Review on Clips

This week I tried Apple’s fairly new video App “Clips.” This video editing app is available on iPads, iPhones and iPods’ that have undergone the recent software update. This was my first disappointment with this application but certainly not the last. After going through the 30 minute update process, I then was able to download Clips and begin exploring. Upon opening the app I became extremely excited by the promo video, though I soon realized that executing these effects was not so easy.

Clips, in my opinion, is not a very intuitive app and it takes a lot of tapping and experimenting to figure out how it works. Even a Google and YouTube search on “how to use Clips” was not very helpful. Another problem I found with Clips, is that the App appears to freeze. Although I’m not sure if this is an actual problem for all users, I did experience these moments of unresponsiveness on both an iPhone and an iPad. The final downside to Clips, is that it is only available on the Apple products stated in the beginning of this review. Many schools use other types of computers and tablets and will, unfortunately, not have access to this resource.

Although there are certainly cons to Clips, there are also quite a few positives that may tip the scale in this Apps’ favor. First of all teachers can use Clips to edit quick videos, tutorials, or messages to their class and can also upload class videos to their website or classroom social media applications like Seesaw. Videos created on Clips are designed to be easily viewed on social media platforms which is a huge bonus in the convenient department. Teachers are also able to add and edit videos from their library as well as film and take picture directly on the app. There are also several effects and stickers to choose from and users can turn on “speech to text” which can make content material presented in a video lesson more accessible to all students. Finally, this application is free and the download process goes smoothly if you already have the updated software.

Overall, with all of its problems aside, Clips can still be a great tool for teachers in the classroom and I expect it will be easier to find tech advice online as this application becomes more popular. I would recommend giving Clips a try if you are looking to try a new video editing App but, suggest setting aside a good chunk of time to explore and research before committing yourself to any video editing projects. Best of luck and happy editing!