X adds iOS video tools as it targets reposted clips
X’s product chief said many major accounts repost others’ videos, while new iOS tools aim to make original video easier to create.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
2 min read
X has added built-in video recording and editing tools to its iOS app as it tries to push creators toward original posts. The rollout follows comments from X head of product Nikita Bier, who said many videos shared by large accounts are taken from other users, sometimes years after first becoming popular.
Bier said Monday that video now accounts for close to half of all impressions on X. He described the new tools as part of an effort to reduce what he called recycled content and make it easier for some videos on X to be created for the platform rather than copied from elsewhere.
TechCrunch reported that the tools are available now in X’s iOS app. According to Bier and TechCrunch, the update includes an in-app video editor and recorder, plus options for captions in multiple languages.
What the new tools include
Bier said one new feature lets users add custom backgrounds using posts or photos from their camera roll. His announcement video also showed tools for trimming clips and generating captions automatically.
The green screen-style feature puts X closer to editing options that users already see on short-form video apps such as TikTok and Instagram, according to The Verge. X has been trying to increase original video posting as creator activity becomes a larger part of the platform’s product strategy.
The company’s latest video push also comes after several earlier steps aimed at accounts that repost others’ work. In May, Bier said X had found a number of large accounts that were using automated methods to reupload content from other users to benefit from the platform’s revenue-sharing program.
At the time, Bier said X would assign impressions from those posts to the original creator. That change was aimed at preventing reposting accounts from earning credit for engagement generated by material they did not create.
In April, Bier said X was reducing payouts to accounts he described as aggregators that shared stolen reposts and clickbait. With the new video tools, Bier said creators who avoid recycled material will rise faster than accounts that rely on reposted content.
The announcements point to a broader effort by X to reward creators who publish original work and reduce incentives for copying popular clips. X has not said how broadly it will enforce those policies beyond the changes Bier described, and the new editor has only been reported as available on iOS.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.