A Top Rated Mobile Video Editor

Project Background

This case study’s subject is the feature-rich video editing application. It was not only listed on the App Store’s Top 20 paid applications and featured in the Top-10 iTunes chart, but also got 4.9 out of five-stars rating based on almost 350,000 reviews. The Video Editor also made it into Windows Mobile’s Top 25 applications list.

When we started working with our client in 2013, he wanted to create a video editing mobile application superior to everything else on the market. After studying the competition, he set out to build a product with a features list the others could only dream of. To execute his vision, he turned to Sibers.

Solution

The high-level task we were charged with was to create an application that could instantly import videos from the default gallery on a mobile device and provide users with a powerful-yet-easy interface that even kids could create video masterpieces with.

With this Video Editor, a user can stitch several clips (imported or captured on-the-fly) into a single video, make a photo slideshow, set transitions between scenes, trim clips, add music and sound effects, and even record voiceover for videos. A user can also add filters and animated titles, adjust video speed, brightness, contrast, and saturation effects, and apply style themes.

When the user’s video is finished, the app offers an array of sharing options like Vine, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, and email.

To confirm the “powerful-yet-easy” part of the equation, we asked a nine-year-old (our founder’s daughter, actually) to test it out. She breezed through it, and in the process created some fantastic videos featuring her pet.

When Apple Watch was introduced, we updated this Video Editor for full compatibility. Now a user can use a Watch as a remote for the iPhone and create group pictures or videos without needing an operator.

Tech highlights

• iOS: Objective-C, iOS SDK, Facebook SDK, Google Mobile Ads SDK, Google Analytics Services SDK, Google Sign-In, GoogleAPIClientForREST/YouTube, GPUImage, CoreGraphics, Foundation, UIKit, AVFoundation, CoreData, CoreMedia, AssetsLibrary, MediaPlayer, CoreVideo, CoreAudio, QuartzCore, Accounts.framework, Social.framework, StoreKit, OpenGL, Social Networks APIs
• Watch OS (Apple Watch)
• Android: Java, Android NDK, Android Low Level Media API, Android Media API, FFmpeg, OpenGL ES, Camera API, OrmLite, Google and Samsung IAP SDKs, AdMob and Ogury SDKs, Google Analytics SDK, RxJava, MP4Parser, OkHttp, Fabric, GStreamer (was used at the beginning), libVLC (was used at the beginning), Social Networks APIs
• Windows Mobile: C#/C++, XAML/MVVM/MFT/DirectX/Direct2D, MVVM Light/Lumia Imaging SDK/RX
• Social Networks APIs: Vine, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, Dropbox, WhatsApp

Results

When we launched the first version of the Video Editor on the App Store, Microsoft immediately approached us and offered to fund a Windows Phone (later Windows for mobile) version. 9,000+ development hours later and the app is now available on iPhone, iPad, Windows Phone (Windows for mobile), and Android devices.

In addition to ranking among the “25 Best Applications” in all categories on both Windows and iOS devices, and first among the “New & Rising” apps for Windows Phone, the Video Editor was one of the App Store’s “Top 3 Paid Photo & Video Apps”, and got 4.5 rating based on 800,000 reviews on the Google Play.

After reaping the fruits of his startup’s success, our client decided to give his parents a gift. The Daily Mail, the Telegraph, and CBS all covered the moment when he handed them an envelope containing a handwritten note saying that he’d paid off their mortgage, along with the confirming documents.

The Sibers team is proud to be part of our client's success story, and we continue working hard to keep the application updated!