Why Clips is smarter than you think

Apple’s new video capture and editing tool could rule social media BY Ed Rickets

At first glance you might wonder why Apple has bothered to introduce Clips, its upcoming mobile video app. Clips promises filters, stickers, and simple recording that makes it easy to create snazzy video, uh, clips – but then, so what? Snapchat, Instagram, and countless other apps have that covered, right?

As usual, though, Apple has thought that one step further. For one, Clips isn’t a messaging app or a social media platform – its sole aim is to create video, which you can then share using the app of your own choice. Hold a button to record, and let go to stop. Once you’re done, you can drag clips into some kind of order and add effects, emoji, animated icons and the like. It’s like iMovie distilled into its purest form.

Plus, of course, there’s text – and this is where one of Clips’ best features comes to light. It’s called Live Titles, and it performs the seemingly simple task of transcribing your voice into written subtitles, while following the rhythm of your speech: Text appears precisely at the moment you say a word, making it easy to caption videos.

Live Titles is powered by Siri’s dictation capabilities. Reports from early testers reveal it to be remarkably accurate – and even if it does get a word wrong, you can edit it later while still keeping the time-coding. Live Titles supports 36 languages, with more to follow.

Adding music to your video is also incredibly simple, with a selection of fairly typical mood pieces. These can alter their length to fit your video, with parts being selected dynamically and seamlessly.

Clips works on iPhone models all the way back to the 5s, all iPad Air and Pro models, the new 9.7-inch iPad, iPad mini 2 and later, and the 6th-generation iPod touch. We can’t wait to see the effect it has on social media. Apple announced an April release for the app.

Clips looks like a fun, faster way than iMovie to make social media videos.