Splice - Video Editor & Maker

Desktop editing on a touchscreen is the ambition. Splice gives iPhone and iPad users a toolset closer to a computer editor than a template app, aimed at anyone assembling social clips or home movies who wants real control without learning a full timeline suite.

Trim, cut, crop and colour correction are the basics. Beyond them: speed ramping, masks and overlays to layer clips, a chroma key to strip backgrounds, a Ken Burns pan for stills, filters, transitions and titles. Audio gets over 6,000 royalty-free tracks licensed from Artlist and Shutterstock, multi-track mixing and a voice recorder. Exports go to the camera roll or directly to social platforms.

A holiday video starts with a dozen clips dropped onto the timeline, trimmed and reordered. A slow-motion ramp on the wave, a Ken Burns drift across a group photo, colour lifted on the dull overcast shots. A track from the library goes under it, ducked beneath a recorded voice-over, and a title slide opens the whole thing. Twenty minutes later it's on the camera roll and on Instagram. Social creators work faster, leaning on the glitch effects and chroma key for a weekly post, and the iPad version gives more room for the layers.

People outgrow template editors and search for something that lets them stack clips, key out a background and ramp speed without buying a laptop app. The licensed music library is a specific draw, since copyright strikes on social platforms make royalty-free audio valuable. iPad support appeals to those who'd rather edit on a bigger screen.

Five screenshots are listed, presumably a timeline with layered clips, the effects browser, the music library, a chroma key demonstration and a finished export. Video editors in the Photography category almost always run a dark interface so footage reads accurately, and a multi-layer timeline is likely the dominant element. The listing doesn't describe the specific design.

Version 4.28.73 is a long patch sequence within a fourth major release, suggesting frequent fixes. The publisher is BENDING SPOONS OPERATIONS SPA, a large company, and the 4.6 rating from more than a hundred thousand reviews is sound if slightly below the batch leaders, which for a subscription editor may reflect pricing complaints as much as quality. Only an App Store link is shown.

Rated 4+ and free to download, but the listing is blunt that the editing tools it describes sit behind a subscription, sold by the week, month or year, with no prices given. In other words, treat it as a paid app with a free download. Video editing itself should work offline, while the music library and social exports need a connection. No account requirement is mentioned. Video projects eat storage, though figures aren't provided. Regional limits aren't stated.