🍎 What Happened
Clips, Apple’s video-editing app (iPhone / iPad), has been discontinued. As of October 10, 2025, the app is no longer available for new users on the App Store.
Existing users who already have it installed can still use it (on iOS/iPadOS 26 or earlier), and can re-download from their Apple account.
The app will no longer receive updates — no bug fixes, new features, or compatibility assurances.
Apple is advising users to export or save their content (videos, projects) to the Photos app or other storage, to avoid losing them if Clips becomes unusable.
🔍 Why It Was Discontinued
Here are the likely reasons based on public info + analysis:
Redundant functionality
Many of the editing features Clips offered — filters, adding text, stitching video snippets, voice captions (“Live Titles”) — are now commonplace in other apps (Instagram, TikTok, etc.). For many users, they don’t need a separate app.
Low usage / limited adoption
Clips never became a top-charting app. It seems it had a niche audience rather than mass adoption. Over time Apple’s updates dwindled to mostly maintenance / bug fixes.
Resource allocation vs. ROI
Maintaining an app requires ongoing effort (compatibility with future iOS versions, bug fixes, feature requests). If many features are duplicated elsewhere, the cost-benefit may lean toward sunsetting. Apple likely decided that their creative resources are better spent elsewhere.
Ecosystem overlap
Apple also has iMovie, Final Cut etc. As video creation tools mature and as smartphones get more powerful, having too many overlapping apps/features can dilute focus. Also, third parties are strong in this space (CapCut, etc.).
⚠️ What It Means for Users
If you used Clips, export your videos now especially with effects, so you don’t lose content if the app stops working with future OS updates.
For casual video creating, many good alternatives exist: iMovie (Apple’s own), other third-party video editors like InShot, VN Video Editor, etc.
New users won’t be able to start using Clips at all; so if you were considering it, pick another.
đź’ˇ Lessons & Takeaways
For product-builders, companies, app developers, etc, the Clips story offers useful lessons:
Watch overlap with competitors / built-ins
If your app’s features are being replicated by OS-level features or by big, popular platforms, you need either a strong differentiator or a niche focus. Otherwise, you may get overshadowed.
Keep user metrics in sight
It’s not enough to build something cool — to sustain it, you need consistent usage, growth, engagement. If those decline, even well-backed apps can be retired.
Communicate clearly when sunsetting
Apple is being fairly responsible: giving users time, giving instructions to preserve content, letting existing users keep using it for now. That’s good product-practice.
Know when to consolidate
Sometimes simpler is better. Maintaining fewer apps, focusing on key products, and letting less central ones fade can sharpen the overall ecosystem.
🤔 My Take & Reflection
I think Clips was an interesting experiment by Apple — appealing in its simplicity, especially early on. Features like “Live Titles” were ahead of their time. But in a world where nearly every social app offers video editing, filters, etc., Clips lacked a strong distinguishing factor.
Also, as phones got more powerful and creators expected more from editing tools, Clips’ “lightweight / simple” positioning might have worked against it: for more complex editing, people naturally go to stronger tools; for very casual edits, they might just use what’s built into the camera or social apps.
Apple retiring Clips doesn’t surprise me. The discontinuation is done relatively cleanly, which is good, but it still means some users will feel orphaned, especially those who liked its minimalism.
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