Apple Says Goodbye to the Clips App

Apple appears to be discontinuing support for Clips, having removed the app from the App Store and indicated that no additional updates will be released.

As per a support page on Apple’s website, Clips has been unavailable for download by new users as of October 10. Current users can still utilize the app on their existing or older versions of iOS and iPadOS, and can re-download it from their Apple account if needed.

Without future updates, the usability of Clips may gradually decline. Thus, Apple recommends that users save their Clips videos (edited or unedited) to their photo library, enabling them to view and edit these videos with other applications.

Launched in 2017, Clips seemed to be Apple’s answer to Snapchat and Instagram Stories—although it wasn’t a social network, it allowed users to merge photos and videos with filters, emojis, and music.

In its early days, TechCrunch’s Brian Heater characterized Clips’ video editing capabilities as rather basic, suggesting that the app could demonstrate Apple’s hardware and software prowess while presenting users with an alternative to rapidly growing social networks.

MacRumors notes that while Apple initially added new features to Clips, most of the later updates have focused mainly on fixing bugs.

Reddit users, who are fans of Apple, expressed little surprise about this development, stating they had either used the app years ago or were unfamiliar with it. Additionally, an app like Clips—focused on authentic content created by real people—may now seem somewhat outdated in comparison to Sora, OpenAI’s generative AI video application, which has recently amassed over 1 million downloads.