Apple has officially ended development of its video app Clips, removing it from the App Store and confirming that it will no longer receive updates. The decision effectively closes the chapter on an experiment that once aimed to give iPhone and iPad users a lightweight, creative alternative to social video platforms like Snapchat and Instagram.
According to a notice posted on Apple’s support site, Clips was removed from the App Store on October 10. New users can no longer download the app, though those who already have it installed can continue to use it on current or earlier versions of iOS and iPadOS. Apple also noted that existing users can still re-download it from their account history if needed. However, without ongoing updates, the company acknowledged that the app may become less reliable over time. Users are being advised to save any videos they’ve made to their photo libraries for editing or sharing through other software.
Launched in 2017, Clips was Apple’s attempt to capture the casual, short-form video trend that dominated mobile media during the rise of Snapchat Stories and Instagram’s video tools. The app allowed users to splice together photos and clips, overlay filters, add emojis and captions, and sync background music — all within a simple interface. It was designed to encourage spontaneous creativity while showcasing the power of Apple’s camera and processing hardware.
Critics, however, viewed Clips as more of a tech demo than a serious content creation platform. Its editing features were intentionally minimal, offering little to compete with social networks that provided both tools and built-in audiences. Over time, updates slowed to minor performance tweaks, suggesting the app had lost its strategic relevance within Apple’s software ecosystem.
Reaction to its discontinuation has been muted. On Reddit and other forums, most users admitted they had forgotten about Clips or had only tried it once. Its decline also underscores a broader shift in how people create and share video: Apple’s static, user-generated model now looks dated compared to emerging tools like OpenAI’s Sora, which uses generative AI to produce video content from text prompts and recently surpassed one million downloads.
