YouTube debuts a new app and AI-powered tools to make video editing easier

What you need to know

• YouTube announced today the launch of a new video editing app, called YouTube Create, to make the editing process easier.
• The app is free to download and is now available on beta in “select markets.”
• The video platform announced the app for the company’s Made for YouTube Event, which also included a suite of AI-powered tools.

YouTube knows full well the pains of producing videos on the platform. This difficulty is perhaps why many content creators have flocked over to TikTok for its ease of making videos. But now, YouTube is making it easier for users to create videos directly on the platform.

The video service introduced a new mobile editing app dubbed YouTube Create to help “streamline the production process” for Shorts, YouTube’s take on TikTok-style videos, as well as long-form video.

“The app offers video editing tools including precision editing and trimming, automatic captioning, voiceover capabilities and access to a library of filters, effects, transitions and royalty-free music with beat matching technology so that creators can produce their next YouTube video without relying on complex editing software. All this, right from their mobile phones,” YouTube said in the announcement.

The idea of a standalone video editing app for YouTube rivals TikTok’s CapCut app, which was created for the same purpose. In the case of YouTube Creates, the company largely relied on insights and feedback gleaned from video creators in the development of the app, which is now available in beta for Android.

The app’s introduction was only part of a suite of news from the company’s Made for YouTube event. The platform also announced a slew of AI-powered features, such as a “Dream Screen” tool that will allow users to create AI-generated backgrounds for their Shorts and longer videos by plugging in a prompt. The company also plans to use generative AI “to spark video ideas and draft outlines to help creators brainstorm.”

These tools are by no means YouTube’s first foray into AI, as the video service recently developed a feature that uses generative AI to create video summaries. And these new features definitely won’t be the last of the platform’s efforts to incorporate AI into its practices.

As for the YouTube Create app, the company notes that the app is free to download and is currently available in beta in “select markets.” But time will tell when further tweaks are made and the app is rolled out more widely.