Instagram Puts Its Edits Video Editor on Mac, With AI Agent Support

Instagram has released a Mac version of Edits, its video editing app, aimed at creators whose projects have outgrown a phone screen. The desktop app adds a full multi-track timeline, keyframes, audio waveforms and color grading tools, and it can be driven by an AI agent, according to Meta, The Verge and TechCrunch.

For now it runs only on macOS. There is no Windows or Linux version, and a project started on the phone cannot yet be continued on the computer, The Verge reported.

What the Mac app can do

The layout follows the mobile app: creators combine clips, audio tracks, visual effects and music from Instagram’s audio library. The larger screen allows finer control. In a blog post, Meta said the editor brings “keyframes for dynamic transitions” along with waveforms for cuts that land on the beat. Splitting, cutting and trimming are easier, according to the company, and color wheels, log conversions and curves handle the final grade.

Other tools carried over or added for desktop:

• Keyboard shortcuts that can be customized or imported from other editing software
• Custom font files
• Licensed and royalty-free music, sound and video effects, and automatic captions in multiple languages, per TechCrunch
• Audio and text styles saved in the mobile app, which sync to the desktop version
• Horizontal and vertical formats, with watermark-free exports in 4K

Finished videos can be posted straight to Instagram from the Mac app, with tagging and location built in. Instagram told TechCrunch this removes the old routine of editing on a computer, downloading the file, moving it to a phone and editing again before posting.

Editing with an AI agent

The Mac app ships with an MCP for its editing tools. An MCP is a connector that lets an outside AI agent call the app’s functions. Matthew Simari, head of product management for Edits, told The Verge that users can plug in Meta’s Muse agent or any other agent they choose.

Simari described a creator asking Muse to build a rough cut from videos in a downloads folder. The agent makes the tool calls, and the creator then opens the project file in Edits to keep working by hand. He said users can move back and forth between agent-driven and manual editing.

The mobile app already has an AI creative assistant, added in September, that gives suggestions and feedback based on Instagram account data such as views and retention, The Verge reported.

What it means for creators choosing an editor

Meta launched Edits last year to compete with ByteDance’s CapCut, which many TikTok creators still rely on. CapCut has had desktop versions for Windows and Mac since 2021, according to TechCrunch, so the Mac release closes part of that gap. Creators on Windows PCs still have no desktop option from Instagram.

The app has a sizable base already. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on the company’s latest earnings call that Edits has more than 50 million active users, Engadget reported. TechCrunch described the same figure as more than 50 million creators using the mobile app.

Brett Westervelt, head of Edits, wrote in a blog post that creators kept reaching the point where “a project gets too big for your phone.” The desktop push also follows Instagram’s move toward longer, widescreen videos, which are easier to edit on a bigger screen, The Verge noted. Meta said it is expanding Edits to support multiple aspect ratios.

What comes next

Meta plans weekly updates to the desktop app. The company said it is working on cross-platform editing, so the same project can be opened on both the phone and the Mac. Instagram also said it will keep developing the mobile app.

Sources: Engadget, The Verge, TechCrunch