
3. Tap the music note icon on the left and select a song.
4. Click Next and you'll see a timeline of your synced video and audio. You can select the lower track labeled Tap to add audio if you want to add another song. You can do this if you want to cut from one song to another throughout the video.
5. At this stage, you can make any other necessary adjustments to your video and then share.

Note : While Instagram offers an extremely easy way to add music to videos, music must be published to Instagram to share. Instagram allows downloading edited videos without publishing but only without sound.

3. Visual effects

While Apple advertises the ability to remove backgrounds from images on the iPhone, that feature doesn't exist for videos. Moving images present a series of challenges. But can Apple take the current technology it uses for photos and at least apply it to videos with uniform backgrounds?

The good news is that CapCut has a background removal feature that is accessible to anyone, even non-visual effects experts.

If you're looking for more advanced visual effects, you may have to pay for CapCut Pro or explore another app called Video Star. When comparing CapCut with Video Star, Video Star stands out with its keyframe editor, with which you can create unique masks for each frame of the video clip. You can essentially remove a clip's background with the same precision as expensive software like After Effects.

While you can download Video Star for free, you'll need a paid plan or subscription to access its advanced framing features.

4. Text effects

Captions can be a great asset to videos, and they're quite popular on social media these days. Again, there is technology here for Apple to integrate into its Photos app, but at the time of writing, this product is not yet available.

Instead, users often use TikTok to add automatic text captions to videos. While CapCut and Instagram both have this capability, TikTok is the app that takes the least amount of effort. Here's how to add automatic captions on TikTok:

If I had to choose one app to use while waiting for the Photos app to develop more features, it would be CapCut. However, the best app for your mobile editing needs depends on you and the user interface you're most familiar with.

Isabella Humphrey

Update 24 July 2024