More people are likely to be using iMovie on an iPhone or iPad than on a Mac, simply because more of those devices are in use. Apple has gone to great pains to make the macOS and iOS versions of iMovie consistent, but the Storyboard and Magic Movie features remain mobile-only. I’m not sure why Apple never added these helpful tools to the desktop version, though it did add Trailers.
The timeline works brilliantly on smaller mobile screens. Instead of moving the insertion point, you swipe on the clip thumbnail itself to move it in the timeline.
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The app supports HDR (Dolby Vision, which newer iPhones support), offers lots of title customization options, imports and shares 4K 60fps content, and lets you use gradient, patterned, and solid backgrounds.
Transitions are obvious thanks to arrows in small boxes between the clips. Clicking on them lets you change the type. You can add more media to your movie by tapping a plus sign, and reordering content is as simple as tapping and dragging. You can also intuitively pinch-zoom the whole timeline. If any interface element is unclear, simply tap the question mark icon for an explanation.
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To create a new movie on mobile, click the plus sign. As in the Mac version, you then see a choice of Movie or Trailer. Both options offer templates, with Trailers going further in guiding you on which types of scenes to include. The Movie option includes default transitions and titles, optional background music, and applies motion to any still images you include.
Dozens of fonts keep the movie-making experience fresh, and you can change the color picker or eyedropper, and edit the title’s size and location with pinch-and-drag touch gestures.
When you tap on a clip, you can split it, detach its audio track, duplicate it, or delete it. Time-stretching options include freeze-frame, speedup, and slowdown. Outputting movies on the iPhone or iPad is like sharing from any other iOS app.
Storyboards and Magic Movies
The mobile version of iMovie extends the concept of Trailers, the templates that tell you exactly what kind of shot to add to create a compelling mini movie, with the Storyboards feature. This offers 20 template types, of which Trailers is just one. Among the templates are those suitable for cooking tutorials, makeovers, news reports, product reviews, and video games. It’s a healthy selection.
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Once you settle on a Storyboard type, you choose a Style, which you can change at any point. The Storyboard templates offer a great starting point for YouTubers to deliver polished uploads for their subscribers. The templates aren’t rigid, either. You can add, remove, and reorder shots to taste, or apply Instagram-like filters. You can also change the look and feel of the productions later, choosing a different style.
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The Magic Movies feature makes digital movie-making as simple as it gets. You select videos from your camera roll, and the tool trims them and joins them into a mini-movie with a title and background music. As with Storyboard movies, you can adjust the relative volumes of the background music and your clip. It’s also possible to open the project in the full editor to change clip lengths and make other edits; just tap the pencil icon next to a thumbnail and choose Edit Clip.
