Apple has retired the Clips app after eight years, marking the conclusion of one of its most experimental and creative ventures. The company confirmed that the video editing app—which allowed users to combine photos, videos, emojis, filters, and soundtracks in seconds—has officially been removed from the App Store.
According to a support page on Apple’s website, as of October 10, new users can no longer download Clips, and there will be no further updates. However, existing users can continue using the app on their current or earlier versions of iOS and iPadOS, and those who previously downloaded it can still re-download it from their Apple account if needed.
The decision signals the end of Apple’s quiet experiment in lightweight, mobile-first video editing. As iOS evolves, the app is expected to gradually lose functionality without updates. For this reason, Apple is encouraging users to save their Clips recordings to their photo library so they can continue viewing or editing them with other video software.
Launched in 2017, Clips was Apple’s answer to the rising popularity of apps like Snapchat and Instagram Stories. Although not a social media platform itself, it offered an easy way for users to create short, engaging videos for sharing across multiple networks. The app gave iPhone and iPad owners a playful, approachable method for expressing creativity, allowing them to overlay text, emojis, filters, and music on brief video clips without needing advanced editing skills.
The news does not seem to surprise Apple fans. Many Reddit users admitted that they had either forgotten about the app or used it only a few times. Clips now feels like a relic of the pre-AI era, as more advanced tools—such as OpenAI’s generative video platform, Sora—emerge. Modern video software can generate entire scenes from text prompts, while Clips relied solely on footage captured by the user.
Still, fans of Clips express nostalgia for its intuitive interface and playful charm. It provided an accessible way for anyone—from children to teachers—to create short, expressive videos without navigating complex editing timelines. The app’s retirement underscores how quickly the video creation landscape has evolved. In 2017, short-form video editing was a novelty; by 2025, nearly every major social media app includes built-in editing tools, making standalone apps like Clips less essential.
For those seeking alternatives, Apple recommends iMovie, its professional yet beginner-friendly video editor, which now incorporates many features that once defined Clips. Third-party apps like CapCut, VN Video Editor, and InShot offer even more flexibility for social media creators.
Nevertheless, Clips’ departure signifies the close of a brief but significant phase in Apple’s software development history. Many found it to be a tool that encapsulated the inventiveness and pleasure of the early smartphone video age, when social sharing was about ease of use rather than algorithms. Apple quietly signals its transition to more AI-driven, cloud-connected creative tools by retiring the Clips App, ending one of its most whimsical products.
