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Snap will launch a standalone iOS video editing app called Story Studio later this year

Snap will launch a standalone iOS video editing app called Story Studio later this year

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To make vertical videos for Spotlight

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Snap’s forthcoming iOS app Story Studio will allow people to handle more complicated videos edits from their mobile device.
Snap’s forthcoming iOS app Story Studio will allow people to handle more complicated videos edits from their mobile device.
Snap

Snap wants to be the company people think of when they go to edit videos on mobile, so during its annual partnership summit today, the company announced a new iOS app that’ll help it achieve that goal: Story Studio. It’ll give people editing tools specifically designed for mobile, or vertical, videos. The app will pull data from Snapchat and its new Spotlight feature, more familiarly recognized as its TikTok competitor, to help people figure out how and what to make.

They can look through Snapchat insights, like what’s trending on the app across sounds, hashtags, and lenses. Lenses will be built directly into Story Studio, as well as Snapchat Sounds and stickers, so editors can add those. Of course, like most other video editing apps, users can trim their videos and edit frame by frame. They can then share directly to Snapchat through a built-in button, or download their work to publish in other apps. Notably, content made in Story Studio won’t include a watermark, meaning if it’s published on other platforms, like Instagram’s Reels, it won’t be demoted by the algorithm.

The app will roll out later this year, and the company didn’t share any other details about a possible Android version.

Additionally today, Snap provided updates on Spotlight. For one, it’s making it easier for video editors to upload content they made in more advanced desktop apps, like Final Cut Pro. Spotlight content can now be uploaded, and watched, through the web at snapchat.com/spotlight.

Snapchat is making it easier for people to upload Spotlight content. Now they can do so through their desktop computer.
Snapchat is making it easier for people to upload Spotlight content. Now they can do so through their desktop computer.
GIF: Snap

Finally, Snap also added that it would no longer be distributing $1 million per day to its top Spotlight creators. Instead, starting June 1st, it’ll distribute millions per month and didn’t specify exactly how much. The amount creators receive will be based on the engagement their posts receive, as it is now, and there’s no set limit on the number of people who can get paid.

This could be a potentially big deal for the company as it heralds Spotlight as a major success. Some teens became nearly overnight millionaires, and Snap says over 125 million used the feature in March. At the same time, Snap also says more than 500 million people are now monthly active users, which it announced today. It’s possible Spotlight had a hand in this growth, but the number of people logging on might decrease when the promise of a million distributed dollars per day disappears.