User Reviews for iMovie

0 out of 5

0 Ratings

1 year ago, AzoraKaï

I'm not calling it bad, but...

Hey, Apple. I've been using iMovie for a few years now, and there's some much needed updates. For example, I like the SFX and BGM choices, but we need some way to import other songs. I mean, I like it, but you need to strech out your possbilities. For another thing, add better text. Text is used for captions and all that other stuff, but I don't like having to crop my video every five seconds to add more text. I'm also a bit skeptical about the green\blue screen features. I pull up a green screen, and what do I get? Nothing on it! I may be putting this in ways that readers may not understand, so allow me to break it down: The screen that the GREEN-screen is shown on doesn't show the photo I've imported. To be honest, if you're gonna try and outdo all the other developers out there with their fancy editing systems, you might as well put a LITTLE effort in it! I'm sure you understand.

2 years ago, HomeSweetHolly

Amazing what you can do with this free product!

My husband and I are YouTubers who like to put out a professional product but don't yet have money in the budget for a professional movie editing program. We have found iMovie to be a very good product for the price! We're actually amazed at being able to combine multiple video and audio tracks together, do various transitions, change the speed of clips, crop, use filters, etc. There really is so much you can do, and I'm learning new tricks all the time to improve my videos. The frustrations I have with this program, first and foremost--the "Titles" are very limited. I find myself constantly tweaking the few options that are there to "kind of" do what I want, and there are such limited places and styles to overlay text on a clip. I would also love to be able to include other animated graphics, such as moving arrows or circling an object. And finally, exporting videos is excruciatingly slow and requires so much hard drive space! I have had to connect a bootable external hard drive to my Macbook just for iMovie use, since I've started shooting in 5K . If these issues could be resolved, I would honestly not ever have need for a "professional" movie program, and would give this a resounding 5 stars.

6 years ago, Bob_Eff

Useless for videos of any real length.

As soon as I begin to create videos of any real length over a minute or two, iMovie chokes completely. I recorded about an hour of 1080p video with my Sony video camera, imported it to my Mac and tried to edit down to about 10 min. I wasted days letting it process my video files which Windows Movie Maker had 0 issues with in the past. The first thing I noticed is the temp files wiped out about 100gb of space on my drive to store temporary data. When editing for even a minute or so the spinning wheel would begin again. I’d literally fall asleep watching it. My Macbook is mid 2015 model with the video all on an SSD drive and 8GB ram. I made sure it had plenty of memory and CPU available. After weeks of wasting my time with iMovie, I finally started from scratch on my 2011 Windows PC with non SSD hard drive, using the old Windows Movie Maker software. Within about 2 hours time I had somethng that could be published. My expensive Mac was crushed by my old cheap PC with the free Movie Maker software from Microsoft, in the department Apple use to be known by - Video. My how have times changed. I spoke to customer support, they asked for details of the video files. It was noted. Weeks later I’ve heard no response.

7 years ago, Midi the Veg

Absolutely awful

Apple just refuses to leave well enough alone when it comes to their software. I used to create band promo videos with EASE with the previous version, imported audio & video, synced everything up, edited clips, and came out with a good final product… NOW?? they have discontinued some of the features and created an entirely new interface. 3 calls to tech support to try and figure it out only to find out it will no longer do what I need it to do. WHY DISCONTINUE USEFUL FEATURES?? Why make an interface LESS user friendly??? Not only that, when I upgraded from the previous version, I lost a good deal of my existing projects… Poof!!! gone, not recoverable. And one of the imovie ‘specialists’ at tech support actually told me he doesn’t use imovie so doesn’t really know all the features…. omigod!! Apple, I am absolutely furious that, having learned how to use the previous version of iMovie, I now have to search for and purchase a different software program and learn how to use it simply to accomplish the same thing . They’v done it with iTunes also, every time there’s a major update it becomes less user friendly. If I could just break off from Apple completely after this I would, I am that upset.

7 years ago, Just another demigod

MTS Files won’t Import SOLVED!

New problem to this update, I cannot import any MTS files. It trys to import them as .mov files but they are not, they are AVCHD .MTS files. iMovie crashes every time I try to stop the import which isn’t working. I did a test to see if I have corrupt Sd card or camera isn’t writing files properly but that is not the case. I use iMovie all the time for years and just updated, but also updated to High Sierra as well. Could be a problem of the two together. My iMac is the newest version as well, two months old. My Camera is Panasonic HC-X920, pretty darn good camera, defineatly an apple issue after the update. Please Fix this issue, iMovie is useless if it can’t import AVCHD files. Love the program when it works! One star for this only……. APPLECARE had me uninstall "Perian and MacFUSE" from the system preferences pane, and also do a “Command, Option P, R, reset on startup(Hold all these keys on Startup until you hear the sound or the screen flashes. Solved the issue. Pretty common apparently.

4 years ago, Buzlite

Great Software

Because this app does it all, it isn't the easiest to use out of the blocks, but there are a lot of videos on how to do most everything you'd want to do. I have been working on a movie with my grandkids and have been using green screen, and am very happy with that. I thought I would need to do that editing in another app but it is right there. Making audio is great too, raising the volume of the recording is just a click, which worked for me since I was filming with just my iPhone 10 and the grandkids conversations were a little low so didn't have to refilm. Background music and sound affects are right there to use too. Once I got started with the project I'm as excited about it as the grandkids. I know it might be easier but with the power it has and everything you can do it will take some time to be good, been using it a month and still need to research how to do some thing I need to do. All for free too. 5 STARS

7 years ago, Stormyblueseas

Great and Easy Program Pior to Update

My first macbook this year! I was so excited having already invested in much of the apple market and wanted to finish it off. I was utilizing garage band on my other devices, partnered with another program to edit on that was slightly easier on my PC. I also loved utilizing imovie on my iPad. So it was a natural progression that when I needed to invest in a new computer, I would go with Mac. I loved imovie on the ipad, and the transition to my mac was easy (unlike garage band which the programs were not utilized the same). Movies for work, for personal blogging, and for fun was easy to do using imovie. Upon the most recent update (10.1.7), however, it is impossible to create a movie as the app crashes upon opening. Call me impatient for a new bug fix release (as the update just occured). but it is kind of important that things work as they are supposed to when I need them to. That’s what we expect from Mac/apple, right? Seamless integration, effectiveness, productivity, etc… can’t be productive if the app doesn’t work. :(. Wil update my review when apple fixes this issue. :)

7 years ago, Kearnsie313

Two thumbs down and extreme disappointment from me

I have never used something so counterintuitive. I hate this software, it's so hard to use. Why is it so difficult to add text to images? I have to add a “Title” to a picture instead. When I do manage to get a title synced up with a picture, I can barely edit the text. Some title slides won’t even let me change the size of the text, but even when I CAN edit the text, what I can change in minimal. I can change the font, size, color, and make the text bold, italic, or outlined. I can also align the text within the text box. What I cannot do is change the size of the text box, delete extra text boxes that I’m not using, and move the text box around. Literally all I want to do is make a picture slideshow with words overlayed on the pictures and background music. I can’t even do that with iMovie. I’ve resorted to desperately trying to find different, better software. Oh, how I wish I had Windows Movie Maker right now. APPLE EMPLOYEES: If your product has more reviews that are 3 stars or less than reviews that are 4 stars or better, there is something wrong with the product. FIX THIS APP.

1 year ago, DeeNice281

Project clips keep disappearing

So everytime I make a project the clips keep disappearing in my projects. The majority of the clips are still in the media section so I can just add the majority of them back from the media section into the project. However this is highly annoying that everytime I reopen imovie to watch a project that I've made I have to readd clips that I've added over and over again. A few clips are not even staying in the media section as well which means i have to readd them from the updated project media folder all the way back into imovie. Sometimes they automatically show up in my project if I add it into the project folder in imovie but I've noticed that sometimes the time or date is different. Meaning that even though its the same clip the project thinks its a different clip and wont automatically add it and I have to manually reedit the clip and try and add it back into my project. Apple is already slow on updates if this keeps up I may have to pay for another movie software program or possibly even switch back to windows. This is horrible!!!

5 years ago, #Ilovehuskies

Why is the screen quite small?

I use this software all the time when it comes to creating videos and so far everything is going great. However, I have a few suggestions for improvement of this app that it really needs. First of all, why do the movies have to take up so much space? And second of all, why are there extra black bars on the screen that plays my video in square shaped like seriously. Why does it have to play the videos in a smaller screen?! This is something that is really bothering me and I hope there will be a solution to this ASAP! Apple, please make iMovie not alter the size of the screen of the original video clip and please remove those extra black bars above and below the video clip as well as the ones on the sides please!!! I want to play my videos on a big enough screen and iMovie ruined it with those extra black bars so PLEASE REMOVE THEM AND STOP MAKING IMOVIE ALTER THE SCREEN OF THE ORIGINAL VIDEO CLIPS PLEASE!!!! FIX THIS ISSUE RIGHT NOW ASAP PLEASE!!!!!

6 years ago, Brancy280

Worked great, then something happened.

It used to work perfectly and as intended. It gave you much more than your average free editing app, which was super nice. Unfortunately, each movie that you made took up an insane amount of space, to the point where it didn’t make sense to keep old movies in iMovie anymore. Recently, I tried to edit a video as usual. When I dragged a video from the browser into the timeline, the app crashed the moment I tried to hover it over the timeline. I tried closing and reopening the app, restarting the computer, and even updating to the latest version, all to no avail. I’m currently re-installing the app, so I’ll update this review when I’m finished. EDIT: Nope. Didn’t fix the issue. EDIT 2: Tried deleting the iMovie Library, didn’t fix it. EDIT 3: Seems as if I can drag and drop things from the desktop just fine… I’ll have to use that as a workaround for now, then. Even if re-installing fixed the issue, the app is still not perfect. Overlaying text is a hassle, though it could be much simpler. To do it properly, you have to use something like Google Docs or another text editor. It’d be nice to be able to just add elements over the video - such as text. Another thing that is silly is that the quality of the whole video is determined by the first thing in the timeline. Shouldn’t it be determined by the video / photo of the highest quality in the movie? It makes no sense, and to be honest, shouldn’t be all that difficult to fix.

6 months ago, Sumatra Gold

Trash

iMovie can be pretty useful. But it has a fatal flaw. You cannot export in 1080p, if you have included any 720p clips at the outset of your project...even (as it was in my case) if you had placed 720p test footage for the first frame and then replaced it with 1080p...the resulting output will never be a 1080 export. Once you've dropped 720 into the application, you are locked into that resolution for that project. Any subsequent 1080 footage will be instantly reduced to 720. As a result of this stupidity, you can't even copy any of your work over to a separate project in iMovie, to try to correct the issue. That's because the original 1080 clip you put in to replace that 720 clip is reduced in resolution, the moment it gets dropped into your movie. So...any clip you try to copy and paste has reduced resolution, even if the clip was 1080p before you dragged it into the app. I lost an entire week's worth of work because of this design flaw. Whoever heard of such a thing? Now I have to go back and rebuild my video project from scratch. Geezus. I'll never use this garbage again.

6 years ago, U15

It takes some time to get used to

I would like to give this a rating of 3.5 stars, but there’s no way to do that. My first ever video editing was done on the old version of iMovie. I found that version to be intuitive and easy to work with. I was kind of excited with iMovie 10 came along, but when I started trying to work with it, it was so different from the old version that it took me a long time to feel comfortable/confident using it. After working with it for a coupe of years now, I am NEARLY as happy with it as I was the old version. It is still not as intuitive, and seems to take more effort to accomplish what I want to, but in the end I am generally happy with the videos I produce. The sould equalizer leaves something to be desired, and I can’t synthesize multiple clips in the video to have the same sound level, but the videos themselves look good and I can add the special effects I need.

4 years ago, |}{| [#%?!~€£¥+*^,.]

It's good but not very easy to use

I just started using iMovie recently, and it's good, I can edit my own videos however I want and I can use the sound effects iMovie provides which is great. The templates it provides are also great, but limited in how you can edit them, or so I found it. For example for my movie I had a wide variety of things to choose from for my title. However, I could not move where the text was on the screen and I could not delete or add more text boxes. This may be that I can't find out how to do it yet. I also would edit the size of the text so that the different texts would be different sizes how I liked them, but when I played the movie they would all turn to the same size. Eventually I got it to work and stay how I wanted it. Also the trailers seem great! The templates are good but I think you should add something so you can start from scratch

3 years ago, MusicDream7

Works Great

Imovie always runs well for me i am not speaking for older mac books but on mac book air 2020 it runs well my mac book is not the most powerful but it works perfectly for me and i have never head any problems with it and this is why i rated it a 4 but i have a thing i need you cant really do any good vfx and thats the only thing thats botherinng me but otherwise this app would be a 5 statrs it also runs really well on iphone xs even do it is pretty old it runs and i would reccomend it as it is the best (free editing) proggram if you are rich you could buy FinalCut (which is beter) but i have tried final cut pro and it is not so much beter but if you want to do proffesional videos i recoomend geting final cut pro or davinchi resole (crashes for mac books which are old or not powerful)

5 years ago, Surveyman

Apple's oddest program

This is a very powerful program with an inscrutable interface. Apparently, the plan is you load your clips into events and then, at some later date, you make a project (which is a movie or a trailer) from multiple events. Unfortunately there is no way to set a key photo on each clip, so often the key photo Apple selected is a grey blob. The program is very sensitive to whatever else you are doing and hangs up when creating a video unless you: reboot, start iMovie (and nothing else), and don't touch your computer until it is done. Even then, it occasionally creates a video that is perfect except for the fact that the duration shown in VLC is 1 second. When you are in a project and the timeline is shown, the Events shown may not be related to this project. It's just very weird.

3 years ago, Tammie70 (not anymore) :(

Latest update disaster

I've been using Imovie for 3 years, usually the updates don't affect the performance too much, but jeeze this latest update ( end of Oct 2021) is really glitching badly.. My sound/waveforms take an extremely long time to load, and every time I split my video the waveform disappears and I sit waiting for it to return, I use the sound/waveform to help determine where to remove parts of unwanted video, so now my editing for a 30 min video is taking over 3 hours or more to finish. Super frustrating, Also the glitchy video in general is akward. I hope a fixed update is offered soon, Makes me very hesitant to consider purchasing the Pro version. Imovie of last year was fantasitc, can we please go back to it? I will edit my review if and when these frustrating issues get resolved.. Two stars for now because it works, but these mentioned issues just makes me hate it right now.

7 years ago, Michael10452

Misleading Reviews

This application is amazing. It allows beginners at video editing (like myself) quickly learn how to edit video in an intuitive and streamlined way. The export times are quick, scrubbing is seamless, and everything just feels super intuitive. I have never had iMovie crash on me either. This has become an app I use daily, and makes video editing a joy. Honestly, I don’t understand why Apple would make such an amazing video editing software free, as this probably takes away from some of the people that would buy Final Cut Pro. Nonetheless, this app is really powerful and useful, especially for those just getting into video editing. If you are on the fence, ignore all the negative reviews and give this a try for yourself. Then make a decision (after all, it is free!).

5 months ago, Dudley Doggins

Don't bother installing this worthless waste of disk space

Years ago iMovie was a handy and relevant inclusion to the Mac suite of software that helped solidify the notion that Macs were for regular people to make creative projects. I used versions years ago to create lots of edited adventures from trips and holidays with my friends and family. But iMovie has so lost touch with the times, utterly incapable for the most typical video use case today - portrait mode video from an iPhone. Making things worse, it has steadily lost the most essential video editing functionality that it had years ago. If I were doing a presentation to demo this app to my boss as a free app in the Apple App Store and this is what I was given as a proof of concept for even the initial meeting, I'd say keep this dreck out of the presentation. It's that's bad. The nicest thing I can say about it is that you have to manually download it so I doesn't waste space on every Mac sold until it's promptly deleted.

4 years ago, Rationalist/Pragmatist

Crashes, Freezes, Beachball

Works for a few minutes until I add a clip to the Timeline. The spinning beachball appears and iMovie freezes. Only a "Force Quit" will stop the app. The worse part, however, is that I have to literally Restart the iMac before iMovie will open again. Rinse and repeat and this has been my experience with iMovie. I've used this application for many years and have experienced more spinning beachballs than all other apps combined. When it works properly, I love iMovie. But, it can be the most frustrating experience you'll ever have on a Mac due to the freezes and crashes. I've tried every solution mentioned in Apple Discussion Forums, but have never found a solution. Even re-downloading the app fresh and starting over provides only a temporary solution. I've broken Projects into smaller ones but still experience freezes. With every update, I get my hopes up that the developers have stabilized the app but it never seems to be the case.

4 years ago, Lesjx

Disappointing

I've grown up using iMovie on Macs and iPads but the recent version that I've been using for about 6 months now has a lot of issues. Primarily, the app is glitchy and 9 times out of 10 while I'm in the middle of editing / trying to export a video, the app becomes non-responsive and I have to force quit out of it. Though there's a few technical issues as well, this is the biggest problem I've been having with this application. For someone like me who can't afford final cut pro, iMovie works fine but it's a huge set back technically as I am constanly having to close and re-open it while trying to get projects done in a timely manner. I've also been having an issue where even after I eject my flashdrive with my camera's SD card in it, it says I have not, in fact, ejected the card and my files become corrupted and are not able to be opened or re-downloaded again onto the software.

7 years ago, OmNePlayer

Version 10.1.8 fails to “share” to a file at a reasonable resolution

As soon as I “upgraded” to version 10.1.8 the application stopped sharing my home movies to a file. These were both .mov and .mp4 clips. I tried everything suggested at both the Apple support site and generally online but had no luck. Oh - I could save them at a “pro” resolution but this file sizes so large that they could not be shared with my family over the internet - too big fo any email app and deadly on the bandwidth use.I tried using a single clip, no titles and no frills at all but it still would not share/export at any resolution except the highest. This made the app useless for my purposes. I’m not trying to create a full length 4K full length block-buster - just simply want to share an edited movies with family and friends. This recent version stopped me from doing that. If there is a fix out there anywhere - I would love to hear about it. So don’t waste your time with this one.

7 years ago, Cribou64

A disaster

I am using iMovie since many many years and had always been quite happy … until those last weeks. Since Version 10.1.7, I am simply not able to import anything from my Sony camera (and it was working fine with previous iMovie versions and the same camera!). When downloading the MTS files from my camera and importing them into iMovie, I was able to built a project and a movie file BUT with no sound (the MTS had AC3 sound track). Again all this was working fine before. I was very excited to see Apple releasing 10.1.8 few days ago but now it is even worst. When selecting anything in the Import window (camera or a file already on my computer), the import button turns blue as expected but nothing happens when I click on it. So now, I cannot import anything in iMovie. I am not sure what is happening at Apple but please HELP and deliver functioning software as this is why I moved from Windows to Apple computers!!

4 years ago, JSJ incorporated

PLEASE MAKE IT BETTER

I think its absolutely amazing for a free editing software, however, there are a few major things I would change. 1: you can only have one picture in picture or green screen at a time which really stinks. if you could have multiples that would make it so much better. 2: YOU CANT MOVE GREEN SCREENS! I have needed to move green screens so many times and I just started using the software. Its literally stuck in the one place that its in. no moving around like other softwares. I am primarily writing this for the people who work for Apple or who makes this and if they dont fix these problems I will look into a different editing software. PLEASE CHANGE THE GREEN SCREENS SO THAT YOU CAN MAKE THEM SMALLER, BIGGER, AND MOVE THEM AROUND! AND MAKE IT SO THAT YOU CAN HAVE MULTIPLE GREEN SCREENS AND PICTURE IN PICTURES!

6 years ago, Buba(:

love/hate

I’m frustrated as I had my final saved on iMovie and now it shows me the document but with 0 contenent on it. Before I started working on it I made sure to have everything updated and I did. I even duplicated the projects and saved them online and in my desktop. Now that im trying to make last minute touch ups it shows me it's not there!!!! I understand it is a free app but I’ve been using iMovie since 2010, for the fun of it, and this has never happened to me! Now that I actually need it this happens. I’m so frustrated as this project was due today. Apple, if I don’t pass my class ya’ll gotta pay me one year tuition! No but seriously I’m sooo annoyed, I want to cry but that won’t resolve anything so instead I came to review it. I do not believe its much of the app the app is awesome but all these updates! Apple stick to something for a while that way you gets the bugs on check. DAMNNNN

6 years ago, QTxPI

Stunningly Bad

Just, wow. I have not had a software experience this bad in quite a while. I was tasked with creating a simple 15 second photo collage with some text for work, this should have been no problem… instead I spent hours of eye twitching and hair pulling trying to wrangle this almost worthless program… After setting font style, size, color, iMovie will tell you to ---- off and change it to something completely different as soon as you’re done setting it. Want to delete a slide and add another? Congratulations, everything is a different length and all your text is now scattered across the timeline. Want to change the length of a clip? Good luck, because theres a line about 1 pixel wide and you will spend 15 seconds just trying to grab it while your mouse has a seizure. I can go on, but to keep it short, this is just an astonishingly bad program and you do not want to use it. I hope I never have to again.

3 years ago, world-shaker

A solid editor with two glaring omissions

I've been using iMovie for years, and for most everything I need it covers the basics. But one inexplicable omission is the lack of vertical video editing. Especially with this being available on iOS too. With the incredible popularity of platforms like TikTok and Reels, the inability to edit vertical video without having it export in landscape orientation is really stunning for a forward-facing company like Apple. And to add to that: Why is there still not an auto-captioning feature? Apple positions Siri as best-in-class language detection, but still doesn't offer an auto-captioning feature like Instagram's Threads app. Apple's missing a valuable opportunity here to retain a generation of users who want to edit and caption vertical video for platforms that support it.

4 years ago, Elaprez

life savior

For big video editing jobs iMovie might be not too useful, but for simple yet profesional looking work, iMovie is a LIFE SAVIOR! I am an artist and usually record videos documenting my work in progress and even events I attend and I can't be any happier with this free software. If you have a good eye and good shooting skills, that's all you need to make magic here. If I need banners or watermarks, I just design them as PNGs and add them here, iMovie allows you to edit the timing and how they look in your project. I am always thankful for this small yet useful app. I don't give them 5 stars just because I know there are more things that iMovie could have to improve the experience and the user experience. It does takes some time to get used to, but it is totally worth it!

4 years ago, Pandawuv😍

This is awful

I really loved the ease of use and simple interface. I am not the most tech savvy person and iMovie used to be the main app for me, but as of recent... I am just so beyond frustrated with it. Before, I could save my videos with no problem at all. It might have taken a while to save at times, but never THIS long. When it wants to, it will save my video in a mintue, maybe a few at most with longer videos, but considering it is taking well over 10-15 minutes just to save ONE 20 second video is so stupid. Now, it will only allow me to save one video once I open the app, then it will be stuck on the last wedge of the progress indicator and will not save my video period. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE if ANYONE is reading this...hardly think you guys care considering there are absolutely no responses to previous reviews, but if you are... help me restore faith in this app and fix these bugs. It is really ridiculous. Thanks.

3 years ago, Berkeley.1

For Beginners

Great. Haven't downloaded on this computer yet but it's downloading. My only dislike about iMovie is how long its taking to download. I understand it's a large file etc., but my computer has barely any files stored in it & high quality wifi. It shouldn't be taking 4 hours to download. The editing is easy, and pretty easy to put files into the video. I've used this for 3 years (for fun) and it only takes about a day to understand. A week to get good at it but it's simple so I love it. If you need an editing app for something professional I DO NOT reccomend iMovie. It's not advanced enough. Final Cut Pro would be better for things like that. If you're a beginner, be sure to start with iMovie.

6 years ago, KRONK MAD !!!

Compatibilty FAIL…..with its own codec??? — update

iMovie refuses to open a video recorded by my iphone. HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN??? How is APPLE software NOT compatible with APPLE Video????? NOT the first failing in the last few months since I’ve returned to apple products. I feel a siezure coming on. Thought I could migrate away from linux, got tired of hacking away to a solution……..whoops. Back to Ubuntu I guess. —update; I had to go to iCloud (because I suppose nothing is allowed on my hard drive anymore ? ) and drag the video to my desktop. The error said it was a problem with Quicktime, which means I wasted alot of time looking for the wrong solution. If iCloud is the new storage standard, couldn’t iMovie BROWSE iCloud, make a temp folder and duplicate the requested video locally for editing? This is not a new idea. Maybe I’m just too old for computers. I understand Apple is trying to make X, Y and Z easier, but really it’s just making A, B and C far more complicated.

6 years ago, Ms.LTillis

It was great and still is good but...

I use iMovie heavily. I have been using since 2007 and it is true, the features back then were waaaaaaay better as far as the filters (mirror video, box multiple screens, color contrast etc..) The updates deleted those features instead of adding on and improving. Also it would be incredible if the green screen layered video could be moved around and resized…..iMovie really could have beat all the other video editing software. I am sure all the incredible features were taken away and given to a product that must be purchased to access. I think the features were too advanced for free and now we are stuck with mediocre features but it is still a great video editing tool.

2 years ago, Sir Noncy Dorp

One Star is Seven Stars Too High

Do you enjoy working on a project for hours on end, only to have it suddenly deleted? Do you prefer to not be able to save your work, just so a program can erase it? Have you ever found yourself wanting all of your progress to disappear, forcing you to start from the ground up? Look no further! Watch as your efforts and editing skills get eradicated by a terrible program designed by completely a completely inept company that fails to understand the word "convenience." Watch as you're given no warning, no heads up, and no reason when your video suddenly doesn't exist anymore. Think you can reach out to people for help to fix the problem? Don't bother! With iMovie, every problem is so unique, no two are guaranteed to be the same! Spend unlimited time searching for an answer to your problem only to discover that not even Apple knows what's going on. Marvel at the fact that it would have actually taken EFFORT to put out an application this bad. Cry yourself to sleep because you're forced to use a MacBook for work. And take it up the tail pipe like a man when you realize no one that worked on this program is going to do anyhting about it. I have used a lot of bad Apple products. This is by far THE WORST one.

6 years ago, for what its worth to you

Very Disappointing at every turn

I was new to the mac world and really looking forward to using Imovie but it keeps being so disappointing at every turn. The latest feature which apparently has been removed is you can no longer use Imovie in a 4:3 ratio environment. We create a good number of videos to use in projection and many of our systems are still on a 4:3 resolution. Yes, you can use the crop features but then you end up having bars on the botton of your final project when porjected using a 4:3 ratio on the projector so that is not a good fix at all. They should just bring back the 4:3 ratio. The whole environment is also so difficult to use. I constantly have to do google search to find the simplest of tasks. It seems in earlier version those tasks could be found in the normal menus but now they have hidden them all over the place. Thanks for messing another good thing up Apple!!!!

8 months ago, ChronicComplainer

good for incredibly basic things

I will start this with a disclaimer: I have not used this editor for very long. However, in my brief moments of using it, I was unable to find a good amount of features I was expecting to be able to use. While you can mark places on the timeline, you cannot add further comments to them to know the difference between what marks you have made. When adding a title, as that is the only way to add text to a video, I could not figure out if there was a way to manually adjust where it was placed. When I tried to split a clip, I selected the range of what clip I wanted to split, but it would only split it from one end. Not both. After trying to search through other video guides on how to use imovie, and how to access advanced tools, I gave up and have moved on to hopefully better software. One that will, hopefully, tell me all of it's keyboard commands, such as that you can mark a clip quickly by pressing command M. Or control, I've already kicked that knowledge to the curb. As this is free, I would love to actually use this. If anyone has any good guides out there that mention any of the features I've listed, I would love to see them. Thanks.

4 years ago, iL.A.B

Please Add

I really REALLY want to be able to export videos at full quality and in portrait mode! Right now I have to rotate the video clips sideways and edit them sideways and then export and THEN rotate the video the correct way. Also doing it this way means that I can't use titles which is very annoying. I thought at least the iPhone version would support exporting in portrait since they have the shot on iPhone vertical camera ads but I found that you CAN'T even edit sideways. I can export the video on iphone with huge black bars on the side and crop it after exporting but that makes it much lower quality. Other then that iMovie is a great high quality free editing software. Thanks for reading this very long review :D

3 years ago, Remarkable2626

I want to love this app but...

I use iMovie for work very frequently. It is relatively user friendly, has a quick learning curve, decent options and can produce a quality finished product. I don't need super fancy editing such as FinalCutPro, but I do need it to be clean and professional looking- so iMovie is ideal. However, USING iMovie is an exercise in patience and sanity. As many others have written here, the app is very inconsistent and buggy. Many times I will have the app shut down mid-editing, sometimes it will randomly not export the video properly at all, and sometimes the app will run very slowly and not smoothly. I also find the storage issue to be challenging and how the app stores and uses clips for the edits. I will continue using it for now, but I may start looking at other options unless this app gets a solid upgrade.

5 years ago, Redvoodoo_1

Powerful editl tool

I just started using the program six months ago to upscale the visuals on some of my social media psots. I am a telvision pro of 30 yrs. and this program repkaces what used to be a whole room/suite full of equioptment. I found it to be easy to start using immediately and I'm still finding out what this edit program can do and amazed every project I complete. However I did upgrade the RAM on my laptop from 4g to 16g. Big difference. It might account for my ease of use. Read some of the complaints and haven't run into any of them but will be in the look out. It seems not everyonr's experience is as good as mine. But Final Cut Pro is in the future. Good Luck.

7 years ago, EsiGuitar

What buffoon is in charge of this crap?

I could make a pretty decent list of all the functionality that has been removed in this version - as well as functions that should have been put in 5 years ago, but still haven’t been incorporated. I’ve learned to go without them either by working around it, or just accepting that the quality might not be exactly what I want. However, today as I was trying to simply upload a video to Instagram, I noticed that this version removed the option to adjust aspect ratio for absolutely no reason at all. This doesn’t improve anything!!!! Wanna use iMovie? Your video will be in 16:9, end of story. Want to put that on Instagram? Too bad. Half of it is going to be cut off. Seriously?!?!?!?! How long has Instagram been out? You’d think that Apple would actually put effort into keeping up with widely-adopted technologies, but I guess not in this case.

5 years ago, VideoMaker24

Project deleted

I was working on a few projects. On the most important project, I had been working on it for many months. The other projects I completed. In the past I had downloaded a Final Cut Pro Free Trial. Well, 1 half month later, The Final Cut trial expired and I’ve been working on iMovie for a couple of weeks. Well, I decided to buy final cut pro. As soon as final cut downloaded, my most important project WAS DELETED! My other projects that were finished were ok, which I don’t care about, but my MOST IMPORTANT project WAS DELETED! I was filming with my Gopro and as soon as I imported the videos from my Gopro into the timeline, I decided to delete them off my Gopro. Many months of hard work, deleted. If you want to switch from iMovie to Final Cut, save your projects to your hard drive. Even if they’re not finished yet, save them as a file.

4 years ago, Supernatural doughnut

Are you kidding me

First of all... why am I not allowed to save my file as I'm in the editor? It only lets you save when you leave. What the %^&*()? Secondly, when I went back to my project after saving, the timeline was messed up and I had to redo everything. People have complained about this for years, so for the love of god, why is the ken burns effect still the default?! You should have to turn it on if you want it! Nobody uses it that much!! Why is it that there's still no way to add gif overlays? You can import stills, and just googling this topic gets a lot of results. All in all, thanks a lot for not updating or adding literally every feature people have repeatedly asked for for years. I'm mad because I've had numerous school projects and this is the only program available to me. Incompetent shcmucks.

4 years ago, c-MaCKiN

Very buggy subtitles

This is so frustrating. I type English and Japanese subtitles and if I use the Lower Third title and type in Japanese, the font size automatically changes from 79 to 12 and font type changes from Gill Sans Bold to Hiragano Sans W6 and I can't read anything that I type. If I type the subtitles in Word and copy and paste into iMovie, there isn't a "paste and match style" option so the text formatting gets messed up. Therefore, I basically need to guess that I typed everything correctly then change the font to Gill Sans Bold/size 79. If I made a mistake, I need to highlight my mistake then start typing (and EVERYTHING will change back to Hiragano Sans W6 and size 12 automatically) then highlight all of the text and change it back to Gill Sans Bold. This heavily disrupts my work flow so this bug needs to get fixed!

2 years ago, Nora Elise Loesch

I'm Speechless...

I thought this was just an app for little kids to do cartoony stuff, and I wasn't all high hopes on this. But I was one hundred percent WRONG. This is and amazing app I use it almost every day! The only thing I suggest is making it the same good quality on both IPad and computer. On the computer, there are endless options on intros and fancy stuff like that. But on the IPad, it has much less options for texts and fonts. I think you should make them both equally good quality. Other than that, completly perfect. I reccomend this to all of you viewers! Sincerely, App Reviewer

4 years ago, iLangston

3.4 Stars is actually very accurate

I'd give this 3.5 stars if I could, but I just rounded to 4 because I like it more than I dislike it. It's a good application for what it's worth, but there are definitely more advanced and better made video editing applications out there. I wouldn't go as far as saying it's trash, because really cool tools in it, such as green screen, lighting adjustment, picture-in-a-picture, etc. However, I wouldn't go as far as saying it's the greatest software, because there issues like unclear mechanics, lag when playing 1080p footage, and some annoying limitations when editing. Overall, I'd say it's an alright app. For a FREE editing software, I'd say it's pretty great.

5 years ago, TwoCreeks

Amazing and powerful

I've used this since it first came out on Macs. So yes I like it, it's free, probably has empowered more people to use video than anything else. I also have Filmic Pro and Pinnacle Studio on phone but iMovie is the fall back plan A and B app. One thing I do is live event filming/posting on phone and using mobile app Splice to immediately edit, title, add background music, then post. Recently I was filming a workshop and for some reason the audio of the speaker's talk was unusable it was so low. But I was able to import the clip to Mac and with iMovie there, was able to PRECISELY UP the audio in that one clip segment to usability. Saved my day! Very powerful app.

2 years ago, JRNROSS

The Best Free Editor

I used to edit on the OLD version of Windows Movie Maker back in 2007. Then they made it Windows Movie Maker 7 for Windows 7. Then they released Windows LIVE Movie Maker which was Awful. I got an iPad in 2013 and Loved iMovie. I got my first Mac in 2017, Mac Mini 2011. I used the Mac Mini version of iMovie and it was WAY better than ANY of the Movie Makers. A year ago I tried seeing if they updated Windows Movie Maker for Windows 10 and discovered it is hidden, not even called Movie Maker anymore, and is absolute garbage a HUGE downgrade from even the Live versions. Meanwhile iMovie is the King once and for all!

7 years ago, jaelb

Crashes every two minutes

This crashes. And crashes. It crashes so much it is unusable. I see little support for the issue online for ver 10.8.1 so maybe I am the only human being with this problem. It crashes when I try to open a project. If I manage to open a project, it crashes when I try to create a title page. I've never managed to create a title page without a crash. But I have worked on a 1 minute video import. It crashed when I tried to import. But then I could import. Then I crashed when I tried to edit. Then I could edit. Then it crashed halfway through. Then I changed all my expectations so that I did only the bare mimum necessary. It still crashed. I did manage to insert a transition before it crashed again. It just seems like the world's most unstable app. I'm mystified at how this app could ever be approved.

2 years ago, JDH_112

Extremely Limited

Imovie works great if you want the most simplistic photo/video for like a class project so to speak. Anything more than that and you will have a nightmare of a time. This came free with the Mac, so I used it for professional editing and would spend 2 hours trying to sync the sound and transitions and title cards to align correctly...then download and upload and it takes another 2 hours. It's super 'clunky' when it comes to splicing anything, but for something super simple, it's going to be what you need, so there's that. I've used it a ton, so will give it 3 stars, but for a 'professional video editor' they could add so much more to at least the basics.

4 years ago, I Love Music!! :)

Used to work great, not anymore

I have been using iMovie for 3 years now and have been able to make some great vidoes. Sure there were some things that didn't go as in depth, but it worked for what i was doing and i was able to find ways around it. (for instance, you can't get super specific when adujusting the volume to fade in and out like you can in Adobe Premier or Final Cut.) And some of the text i wish you edit and adjust more, but other than i have loved it. HOWEVER. Since the last update, I can NO LONGER edit ANYTHING. Everything is choppy and a pain. Can it please be fixed? My brother still has the old version and his works fine.

5 years ago, weirdoqueenprincekingprincess

People need to focus on the posotive

I love imovie soo much. I am a youtuber myself and this is a perfect editing lab that I use literally every single day. And me myself I love to make edits, and this is the perfect thing to make them on. people need to learn from their mistakes if you delete your videos, of course it is not imovie's fault because it is connected to your icloud, don't make it seem like it should be doing more work than it should. upload it as a file and put it on a flash drive... it's that easy you guys. Just be smart and you will have a GREAT experience on it just like I do literally all the freaking time.

Description

With a streamlined design and intuitive editing features, iMovie lets you create Hollywood-style trailers and beautiful movies like never before. Browse your video library, share favorite moments, and create beautiful movies that you can edit at resolutions up to 4K. You can even start editing movies on an iPhone or iPad, and finish them on a Mac. Browse and share video • See all your video clips and photos organized in one place • Quickly share a clip or a portion of a clip • Background import lets you begin watching and sharing video instantly Make Hollywood-style trailers • Choose from 29 trailer templates with stunning graphics and original scores by some of the world's top film composers • Customize movie studio logos, cast names, and credits • Select the best videos and photos for your trailer with the help of animated drop zones Create beautiful 4K and HD movies • Edit movies at up to 4K resolution with video from iPhone, GoPro, and other Ultra HD cameras on compatible Macs • Change focus points or the depth effect for video shot in Cinematic mode on iPhone (requires macOS Monterey or later) • Support for 1080p HD video at 60 frames per second for smoother, more life-like action shots • Import Magic Movie, Storyboard and Movie projects created with iMovie on iPhone or iPad into the timeline • Enhance your movie by adding titles, transitions, and 3D globes and travel maps • Speed up and slow down the action with fast-forward and slow-motion effects • Create sophisticated picture-in-picture, side-by-side, and green screen effects • Create a soundtrack using built-in music and sound effects, songs from your iTunes library, songs you've recorded in GarageBand, and your own narration Fine-tune every clip • Instantly improve the look and sound of your video using one-click Enhance • Give your video a boost with easy-to-use color controls • Stabilize shaky video for a smoother picture that's easier to watch • Automatically zoom in on faces and glide across panorama photos with the Ken Burns Effect • Choose from 48 fun video and audio effects • Send your project to Final Cut Pro and take advantage of advanced editing tools, professional effects, third-party plug-ins, and more Share with friends and family • Email videos with Mail Drop when signed in to iCloud • Export a video optimized for YouTube, Facebook, and other popular video destinations • Share any video frame as an image Create App Previews for the App Store • Import iPhone and iPad screen recording videos captured with QuickTime Player • Highlight features with 11 animated titles designed to showcase apps in action • Export finished videos using the App Preview share option System Requirements: macOS 13.5 or later, 4GB RAM, 3.5GB of available disk space.