Google has been preparing to bring YouTube Create to iOS devices since nearly two years ago, when the video editing app was released exclusively for Android. A job list reviewed by TechCrunch reveals that the company is actively hiring Indian engineers for its IOS development projects.
The job posting shows that Google is hiring a special software engineer in Bengaluru to build an iOS version. The original Android app debuted in the US and seven other markets in September 2023, and by February 2024 it expanded to 13 more markets.
YouTube Create offers free mobile video editing tools designed for content creators, offering features such as stickers, GIFs, effects of both YouTube shorts and long format videos. After consulting with 3,000 creators, Google developed the app and confirmed it would meet its needs.
This app is a Google attempt to compete with Bytedance’s popular Capcut editor. However, exclusive sensor tower data shared with TechCrunch shows that YouTube Create is quite behind Capcut and another established competitor, Inshot.
The competition isn’t even close. In the second quarter of this year, Capcut and Inshot were downloaded 66 million and 21 million times on Android devices, respectively. In contrast, YouTube Create has had under 500,000 downloads this quarter, with just 4 million downloads since its launch.
The user engagement gap is even more pronounced. Capcut boasts over 442 million active users per month for its second quarter Android app, while Inshot claims 92 million. YouTube creates delays that are behind with less than 1 million active users each month.
On iOS, YouTube creation platforms are currently targeted, but the competition is just as intense. Capcut led 194 million monthly active users in the second quarter, followed by 25 million Inshots. Meanwhile, the edits on Capcut and Instagram have dominated iOS downloads this year, with 28 million and 7 million downloads, respectively.
Despite lagging behind the numbers, YouTube Create is showing momentum, with monthly active users increasing by 28% per month, surpassing CapCut’s 9% rise and waste 7% decline.
“While it boasts solid user growth over the last year, YouTube Create struggles to keep up with some of the more established peers, such as Capcut, the latter with over 10 times the number of monthly active users.”
YouTube Create could be building a more loyal user base, Yousef suggested. The rise in active users along with reduced downloads could be an indication that people who have tried the app before are back for regular use.
“Capcut, which came out many years ago, is seamlessly integrated with its sister app Tiktok, and could play with this material’s size difference with YouTube Create,” Yousef said.
Still, YouTube Create faces some retention issues. 90 Day Retention Rate – The percentage of users who downloaded the app and used it 90 days after downloading it was about 1% in the first quarter, well below Capcut’s 7% and 4% for Inshot.
The engagement metrics also highlight the gap. Users spend 38 minutes per month on YouTube Create compared to 62 minutes for CapCut users. Also, CapCut users open apps more frequently and average 23 sessions and 11 sessions per month for YouTube creation.
Geographically, YouTube Create’s user base is diverse. India accounted for 67% of YouTube Create’s monthly active users in the second quarter last year, but fell to 51% this quarter as the app gained traction elsewhere. Still, YouTube Create appears to be gaining stickiness in India, with the daily, monthly active user ratio improving from 9% last year to 12% this year.
In addition to India, Indonesia has emerged as the second largest market for YouTube Create, accounting for 21% of the world’s monthly active users. Germany (5%), Brazil (4%) and the UK (3%) will round out the top markets.
The app also shows particularly strong growth in several other markets. Monthly active users increased by 119% in Spain, 91% in South Korea, 89% in France and 71% in Singapore compared to the previous year.
“The iOS release of YouTube Create could absolutely help the platform grow its market share, but it continues to be fierce competition in the space from both other social media-backed video editing platforms and native video editors,” Yesef said.
Google did not respond to requests for comment.
