How to Make a Simple Video With iMovie on iPhone or iPad

iMovie is Apple's free video editing app for iPhone and iPad. It lets you turn your phone's video clips into something you're proud to share — with titles, background music, and clean cuts — without needing any video editing experience.

The app comes pre-installed on many iPhones and iPads, and if it's not already on yours, you can download it free from the App Store. It works on any iPhone or iPad running iOS 17 or later.

iMovie on iPhone is designed around simplicity. You pick the clips you want to use, trim out the parts you don't like, arrange them in order, and add finishing touches like a title card and music. The whole process for a short home video can take 10–15 minutes.

The main things you'll do in iMovie: import clips from your Photos library, trim them by dragging the yellow handles on either end of each clip, add text (titles or captions) by tapping the T button, add background music from iMovie's built-in library or your own music, and then export the finished video back to your Photos app.

iMovie uses a timeline — a horizontal strip at the bottom of the screen that shows your clips in order. You tap a clip to select it, then edit it. You can reorder clips by pressing and holding one, then dragging it to a new position.

There's also a "Magic Movie" mode that automatically edits your clips together if you want a fully automatic result, but the manual method gives you much more control.

Once finished, you share the video from inside iMovie directly to Photos, Messages, email, or social media — all with one tap.

Home movies, vacation recaps, birthday videos, and family memories all benefit from a few minutes of editing in iMovie. The results look genuinely professional for a free tool.