This free video editing app is also being banned alongside TikTok

Unless TikTok is given more time or the Supreme Court rules in the company’s favor, the app will be banned in the US on January 19, 2025. But the same bill that gave TikTok its fast approaching deadline will also impact a free editing app that’s the lifeblood of short-form videos everywhere: CapCut.

The bill that’s the source of the ban, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Apps Act, calls out TikTok directly, but is actually written to be a bit broader than that. It applies to “any other application or service developed or provided by ByteDance Ltd. or an entity under the control of ByteDance Ltd.” That includes CapCut, which is currently developed by ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company.

That means unless ByteDance is willing to sell CapCut, and hand off development of the app to another company, the app will likely be delisted from app stores in the US in the same way TikTok will be.

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CapCut is a popular short-form video editing app for a reason

Losing the app could fundamentally change the landscape of social video

CapCut

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CapCut

CapCut is an all-in-one video editing app that gives you the features of Premiere Pro in a package that’s easy to use on your phone.

No longer having access to CapCut would be a huge blow to creators who rely on the app to produce videos. CapCut is developed by ByteDance, and modeled on the same video creation tools that appear in the TikTok app, but it’s used just as often to create content for competing platforms like Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts as it is TikTok itself, according to a report from The Washington Post on the impacts of banning the app.

Professional video editing apps like Adobe’s Premiere Pro or Apple’s Final Cut Pro 11 are powerful, but they’re also not exactly easy to use without practice, and they can be especially tricky if you’re more comfortable with mobile interfaces. CapCut carries over the most important features of those apps, like automatic color correction and background removal, and makes them free and easy to use on a mobile app. There’s a whole generation of editors who started with CapCut before they made the jump to more traditional editing software. Removing the app from app stores wouldn’t leave creators without alternatives, but it would probably change how short-form videos look and are made going forward.

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ByteDance owns other bannable apps

Lemon8 and Hypic are on the chopping block

ByteDance

The same logic that incorporates CapCut into the TikTok ban would also apply to ByteDance apps Lemon8 and Hypic, too. Lemon8 launched in the US in 2023 as a sort of text and image focused alternative to something like Instagram. It’s received an influx of new users since TikTok started advertising the platform on TikTok, and will likely also have to be delisted. Hypic is an AI-powered photo editing app, and it would also need to be removed. Neither app commands the same audience in the US as TikTok or CapCut, but people will still notice when they’re gone.