X has launched a redesigned video editor and recorder for its iOS app to encourage creators to produce original content instead of reposting recycled videos.
The update brings a range of editing features, including multilingual captions that users can customise and green-screen tools that allow creators to use images from their camera roll or other posts on X as backgrounds.
The company also redesigned the editing interface to make recording and editing videos easier within the app.
According to X’s Head of Product, Nikita Bier, the company wants to give creators better tools while rewarding those who publish original work.
“One of our biggest priorities is to give creators the tools to create original content [and] reward those creators,” Bier wrote in a post. “We have plenty more updates coming to the video editor in the coming weeks.”
He added that the goal is to build a “functional” video editor so videos on X can “finally be original content that doesn’t exist on other platforms.”
The update comes as video grows on the platform. Bier said posts containing videos now account for nearly half of all impressions on X, making video one of its biggest sources of engagement.
Even so, X still faces competition from platforms such as TikTok, Meta and YouTube, which already offer more established creator programmes, stronger monetisation options and wider audiences.
Bier also acknowledged that recycled content is a problem on X. He said many popular accounts share videos taken from other creators, sometimes years after the original clips first went viral.
Beyond copied content, the platform faces issues of spam and automated accounts. In April, Bier said X was identifying and suspending “208 bots per minute and growing.” He also revealed at the time that half of the company’s product team had been working on features designed to reduce spam.
Unlike some competing platforms, X does not yet provide creators with built-in tools to report stolen videos or claim ownership when their content is reposted. Meta allows creators to block copied Reels or add attribution links that can help them earn revenue, while YouTube offers systems to detect and remove unauthorised re-uploads.
X is not alone in dealing with the high volume of spam and bot-generated content online. Reddit recently said it is introducing new tools to tackle the rise in spam and automated posts, while Digg shut down its app earlier this year, saying it lacked the resources to deal with the problem.
The redesigned video editor and recorder are available first on the iOS version of X. Bier said support for Android will follow after work on rebuilding the app is completed.
