Meta recently launched the new Edits app in an effort to beef up their video offering and compete with the most popular mobile editing apps like CapCut. Officially dubbed "Edits, an Instagram app" in various app stores, the new platform might just be worth checking out for mobile-first creators.
Meta's Move Into Mobile Editing
Meta has made some aggressive moves to expand its social media reach in the past few years. From leaning into vertical video with "Reels" on both Facebook and Instagram to expanding into microblogging with Threads, and now moving into creative editing suites.
Notably, they've done so while leaning into the steadfast popularity of Instagram. That app seems to be the guiding light for many of these changes and the anchor to which other parts of Meta's moves are associated. For instance, Reels first launched on Instagram and are slowly being absorbed more into the Meta ecosystem. Facebook now features Reels, and users can easily add their Instagram Reels to Facebook without ever actually going into Facebook. The platform even started combining views from crossposted Reels on Instagram in an effort to boost that platform's perceived reach.
When Instagram launched Threads, the platform made it very easy to port over your existing audience and follow people you were already following on Instagram. One of the hardest parts about launching new social media platforms is getting creators to try to build their audience again from the ground up. Tying Threads in to Instagram helped reduce that strain greatly.
From the outside looking in, it very much seems that Meta is aware their brand strength with users lies mostly in Instagram — and they'd do best to hitch their other products to that wagon as well. However, there are some very interesting features of Edits that truly does make it feel like an extension of Instagram, not just a marketing move.
Speaking to a room of influencer athletes at AthleteCon in Charlotte, North Carolina, Meta's Nick Marques says, "The No. 1 thing we’ve heard [from users] is, 'We want a place that makes it easier to create content on IG.'"
Marques notes that viewing Reels now accounts for 50 percent of time spent on Instagram, meaning short-form vertical video is here to stay.
Features Of Edit, an Instagram App
At its core, Edits is a mobile video editor designed to help users make their reels more compelling. Many mobile users edit on CapCut, a product developed by TikTok developer ByteDance. In fact, at one point CapCut was the second-most downloaded app in the United States and now has more than 300 million active users. (Worth mentioning that CapCut also briefly left U.S. users when TikTok was banned, thanks to it falling under the same general umbrella of banned apps).
Thanks to Edits' direct integration with Instagram, however, it can do some pretty interesting things. "Edits has tools for ideas, inspiration, capturing, creation, editing, collaboration, project management, sharing, and insights," Marques says.
Meta's Zachary Tisch notes that, while Edits is still very new and rapidly iterating, the core features are designed to pretty much help users do everything except actually browse Instagram. "The idea is to simplify the workflow for creators from idea phase to execution," Tisch says.
For example — when you're browsing Instagram and you save a Reel, that shows up in Edits' ideas tab. You can also add notes to these Reels in order to comment specifically on what you liked about it. The projects tab functions similar to cloud storage like Google Drive or Dropbox, meaning anything you do in projects will automatically save to the cloud — which allows you to edit and collaborate in a more carefree way.
Which brings up another cool feature — the ability to share your Reel at any point during the workflow to get feedback from collaborators.
There are also some cool tools to help users create cuts and edits right on the beat of music, add built-in green screen features, transitions, and more. Plus, you know, the ability to shoot the footage inside the app. Tisch also shared that pretty soon Edits will feature keyframes (a pretty fundamental part of video editing beyond the beginner stages) and a royalty free music library.
And, importantly, Edits can be used to create content no matter your preferred platform.
A Race Of Convenience
The launch of Edits does seem to denote a particular shift in the social media wars. Platforms competed heavily for users and watch time, furiously launching and testing new features within apps. Instagram copied TikTok's format, so TikTok started using stories. They both tried to see if anybody cared about BeReal's core function. Instagram added the ability to basically put a "status" on your profile, while TikTok introduced carousel images.
But now, it seems there's been a shift towards wanting to make the actual process of creating on these apps easier and more fun. Instagram has made it much simpler to crosspost your content across Meta's three main platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. And now, the Edits app wants to make it even simpler and fun to create compelling content in the first place.
Will it succeed? Early feedback seems positive. While a lot of professional creators ultimately still edit their content on other professional editing suites, having a seamless and simple setup could encourage more quick creation. Ultimately, the easier it is to create and distribute content, the more likely users are to make it their number one platform.