Why are there no 4K video editing apps on Android in 2015?

posted by Victor H. / Oct 09, 2015, 7:03 AM

Why are there no 4K video editing apps on Android in 2015?

Here is the deal: 4K video has been around on Android smartphones for quite a while. The first mass market phone to have it was the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 released way back in late 2013, that's nearly two years ago. Since then, 4K recording has become pretty much a standard feature for top-tier Android phones these days: the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Note5 have it, the LG G4 has it, the HTC One M9 has it, even the more affordable new Nexus 5X and 6P support the feature.

While 4K video is still limited to only 5-minute snippets of recordings on most phones, the quality of a 4K video is truly excellent and it looks like something from the future, especially when you play it back on a bigger screen.

Yet there are no video editing apps available either natively or on Android's Google Play store that would allow you to edit those short, 5-minute 4K clips that you are allowed to capture. None.

There are no 4K video editors on Android

We're flabbergasted. After all, what are you supposed to do with the video that you've captured? We rarely have a video in our library that does not require a slight trim, some added text or a little extra flare before being ready to take on the wilderness that are YouTube and Facebook.

Sure, 4K video editing is a challenging task that taxes your phone's processor to the max. People pay hundreds of dollars for professional video editing software like Sony Vegas Pro and Adobe Premiere. Yet, looking over to greener pastures in the form of the rival Apple ecosystem, we see that the often criticized for being late to the party Apple brings 4K video recording that has no nasty 5-minute limitations AND it comes with the free iMovie video editor that makes 4K video editing a breeze on the iPhone. iMovie allows you to choose movie templates, add text, transitions, trim, and beautify videos in all sorts of ways, and looking over to the App Store we see a ton of quality video editors that offer even more than that.

For starters, though, we don't really want fancy: we want a way to simply trim and queue videos. On Android. Now. It's the end of 2015, after all. Is it that Android developers are so lazy? Or should Google take things in its own hands? It's hard to say what the reasons are and what the ideal solution is, but right now this remains a sore issue for the ecosystem that first brought 4K video recording on phones.

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90 Comments

1. Lycan155

Posts: 254; Member since: Nov 24, 2013

See this what i like about apple maybe people consider apple implementation late but when they do it they perfect it , give them credits for that without feeling the need to defend android on every apple article ...

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 7:15 AM 15

3. Neros

Posts: 1016; Member since: Dec 19, 2014

You can only edit 4k vids on a9 based products, so ip6 is already outdated by 1GB of ram and fail camera without 4K.

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 7:18 AM 27

68. Jango

Posts: 376; Member since: Oct 24, 2014

Apple FRAGMENTATION

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 12:22 PM 4

84. ecmedic4

Posts: 520; Member since: May 02, 2013

That matters why? The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus are the only iPhones able to record 4K video, but the point of the article is that while they can shoot 4K video without the 5 min limit, they can also EDIT 4K video, where as on Android there are no apps in the playstore to edit 4K video. Not sure what your comment has to do with that, other than trolling.

posted on Oct 10, 2015, 1:16 AM 2

25. HugoBarraCyanogenmod

Posts: 1412; Member since: Jul 06, 2014

Why you say? Here's the sour truth, no one makes money from Android! Not even apps developer! When both customers and suppliers drowned into the sea, Android save customer, Apple save suppliers. People who pay less will eventually get less in the ends, capitalist golden rules that undeniable

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 8:45 AM 7

69. Jango

Posts: 376; Member since: Oct 24, 2014

Android developers ought to catch up sure... but seriously? If I needed editing done, I do it on a proper PC. Like my i7 4790k with 16GB hyper x fury RAM. Nvidia 980ti. QHD monitor to boot, to see all the details and beauty with. Surely, PA knows that 4k videos are really to be consumed on large high res displays, like my Acer Predator IPS panel. If I needed a quick trim, then most social sharing apps allow this inside of the app, WITH HEAVY compression too. (I use Telegram and boycott Facebook).

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 12:26 PM 3

83. Nathillien unregistered

Exactly

posted on Oct 10, 2015, 12:17 AM 0

2. Neros

Posts: 1016; Member since: Dec 19, 2014

Becasue pathetic mobile cpus and gpus can't handle 4K that well? Leave footage editing to pcs with 4K and 16-32GB of ram. Mobile phones should be used for facebook and some garbage games like candy crash or angry birds.

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 7:17 AM 18

6. Ahovking

Posts: 711; Member since: Feb 03, 2015

The iPhone is able to edit large 4K videos as smoothly as any PC ive seen.

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 7:20 AM 13

7. Neros

Posts: 1016; Member since: Dec 19, 2014

Yes, enjoy your limited software for amatures. I'll stick with after effects cc.

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 7:24 AM 21

20. Michael.Parker

Posts: 273; Member since: Aug 22, 2015

Phone video editing apps may be limited but all the vast majority want is a few titles and maybe add an audio track.

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 8:03 AM 0

23. VVayne

Posts: 103; Member since: Oct 01, 2015

Seriously sir. If you do use After Effects CC to edit your phone videos, then you don't know too much about editing at all.... Because this softvare is not meant for editing, as it's not very flexible in this regard.

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 8:14 AM 1

39. TechieXP1969

Posts: 14967; Member since: Sep 25, 2013

But Adobe premier is and so is Sony Vegas which is the 2 application I use. The fact is, phone editors would not be able to edit those vids quickly due to low amounts of RAM and CPU power. It would degrade the video and drop frames. Since galaxy devices limite 4K recording to 5MIN, the videos I record will always be about 1.68GB. Even with my device having UFS 2.0 which is faster than eMMC, the phone is simply not powerful enough to handle trying to edit that much video, at that high a resolution without terrible results. If you dont want dropped frames, degraded quality; then you would offload the video to your Mac or PC where your PC would have more RAM, a more powerful CPU that has media extensions designed to prevent video degrading and frame drops when editing. Such a editor on a phone or tablet is dumb. Also editing such a video o a small screen is dumb. And since Tablets dont recod 4K video, you would need to transfer those files to your tablet to use an editor where you can actually see what you're doing. Oh and do you really think an application that would cost 4.99 would give you professional leveled editing? When desktop apps of this caliper costs at least 50 times that much? Yes After Effects wasn't design for UHD video editing. But if you just wanted to take out specific chunks and use them, then AE can do that with no issue.

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 10:11 AM 3

80. Ahovking

Posts: 711; Member since: Feb 03, 2015

"the fact is, phone editors would not be able to edit those vids quickly due to low amounts of RAM and CPU power. It would degrade the video and drop frames." Oh wow haha boy do you have a lot to learn, Maybe if you wont give Apple a try, you will give tizan a try, and it shows what apple is showing.

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 5:05 PM 1

49. 8ozchickenbreast unregistered

Thw iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus can edit TWO 4k videos (with no length limits) at the same time with zero lag. Pathetic????

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 10:46 AM 2

4. Wiencon

Posts: 2278; Member since: Aug 06, 2014

Meanwhile iMovie supports 4K, it just shows that spec sheet isn't everything and I wonder what all those trolls saying "Apple, welcome in 2013" are thinking right now

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 7:19 AM 16

40. TechieXP1969

Posts: 14967; Member since: Sep 25, 2013

Meanwhile, my Samsung Galaxy also edits 4K video without installing any 3rd party application. Its a first party app which Samsung integrated into their camera application. The fact you need to install another app doesnt make it better. I dont have to install anything. But again, bragging about some cheap low end application on a phone vs using professional leveled software on your Mac or Windows PC; shows just how stupid you Apple fans are.

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 10:13 AM 8

70. nepalisherpa

Posts: 338; Member since: Jul 17, 2015

Professional software is for professional use. A phone app is for quick editing here and there. No one would edit videos on their phone for professional use. If you can't see this then it just shows how stupid you are.

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 12:38 PM 3

85. ecmedic4

Posts: 520; Member since: May 02, 2013

You don't need to install another app on the iPhone 6S or 6S Plus, iMovie comes pre-installed on the phone. Keep on trolling though. We all know you hate Apple by now and are a spokesperson for Samsung.

posted on Oct 10, 2015, 1:21 AM 0

42. TechieXP1969

Posts: 14967; Member since: Sep 25, 2013

Meanwhile so does my device. But in both cases, iMovie and my built-in application will only export them up to 1080p. So trimming them down really isnt true editing and exporting/saving degrades the video. So the point is moot.

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 10:21 AM 0

5. Ahovking

Posts: 711; Member since: Feb 03, 2015

Editing 25min 4K video using my iPhone is a breeze, I'm kinda shocked and amused that android is still lacking 4k video editors.

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 7:19 AM 12

43. TechieXP1969

Posts: 14967; Member since: Sep 25, 2013

And exporting them drops them down to 1080p with iMovie. In order to keep the video at UHD, you would need to edit it with FCP X. Which is a what? A desktop classed application. PING PONG BOOM!!!!! IN YOUR FACE TomášJ Mar 25, 2015 9:21 AM Re: Does iMovie support 4K video editing and export? in response to AppleLou As far as I know, iMovie can edit 4K in timeline - from Sony FDR AX100 (XAVC-S). I have tried that recently, but maximal output is just 1920x1080. It looks like I have to buy FCP X to get 4K footage.

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 10:24 AM 7

50. 8ozchickenbreast unregistered

Funny, since I just exported 4k in UHD to my computer. Odd.

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 10:48 AM 3

71. TechieXP1969

Posts: 14967; Member since: Sep 25, 2013

How did you export. Did you attach your phone to the PC and copy the file from your DCIM folder?

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 1:00 PM 0

81. Ahovking

Posts: 711; Member since: Feb 03, 2015

I can and have exported 4k in UHD to my computer...

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 5:06 PM 0

8. ThePython

Posts: 902; Member since: May 08, 2013

The solution is simple: edit it on your computer.

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 7:33 AM 4

15. Victor.H

Posts: 1079; Member since: May 27, 2011

Really, guys? Come on.

posted on Oct 09, 2015, 7:50 AM 10

24. surethom

Posts: 1720; Member since: Mar 04, 2009

Thats not the point, as stated 4k video recording on some phones have been around over a year, & phone processors on the flagship phone & tablets should be capable, it the software companies that are so so slow.