Why Snapchat Will Not Lose Sleep Over Apple Clips App

When every man and his dog launches their own variation of Snapchat, Apple Clips App does not come as a surprise. The new iOS app that helps make and share short videos with text, effects and graphics, will be available on iOS 10.3 in April.

Designed with millennials in mind?

The rumor about Apple video sharing and editing app being in the works surfaced back in August last year when Bloomberg reported that Apple was "seeking to create its own features to remain relevant, particularly for younger users".

While Apple describes Clips as an "innovative way to create animated titles" with "a unique design", it might not look as innovative or unique to Snapchat that offers most of these features in the app. Not to mention that the video below featuring "millennials" using the Clips app on the go on an iPad more likely demonstrates Apple's wishful thinking rather than a reflection of how young people create and share content on the go. (Here's what millennials think about taking pictures with an iPad.)

Not "yet another Snapchat clone"

While many rushed to label Apple Clips App as a yet another Snapchat (Instagram Stories, Whatsapp Status, Facebook Stories - you name it!) clone, the app is more of a baby born to iMovie and Memories parents. Apple Clips App makes it easy to quickly edit photos and videos using simplified functionality of these two on the go, helping users create fun videos to share with friends.

Unlike its "competitors", the video editing app does not come with added social media network functionality. One can, indeed, easily share their masterpiece on social media including Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Vimeo or send it via iMessage, but Apple doesn't force the users to adopt a new social network (lessons learnt from Google+?).

Smart features spotlight

As a simple video editing app for beginners who are not ready for iMovie yet, Apple Clips App has a number of smart features that deserve some attention:

• Unlike iMovie that helps edit videos on desktop, Clips are designed for mobile and are to be used on the go. The app has an intuitive design and is perfect for beginners
• With Clips users can use multiple clips to include into a final video by shooting videos, adding them to the Photo Library and editing it further
• Users can add full-screen posters with animated backgrounds and customizable text
• Clips offer a variety of music soundtracks that automatically adjust to match the length of a video
• Live Titles in Clips (this is our most favorite feature) are animated captions and titles that are generated automatically as a user speaks, and appear on screen synced with the user’s voice. Live Titles are available in 36 different languages.
• When sharing the videos created with Apple Clips App with with friends in Messages, Clips will suggest whom to share it with based on the people who appear in the video, and the people a user shares with most often.

It is possible that Clips is a preview of iOS future capabilities in AR and VR that Apple is working on.

Apple Clips App will be available on the App Store for free in April, on iPhones, iPads and iPods running iOS 10.3