The Ultimate Guide to Video Editing: Best Tools for Short Forms

Best YouTube Shorts Video Editing Apps for iOS and Android

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Even though Shorts is integrated within the YouTube app and still in beta, you can still edit your videos. At this writing, the only additional elements that you can add to your short videos are background music and captions. While these two are good enough to make your clips informative, they might not be able to attract as many viewers as there would have been if the footages were well-decorated with a couple of filters, effects, stickers, etc.

That said, listed below are some of the efficient and feature-packed third-party apps that can help you beautify your videos before they can be published as Shorts on your YouTube channel:

Best Shorts Video Editing Apps for iOS and Android (Free and Paid)

Top 10 short video editing apps for smartphones, along with their attributes, include:

1. Wondershare Filmora

This was developed by one of the IT giants called Wondershare. The elder sibling of Filmora is Filmora, a PC program for both Windows and Mac platforms that gives tough competition to some of the commonly used post-production applications like Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro X, etc.

Supported Platforms: Android and iOS (11.0 and above)

Users’ Star Rating (Out of 5): 4.6

Main Features: Allows video editing (trimming, cutting, etc.), adds or extracts music from the videos, supports HD quality exporting, etc.

Aspect Ratio: Almost all widely used sizes

Sharing: Allows publishing directly to YouTube

Pros: Free to use, available for both iOS and Android, a complete package for video editing enthusiasts

Cons: Free version adds a watermark to the exported videos

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2. VideoLeap – Video Editor – Film Photo Editor

Another lightweight video editor for mobile devices, VideoLeap, lets you edit the videos simply and quickly.

Supported Platforms: Android (4.3 and above) and iOS (12.0 and above)

Users’ Star Rating (Out of 5): 4.3

Main Features: Has more than 200 filters, allows trimming and cropping, offers a practically unlimited number of undoes and redoes

Aspect Ratio: Almost all widely used sizes

Sharing: Exports videos to the device

Pros: Offers layer-based editing, gives access to the professional-level filters for video decoration, has more than 60 overlays, etc.

Cons: Paid subscription is needed to access features like edit, crop, and reverse

3. KineMaster Video Editor

KineMaster is probably one of the most popular video editors among vloggers, beginners, and teenagers. With simple UI, the app offers easy access to many of its features to edit the videos.

Supported Platforms: Android (6.0 and above) and iOS (12.4 and above)

Users’ Star Rating (Out of 5): 4.7

Main Features: Color correction, video reversal, trimming, splitting, cutting, voice changer, sound effects, etc.

Aspect Ratio: Almost all widely used sizes

Sharing: Allows publishing directly to YouTube

Pros: Can export videos to 4K 60 FPS, can be used for free, supports multiple languages

Cons: A premium subscription must be purchased to access advanced features

4. Video Maker for YouTube – Video.Guru

This one is specifically designed and developed for short videos that are prepared for Tik Tok, Facebook, etc.

Supported Platforms: Android (5.0 and above)

Users’ Star Rating (Out of 5): 4.8

Main Features: Supports multi-layer editing, allows voice recording and voiceovers, can be used to create videos for YouTube, has several filters and effects, etc.

Aspect Ratio: Almost all widely used sizes

Sharing: Allows publishing directly to YouTube

Pros: Offers fully licensed music for a video background, allows audio fade-in and fade-out effects, allows music video creation, lets you merge two or more clips into one, etc.

Cons: Some users experience distortion while using an external microphone

5. Adobe Premiere Rush

Developed by the creative application developing giant, Adobe, this app has everything you would possibly need to prepare YouTube Shorts. Because the developer is Adobe, the program can be trusted without any doubts.

Supported Platforms: Android and iOS (13.0 and above)

Users’ Star Rating (Out of 5): 4.6

Main Features: Allows video recording with the built-in camera, allows adding animated titles using the available templates, has a multi-track timeline, etc.

Aspect Ratio: Almost all widely used sizes

Sharing: Allows publishing directly to YouTube

Pros: Offers several editing effects, has a plethora of royalty-free soundtracks, etc.

Cons: Advanced tools can be accessed only after buying a premium subscription

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6. Funimate Video Editor & Maker

With a 4.7-star rating, this app has been ranked as the best in more than 100 countries. The program has several built-in video effects to make your clips more engaging.

Supported Platforms: Android (5.0 and above) and iOS (12.0 and above)

Users’ Star Rating (Out of 5): 4.7

Main Features: Enables lip-sync, allows keyframe-oriented animations and effects, supports video masking, etc.

Aspect Ratio: Almost all widely used sizes

Sharing: Allows publishing directly to social platforms like YouTube, Tik Tok, Instagram, etc.

Pros: Has intro and outro effects, allows you to add music to the videos, is free to use, etc.

Cons: Paid subscription is needed to unlock all the advanced tools and features of the app

7. LumaFusion

LumaFusion is crowned with a 4.8-star rating and is packed with options like media library, slow and fast motion playback, additional audio tracks, and much more.

Supported Platforms: iOS (13.3 and above)

Users’ Star Rating (Out of 5): 4.8

Main Features: Frame rates that range between 18 FPS to 240 FPS, color correction, keyframe-oriented color, and effects animations, etc.

Aspect Ratio: Almost all widely used sizes

Sharing: Allows publishing directly to almost all platforms

Pros: Can export projects as Final Cut Pro X files for further editing

Cons: Paid subscription is needed for exporting projects for Final Cut Pro X

8. VivaCut – PRO Video Editor APP

As the name suggests, VivaCut is a professional-level video editing tool for mobile devices that enjoys a decent star rating.

Supported Platforms: Android (5.0 and above) and iOS (9.0 and above)

Users’ Star Rating (Out of 5): 4.7

Main Features: Offers visual effects like VHS, RGP, Glitch, etc., allows Picture-in-Picture (to be released soon), allows video trimming, cropping, and merging, etc.

Aspect Ratio: Almost all widely used sizes

Sharing: Allows one-click publishing directly on YouTube

Pros: Supports up to 4K video resolution

Cons: Paid subscription is required to access the Pro-level features and options

9. Filmmaker Pro – Video Editor

Filmmaker Pro is a free video editing app for mobile devices equipped with a plethora of pro features to make your post-production experience convenient and fun.

Supported Platforms: Android (4.4 and above) and iOS (11.0 and above)

Users’ Star Rating (Out of 5): 4.6

Main Features: Supports video playback reversal, allows Picture-in-Picture for videos and photos, supports green screen (chroma key), and much more.

Aspect Ratio: Almost all widely used sizes

Sharing: Exports videos to the device

Pros: Offers several text animation options, has drawing tools, etc.

Cons: Paid subscription is required to remove watermark from the exported videos

10. Video Editor for YouTube & Video Maker – My Movie

Yet another editor for both amateurs and professionals, Video Editor for YouTube, consists of all the features that a YouTube Shorts video needs to prepare engaging content.

Supported Platforms: Android (5.0 and above)

Users’ Star Rating (Out of 5): 4.6

Main Features: Allows cropping, flipping, and rotating the video clips, allows audio recording for voiceovers, lets you control the playback speed, etc.

Aspect Ratio: Almost all widely used sizes

Sharing: Allows publishing directly on YouTube

Pros: Has keyframe-oriented animation effects, can merge multiple video clips into one, etc.

Cons: Some content might not be suitable for kids below 12 years of age

Above are some of the best video editing apps that you can use on iPhone or Android phones to create YouTube Shorts videos. Besides those third-party apps, you can also create a Shorts video from the YouTube app directly. Check this article to get detailed information about making and uploading a YouTube Shorts Video with Shorts App .

Use Filmora to Create YouTube Shorts Video on PC

If you prefer to convert or make videos on a computer, I recommend you to try our video editor Filmora X , which is an ideal solution for YouTubers.

You can make a vertical video with Filmora easily as it provides a 9:16 aspect ratio that works perfectly for editing YouTube Shorts videos. Compared with mobile apps, desktop softwares like Filmora allows you to add more elements and effects to your video to make it impressive. Check out the below video about how to edit vertical video using our Filmora X and try it out if you are impressed.

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Conclusion

Making videos less than 60 seconds in duration and then publishing them on YouTube with the ‘#Shorts’ tag in the title or description lets you create short videos for YouTube. The apps listed above help you in this, and you can easily prepare attractive and engaging short clips pretty quickly using any of them. However, the most recommended, widely used, and the much-appreciated program is Wondershare Filmora that is not merely limited to mobile application-level features, it even has tools that usually compete with those available in the desktop software.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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