TikTok is a popular short-form video app that has exploded in popularity in recent years. As of 2023, TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users and is one of the most downloaded apps in the world (Fan Edits: The Backbone of Popular Culture). TikTok allows users to create, share, and discover short videos ranging from 3 to 60 seconds.
Fan edits have emerged as a popular creative trend on TikTok. As defined by Mashable, fan edits are “fan-made videos celebrating and transforming source material into transformative remixes.” They are short compilation videos that remix and pay tribute to pop culture figures, shows, movies, bands, etc. that fans are passionate about.
People create TikTok fan edits to share their love for a celebrity, character, or franchise. Fan edits take the form of montages, mashups, compilations and are made using editing software. The viral nature of TikTok has caused fan edits to explode in popularity, allowing fans to bond over and appreciate their favorite media properties in creative new ways.
Top Apps for Making TikTok Fan Edits
There are several popular apps that TikTok users rely on to create high-quality fan edits. The top options include:
CapCut
CapCut is one of the most popular apps for making TikTok fan edits. It’s designed specifically for short-form social media videos and provides advanced editing tools like trimming, transitions, effects, subtitles, and more. CapCut makes it easy to add filters, text, stickers, music, and other creative elements to fan edits. It’s available for free on iOS and Android (Source).
VivaVideo
VivaVideo is a full-featured video editing app with editing tools optimized for social media videos. TikTok users like VivaVideo for its library of video effects, texts, filters, and transitions. It also provides options to adjust video speed, add background music, merge videos, and more. VivaVideo has a free version with watermark and paid subscription options (Source).
Inshot
Inshot is a popular video editing app for TikTok fan edits. It makes it easy to trim and cut clips, add effects, adjust speed, add stickers and text, change backgrounds, and more. Inshot provides high-quality video exports and has useful features like chroma key editing. The free version includes a watermark while the paid version has advanced features and no watermark.
Adobe Premiere Rush
Adobe Premiere Rush is a video editing app from Adobe targeted at online video creators. It provides professional-level editing tools while still being easy to use on mobile. TikTok users leverage Rush for quick trimming, color adjustments, adding titles, transitions, graphics, and more. It has a free starter plan and paid subscription options.
iMovie
iMovie is the default video editing app on iOS devices. It provides a straightforward timeline editor with options to trim clips, add titles, music, filters and more. iMovie makes it simple to export high-quality videos for TikTok fan edits. The app comes pre-installed on iPhones and iPads.
Key Features of Top Fan Edit Apps
The top apps for making fan edits on TikTok all provide powerful editing tools to help creators transform their videos into polished, professional-looking content.
CapCut, VivaVideo, Inshot, Adobe Premiere Rush, and iMovie all allow for basic editing like trimming clips, splicing together different shots, and adding transitions between scenes. They also provide filters, effects, text overlays, stickers, and more to give videos a customized, branded look. CapCut’s auto-captions and text-to-speech features help easily add captions or voiceovers to videos as well [1].
Access to music and sounds is crucial for TikTok, and these apps integrate with massive libraries to make adding the perfect song or audio simple. VivaVideo offers an especially intuitive music editor to line up edits to the beat [2].
Finally, sharing completed videos out to TikTok or other social platforms is streamlined in each app. CapCut’s direct TikTok integration provides an edge for publishing fan edits right to the platform.
CapCut
CapCut is a popular video editing app developed by Bytedance. It was first launched in China under the name Douyin in 2018 before being released internationally as CapCut in 2020 (https://www.mobileappdaily.com/product-review/capcut-app).
CapCut provides users with a full set of video editing tools to create polished and captivating videos. Some key features include:
- Video trimming and splicing tools to cut clips and combine multiple videos
- Filters and visual effects like transitions and stickers
- Tools to adjust speed, add text, apply filters, and more
- Multi-layer timeline for advanced editing techniques
- Preset templates and aspect ratios optimized for different social platforms
A major advantage of CapCut is its user-friendly interface and intuitive tools, making video editing accessible for beginners. It also includes more advanced features for power users. The app offers many effects and elements optimized for TikTok-style videos.
Potential drawbacks include some reporting of bugs and crashes, though recent updates have improved stability. As a free app, CapCut monetizes through ads which some users find disruptive. There are also limitations in maximum video length and resolution on the free version.
Reviews praise CapCut for its versatility in creating professional-looking content quickly and easily. Many TikTok creators rely on CapCut as their go-to video editing app. While more advanced than some competitors, CapCut provides a solid middle ground in balancing complexity with usability.
VivaVideo
VivaVideo is a popular video editing app developed by QuVideo Inc. that launched in 2014. It is available for both iOS and Android devices and has over 200 million users worldwide. VivaVideo provides a full-featured video editing suite for creating professional-looking videos right on your phone.
Some key features of VivaVideo include:
- Basic editing tools like trim, merge, cut, copy/paste
- Over 100 visual filters and effects like green screen, collages, transitions
- Text overlays, stickers, animated emojis
- Music library with copyright-free songs and the ability to import your own music
- Slow motion, voice changer, and more advanced tools with in-app purchases
One of the main benefits of VivaVideo is that the basic editor is completely free to use with no watermarks. The interface is easy to navigate and provides powerful editing features for both beginners and professionals. Users praise the large media library and selection of stylish effects.
Potential drawbacks are that some advanced features require a paid subscription, and there are video length limits unless you upgrade. There are also ads within the free version. However, most users feel the free tools are sufficient for basic editing needs.
VivaVideo is ranked at 4.7/5 stars on the Google Play Store and 4.8/5 on the iOS App Store. Users highlight the intuitive interface, professional editing capabilities, and vast library of creative content. Many reviewers say VivaVideo compares favorably to premium editing apps but with the bonus of a free version.
Inshot
Inshot is a popular video editing app developed by Inshot Inc. first released in 2018. It is available for both iOS and Android devices. Inshot allows users to edit videos easily and apply effects, filters, music, stickers, and more.
Some key features of Inshot include:
- Trimming and splitting video clips
- Adding background music and voiceovers
- Applying filters, effects, transitions, stickers, emojis, and text
- Adjusting video speed, aspect ratio, and more
- No watermark on exported videos
Inshot is beneficial for its user-friendly interface and powerful editing tools. Users praise how easy it is to trim clips precisely and add creative elements. The app offers many effects and overlay options not available on some competitors. Exporting videos without a watermark is a major plus.
Potential drawbacks are that some advanced video editing tools are only available in the paid version. There are also occasional bugs reported. Some users feel the free music library is limited compared to other apps.
Reviews for Inshot are largely positive. On the Google Play Store it averages 4.7 out of 5 stars from over 48 million users. People highlight the high quality exports, intuitive interface, and great selection of effects. Areas for improvement include expanding the audio library and fixing minor bugs.
According to https://apkspark.com/inshot-app-review/, “InShot is one of the best video editing apps out there. The app is free, easy to use, and full of impressive video editing features.”
Adobe Premiere Rush
Adobe Premiere Rush is a video editing app developed by Adobe that enables users to edit videos quickly and easily on mobile devices. It was first released in October 2018. Some key features of Premiere Rush include:
- Multi-track timeline for arranging video clips, images, audio, etc.
- Range of professional editing tools like trim, crop, color adjustments, transitions, etc.
- Sync edits across devices through cloud storage
- Add titles, animate graphics, alter aspect ratios
- Auto-generate videos for different social platforms
According to a review on Tekpon, Premiere Rush makes video editing simple through its intuitive interface and presets while still providing advanced capabilities. It’s ideal for social media content creators and vloggers. The standalone app is free but the full package with Premium features like more cloud storage requires a subscription.
As this YouTube first look highlights, Premiere Rush allows users to shoot, edit and share online quickly without a steep learning curve. Reviewers on Cellular News praise the app for its user-friendly tools, excellent multi-platform support and integration with the Creative Cloud.
The main drawbacks are that Premiere Rush lacks some advanced features of the desktop Premiere Pro software. The free version only allows 3 exports and some find the subscription cost high. Overall though, it’s considered one of the top video editing apps for mobile creators looking for an efficient and intuitive editing experience.
iMovie
iMovie is a video editing app developed by Apple Inc. It was originally released in 1999 for Mac computers. In 2007, a version of iMovie was released for iOS devices. iMovie is known for its user-friendly interface and is aimed at entry-level video editors and consumers.
Some key features of iMovie include:
- Drag-and-drop video/photo importing and organizing
- Intuitive multi-touch gestures for trimming, splitting, and rearranging clips
- Various video enhancement tools like color balance, speed control, green screen, and more
- Multiple aspect ratios supported including 4K
- Titles, transitions, filters, and overlays
- Built-in sound effects library
- Customizable themes and trailer templates
- Direct sharing to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo and more
A major advantage of iMovie is that it comes pre-installed on Macs and iOS devices, making it very accessible. The simple interface allows beginners to get started quickly. Reviewers also praise iMovie’s organizational features like Events, keyword tagging and Smart Collections. However, some cons are that advanced editors may find it limiting. There is no multilayer timeline and limited control over audio. Overall though, reviews are very positive for iMovie as an entry-level, consumer focused video editor.
Comparing the Top Apps for Making TikTok Fan Edits
When deciding which app to use to make TikTok fan edits, there are some key factors to consider including editing capabilities, ease of use, cost, and export options.
For editing capabilities, CapCut and VivaVideo offer the most advanced features like trimming, filters, transitions, text overlays, stickers, visual effects, and more. Adobe Premiere Rush also has robust editing tools but has a steeper learning curve. Inshot and iMovie provide sufficient editing options for basic video clips.
In terms of ease of use, CapCut, VivaVideo, and Inshot have interfaces designed specifically for mobile use which make them very intuitive. iMovie is fairly easy to use with some practice, while Adobe Premiere Rush has a more complex interface with a steeper learning curve.
Cost is an important factor since many opt for free apps when starting out. Inshot, CapCut, and iMovie have free versions with in-app purchases or subscriptions for premium features. VivaVideo offers a free version but pushes subscriptions. Adobe Premiere Rush requires a paid subscription.
For exporting, all the apps allow saving directly to the camera roll. CapCut and Adobe Premiere Rush also allow you to export to social platforms like TikTok and Instagram directly.
Overall, CapCut strikes the best balance of advanced editing tools, ease of use, and cost making it a top choice for creating TikTok fan edits. VivaVideo is great for effects and Inshot is best for basic editing. iMovie is solid for iOS users who want seamless iPhone integration, while Adobe Premiere Rush offers pro-level tools.
Recommendation
Based on research, the top apps for making TikTok fan edits are CapCut and VivaVideo.
CapCut is the best app specifically designed for creating TikTok videos. It has a range of advanced editing tools optimized for short-form social media content, such as trimming, splicing, transitions, effects, filters, text, stickers, and more. CapCut makes it easy to precisely edit clips, add overlays, insert trending music, and export videos formatted for TikTok. The app is free, user-friendly, and gives you full control over the editing process.
VivaVideo is a great all-purpose video editing app with a huge range of effects and editing capabilities tailored to social media videos. The app lets you combine clips, apply filters, add text, music, and stickers. VivaVideo has a large library of licensed music and sound effects to elevate your edits. While not TikTok-specific, the app has many of the key features needed to make compelling fan edits. The free version has ample capabilities, and the paid pro version unlocks additional editing tools.
For TikTok fan edits, CapCut and VivaVideo offer the best balance of specialized editing capabilities and ease of use. CapCut gives you precision control in a TikTok-native app, while VivaVideo provides versatile multi-platform editing tools. Using either of these apps allows creators to make professional-level fan edits to share on TikTok.