YouTube Create Expands to iOS: Google's Uphill Battle in Mobile Video Editing

In the dynamic world of digital content creation, mobile video editing tools have become indispensable for creators looking to produce engaging content quickly and efficiently. As platforms like YouTube continue to evolve, supporting everything from short-form Shorts to traditional long-form videos, the demand for accessible and powerful mobile editing solutions has surged. Recognizing this need, Google launched YouTube Create, a dedicated mobile application designed to empower creators with free, easy-to-use video editing capabilities directly on their smartphones.

Initially debuting exclusively on Android devices in September 2023, YouTube Create was positioned as Google's answer to the burgeoning market dominated by established players. The app's feature set includes essential editing tools, alongside creative elements like stickers, GIFs, and effects, catering to the diverse needs of content creators on the YouTube platform. Google's development process for the app reportedly involved consultations with 3,000 creators, aiming to build a tool that genuinely addresses their workflow and requirements.

Now, nearly two years after its initial launch, Google is setting its sights on a major expansion: bringing YouTube Create to the iOS ecosystem. This move, revealed through recent job listings reviewed by TechCrunch, signifies a crucial step in Google's strategy to make its editing tool available to a wider audience of creators, many of whom rely on Apple's mobile devices for their content production.

The Road to iOS: Hiring and Development

The confirmation of YouTube Create's impending arrival on iOS comes directly from Google's own recruitment efforts. Job postings indicate that the company is actively hiring software engineers in Bengaluru, India, specifically tasked with the development of the iOS version of the application. This targeted recruitment underscores Google's commitment to building out the app's presence on Apple's mobile platform, acknowledging the significant portion of the creator market that operates within the iOS environment.

The original Android version of YouTube Create first debuted in the U.S. and seven other markets. Following this initial rollout, Google expanded the app's availability to 13 more markets by February 2024, gradually increasing its global footprint on Android. The decision to develop an iOS version is a natural progression, essential for any mobile application aiming for broad adoption and relevance in the modern app landscape.

Bringing YouTube Create to iOS is not merely about platform parity; it's about tapping into a significant segment of the creator community that predominantly uses iPhones and iPads. Many professional and aspiring creators rely on the iOS ecosystem for its perceived performance, specific hardware capabilities, and the availability of other creative tools. By making YouTube Create available on iOS, Google aims to remove a barrier for these creators, encouraging them to use a native YouTube tool for editing their content before uploading it to the platform.

Navigating a Crowded Market: The Competitive Landscape

While the expansion to iOS is a positive development for YouTube Create, the app faces a formidable challenge in a market already dominated by established and highly popular mobile video editors. The primary competitors in this space include ByteDance's CapCut and InShot, both of which have cultivated massive user bases and offer robust feature sets.

Exclusive data shared with TechCrunch by Sensor Tower highlights the significant gap between YouTube Create and its rivals on the Android platform, where Google's app has had a head start. In the second quarter of the current year, CapCut recorded a staggering 66 million downloads on Android devices, while InShot saw 21 million downloads. In stark contrast, YouTube Create registered fewer than 500,000 downloads during the same period. Since its launch, YouTube Create has accumulated only about 4 million downloads on Android, a fraction of its competitors' reach.

User Engagement: A Wider Disparity

The disparity in user engagement metrics is even more pronounced, indicating that not only are fewer people downloading YouTube Create, but those who do are using it less frequently and for shorter durations compared to users of competing apps.

• Monthly Active Users (MAU): In Q2, CapCut boasted over 442 million monthly active users on Android, and InShot had 92 million. YouTube Create lagged far behind with fewer than one million monthly active users. This vast difference underscores the challenge Google faces in building a substantial, active user base for its editing tool.
• Session Duration: On average, users spend about 38 minutes per month on YouTube Create. This compares to a significantly higher 62 minutes per month for CapCut users, suggesting that CapCut users are either engaging in more complex editing tasks or finding the app more intuitive and feature-rich for extended use.
• Monthly Sessions: The frequency of app usage also reveals a gap. CapCut users average 23 sessions per month, while YouTube Create users average only 11 sessions monthly. This metric points to CapCut being a more integrated part of creators' daily or weekly workflow compared to YouTube Create.

Abe Yousef, a senior insights analyst at Sensor Tower, commented on the situation, stating, “While boasting solid user growth on a year-over-year basis, YouTube Create has struggled to keep up with some of its larger, more established peers such as CapCut, with the latter having more than 10x the number of monthly active users.”

Retention Challenges

Beyond initial downloads and active usage, user retention is a critical metric for the long-term success of any app. Retention rates indicate how many users continue to use an app after a certain period following installation. Here, YouTube Create also faces challenges.

In the first quarter of the year, YouTube Create's 90-day retention rate was approximately 1%. This means only about 1% of users who downloaded the app were still using it 90 days later. This figure is notably lower than its competitors, with CapCut showing a 7% 90-day retention rate and InShot at 4%. Low retention can be indicative of various issues, including a steep learning curve, missing features compared to rivals, performance problems, or simply users preferring the tools they are already familiar with.

Yousef suggested that CapCut's long-standing presence in the market and its seamless integration with TikTok, its sister app, likely contribute significantly to its massive size advantage over YouTube Create. This integration provides CapCut with a direct pipeline to a vast user base actively creating and sharing short-form video content, a key area YouTube Create aims to serve.

The iOS Battleground: Fierce Competition Ahead

The competitive landscape on iOS is equally, if not more, challenging for a newcomer like YouTube Create. CapCut also leads the pack on iOS, with 194 million monthly active users in Q2. InShot follows with 25 million MAU on the platform. In terms of downloads, CapCut and Instagram's Edit app have dominated iOS downloads this quarter, with 28 million and 7 million downloads respectively.

Launching on iOS means YouTube Create will enter a mature market where creators already have established workflows and preferred tools. To succeed, it will need to offer compelling features, a superior user experience, or unique advantages tied to the YouTube ecosystem that are not easily replicated by competitors.

Yousef acknowledged the potential impact of the iOS launch, stating, “An iOS release of YouTube Create could absolutely help the platform grow its market share, though fierce competition in the space both from other social media-backed video editing platforms and native video editors will persist.”

Signs of Momentum and Geographical Trends

Despite the significant gap in overall numbers, the Sensor Tower data does reveal some positive trends for YouTube Create, particularly in terms of user growth on its existing Android platform. The app showed a 28% year-over-year increase in monthly active users in Q2. While this growth is from a much smaller base, it outpaces the 9% rise seen by CapCut and contrasts sharply with the 7% decline experienced by InShot during the same period.

This rising active user number alongside declining downloads could suggest that the app is building a more loyal core user base, with previous users returning to the app regularly. Yousef hinted at this possibility, suggesting that it might indicate that people who previously tried the app are indeed returning to use it regularly.

Geographically, YouTube Create's user base is becoming more diversified. While India remains its largest market, its share of total monthly active users dropped from 67% in Q2 of the previous year to 51% this quarter. This indicates growth in other regions. Notably, the app appears to be gaining 'stickiness' in India, with the daily-to-monthly active user ratio improving from 9% last year to 12% so far this year.

Indonesia has emerged as the second-largest market for YouTube Create, accounting for 21% of its global monthly active users. Other significant markets include Germany (5%), Brazil (4%), and the UK (3%). The app is also experiencing particularly strong year-over-year MAU growth in several other markets:

• Spain: 119% increase
• South Korea: 91% increase
• France: 89% increase
• Singapore: 71% increase

These growth figures, while starting from a smaller base, suggest that YouTube Create is finding pockets of strong adoption and engagement in specific international markets. Understanding the factors driving this growth in these regions could be key to replicating success elsewhere.

The Path Forward: Challenges and Opportunities on iOS

The launch on iOS presents both significant opportunities and challenges for YouTube Create. The opportunity lies in accessing a vast pool of creators who are currently using other tools. Success on iOS could dramatically increase the app's total user base and potentially improve its standing in the competitive landscape.

However, the challenges are substantial. The iOS market is mature and competitive. Creators are often deeply integrated into specific ecosystems and workflows. YouTube Create will need to convince these creators to switch from tools they are comfortable with, such as CapCut, InShot, or even native iOS editing features and other third-party apps available on the App Store.

To gain traction on iOS, YouTube Create will likely need to:

• Offer a seamless and intuitive user experience that meets or exceeds the standards set by leading iOS video editors.
• Provide a robust set of features that are competitive with, or superior to, rivals, including advanced editing capabilities, effects, transitions, and audio tools.
• Leverage its unique position as a YouTube-owned app, potentially offering streamlined integration with the YouTube platform for uploading, managing, and optimizing videos.
• Address the retention issues observed on Android by ensuring the app remains valuable and easy to use for creators over the long term.
• Market the app effectively to the iOS creator community, highlighting its benefits and differentiating it from the competition.

Google's silence on the matter, as noted in the original report (Google did not respond to requests for comment), means the exact timeline and feature set for the iOS launch remain undisclosed. However, the active hiring indicates that development is underway.

Conclusion: A Critical Juncture for YouTube Create

YouTube Create's journey from an Android-exclusive tool to a cross-platform application reaching for iOS is a critical moment for Google's ambitions in the mobile video editing space. While the app has shown promising year-over-year growth on Android and is finding traction in key international markets like India and Indonesia, it faces an undeniable uphill battle against the dominance of CapCut and InShot, particularly in terms of overall user base, engagement, and retention.

The expansion to iOS opens a vital new front, but it also means entering a highly competitive environment where creators have numerous sophisticated tools at their disposal. Google will need to execute flawlessly on the iOS version, ensuring it is performant, feature-rich, and offers a compelling value proposition to convince creators to adopt it.

The success of YouTube Create on iOS is not guaranteed, but it is essential if Google hopes to establish its own mobile editing tool as a significant player and a valuable asset for the vast community of creators who power the YouTube platform. The coming months will reveal whether Google's investment in the iOS version can help YouTube Create close the gap and carve out a substantial share of the mobile video editing market.