iMovie is Apple's free video editor, included with every Mac. It's approachable, capable, and many developers have used it to create app demos. But iMovie is a general-purpose video editor—it wasn't designed specifically for app demos. Matte takes a different approach: instead of being a video editor that can make app demos, it's an app demo tool that includes the editing features you need.
Complete app demo workflow. Record your simulator, add device frames in one click, edit on timeline, and export for App Store or social media.
$5/mo or $75 lifetime
Apple's free video editor. Great for general editing with transitions, titles, music, and effects. Requires separate recording tool.
Free (included with macOS)
| Feature | Matte | iMovie |
|---|---|---|
| Device Frames | ✓ Built-in, one-click | ✗ Manual overlay work |
| Recording | ✓ Built-in | ✗ Requires QuickTime/etc. |
| Touch Visualization | ✓ Automatic | ✗ |
| App Store Presets | ✓ Built-in | ✗ Limited aspect ratios |
| Advanced Editing | Basic timeline | ✓ Full video editor |
| Music & Audio | Limited | ✓ Extensive |
| Learning Curve | Minutes | Hours |
| Best For | App demos | General video editing |
iMovie is an editor. It assumes you already have footage and want to cut it together, add transitions, music, and titles. It's great at that job. But it doesn't record anything—you need to capture your app demo separately (via QuickTime, simulator recording, or other tools) and import it.
Matte is a complete workflow. It records your iOS simulator, live devices, or any Mac window. It wraps recordings in device frames. It lets you edit the timeline. It exports in the right formats. The entire app-demo-creation process lives in one tool.
Professional app demos show your app running inside a device frame—an iPhone or iPad mockup that gives context and polish. This is standard for App Store preview videos, product pages, and marketing materials.
iMovie has no concept of device frames. To add them, you need to find or create device mockup images with transparency, import them as overlays, manually position your footage underneath, and hope the alignment is perfect. It's finicky, time-consuming, and easy to get wrong.
Matte includes a library of pixel-perfect device frames. Record your demo, click to select a frame, and it's applied instantly with correct positioning, sizing, and animation options.
Choose iMovie when you need complex video editing beyond trimming and arranging, want to create app trailers with cinematic effects, need extensive audio editing, are combining app demos with other footage types, or want to use iMovie's templates and themes.
Choose Matte when you need device frames without manual compositing, want to record and edit in one place, are creating App Store preview videos, need touch visualization, value speed and simplicity, or create app demos regularly.
Skip the complex iMovie workflows. Try Matte and create polished app demos with device frames in minutes—no compositing required.
Try Matte Free →Absolutely. A common workflow is using Matte to record and add device frames, then exporting to iMovie for additional editing, music, or combining with other footage. Matte exports in ProRes and other formats that import cleanly into iMovie.
iMovie has limited aspect ratio options and doesn't include device-specific App Store preview dimensions. You may need to work around this limitation or use custom project settings that iMovie doesn't directly expose.
iMovie can produce professional-looking results, but the workflow is significantly longer than using a purpose-built tool. The main limitation is device frames—without them, your demos won't match industry standards.
Time is the main reason. Creating a device-framed app demo in iMovie requires multiple tools and manual compositing work. Matte accomplishes the same result in a fraction of the time. For developers who create demos regularly, the productivity gain quickly exceeds the cost.