Edits - New Video Editing App
Instagram's newest app, Edits, has been on the spotlight recently - partly because of never ending TikTok & CapCut saga in the US. Many liked CapCut as a versatile, mobile-first tool for video editing and it is not that clear whether Edits could be seen as the best CapCut replacement.
History
The Instagram head, Adam Mosseri first announced the app back in January 2025 emphasizing that Edits would contain a full suite of creative tools. Like many tech launches the app faced some delays and finally made its debut on April 21, 2025. The Google Play store shows that the app had more the 5 million downloads.
Success
The timing of Instagram Edits' release was not completely random. The app came out during a period when TikTok and its corresponding editing app, CapCut, were facing regulatory challenges in the US market. With CapCut temporarily removed from major app stores as part of the TikTok ban many started actively searching for alternatives. Moreover, Instagram wisely positioned Edits as platform-independent app emphasizing that it could be used to create content for any social media.
It seems that history is repeating itself. India once was the biggest TikTok market but the app was banned in June 2020. In August 2020, Instagram launched a short-form video feed called Reels, just months after the TikTok ban. Similarly, YouTube followed with Shorts. It appeared that the majority of the Indian short-video stars moved to Instagram. Could we see a similar pattern with Edits in US?
Edits is less that a month old and it is way too early to talk about its success. It has been designed for “creators” but casual video makers would also benefit from it since the app has all the tools to enable video creation in one place. Seems that people like Edits: more than 7 million downloads with the average ratings of 4.4 on Google Play and 4.6 on Apple App Stores.
Reviews
Initial media reviews were quite optimistic. According to Business Insider, “Reels made in Edits will also be optimized for higher-resolution video - up to 2K resolution. As of now, Instagram is not giving preferential ranking to reels with the ‘Made with Edits’ tag, the company confirmed to BI”. The TechRadar observer pointed out that “more advanced effects, like Cutouts, which allows you to isolate a person or object on screen with tracking, or Animate, which likely utilizes a Meta LLM, can turn images into video for engaging moments, are also included” and “while the AI features aren’t make or break, they could let creators spice up content, and I like the promised functionality of Cutouts”.
Other showed a bit of reservation. Wired noted that “Edits is initially more approachable as an app, but picky creators may find CapCut’s additional options for video editing gives them a more fine-tuned level of control over the final product”. CNET saw that some important features to be added - “it's not feature-loaded enough to replace professional programs like those from Adobe. But its user-friendliness, convenience and ties to Instagram are sure to win it some fans - just like CapCut did for TikTok”.
Independent bloggers are usually less impressed. Lia from ICYMI wrote that “Edits doesn’t yet compare to the paid version of CapCut - but it could catch up”. WindowsForum posted review concluding that “if you’re a social video power-user, Edits is worth a spin, even just for the pure satisfaction of not advertising another app every time you export a clip. If you’re more invested in privacy, platform independence, or content originality, keep your skepticism sharp”.
Best of Edits
The immediate advantage of the app, primarily for Reels, is better optimized, higher quality video. Although Meta will not prioritize video posts “Made with Edits” the better quality video may have a positive - secondary effect. The close integration of Edits and Instagram provides other advantages like analytics-insights or the Edits’ Inspiration tab.
The other feature that is highly advertised and noted by observers is the Cutouts powered by Meta's Segment Anything Model. The Cutouts lets an editor select an object in a frame and then automatically track it throughout the video. What makes it special is the possibility to edit across several video layers, apply filters to specific parts and place elements like text and stickers behind objects. Within 24 hours of the Edits' launch Cutouts was instantly used many times showing its immediate acceptance. In addition, there is an open source model on Github in case one likes coding with Python.
There are already many Edits’ tutorials and guides on YouTube and and below are few that could be useful for the start
Edits is a new video editing app that is packed with many features that are constantly updated every week - all that takes some time to master.
All Just Hype?
The best way to understand Instagram Edits is to try it! The app design is very intuitive making it approachable even for beginners. As you play with the app you may discover new creative editing cutouts that will make your video clips stand out in the very crowded social feeds.