Apple has quietly drawn the curtain on one of its lesser-known experiments – the Clips app, a short-form video editor for iPhone that launched back in 2017. After eight years of modest presence and gradual decline, the app is officially discontinued. 
What was once Apple’s bid to capture the social media video trend has now become another footnote in its long list of software experiments that never quite found their audience.
The confirmation came through Apple’s own support documentation, where a note now states that Clips will no longer receive updates. The company has also removed the app from the App Store for new users, meaning it can’t be freshly downloaded. However, those who previously installed Clips can still redownload it via their Apple ID and continue to use it for as long as it functions. Apple even reminds users they can export or save their creations with or without effects – but hints strongly that they might want to migrate to iMovie, the company’s more feature-rich and enduring video editor.
When Apple first launched Clips in April 2017, it appeared to be a smart response to the growing culture of fast, shareable content popularized by apps like Instagram and Snapchat. Clips allowed users to splice together short video fragments – up to 300 in total, with an overall limit of 60 minutes – and decorate them with filters, stickers, emojis, and animated text screens called Posters. One of its standout features, Live Titles, could transcribe speech in real time across 36 languages, an impressive feat for a free mobile app at the time.
In its early days, Clips generated significant curiosity. Within just four days, it achieved between half a million and one million downloads, suggesting that many users were at least willing to give it a try. Yet despite this initial burst, the app never cracked Apple’s top 20 charts. Competing tools like CapCut, InShot, and Meta’s Reels editor quickly overshadowed it. Meanwhile, social media platforms kept adding their own powerful built-in editing tools, which made standalone editors like Clips feel unnecessary.
Ultimately, Clips became one of those charming yet forgotten Apple experiments – polished but purposeless. It lacked the professional depth of iMovie and the viral momentum of TikTok-style editors. The app’s quiet demise is a reminder that even Apple, a company known for its sleek design and marketing mastery, can’t win every software battle. The mobile ecosystem evolves fast, and only a few tools manage to stay relevant in the creative space.
For creators, the message is clear: Apple is consolidating its video editing ambitions back into iMovie and perhaps even deeper integration with iOS’s Photos and Camera apps. As for Clips, its eight-year run might be remembered fondly by a small group of users who appreciated its simplicity – but for most, it’s a case of ‘Oh, right… that existed.’
1 comment
makes sense, CapCut just does it better now