Video player
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What is it? An app that allows you to create animated videos efficiently, by mixing images, short clips and sound in a variety of styles.

Devices: iOS

Cost: A free version is available, although it will place a watermark on your videos. The full version costs £7.99, and includes 25 video styles and removes the watermark

How is it of use to journalists?

News outlets have been experimenting with different formats for short videos online – for example, the BBC has developed BBC Shorts for Instagram and Al Jazeera's AJ+ has seen great success with its native videos for Facebook, using bold letters in captions and dynamic scene transitions.

But if you're not a qualified video producer or you lack some of the resources needed to follow in their footsteps, Replay can help you turn existing footage or images captured on your camera roll into short video packages, complete with text, soundtrack and animations.

Animated videos could be particularly suitable for creating shorter explainer videos or trailers of longer documentaries to either go alongside your written pieces or to feature as teasers on social media.

Replay was updated to version 3.0 earlier this month, and its creators, the team behind text animation app Legend, have added new video styles and the option to personalise fonts, filters and graphic variations for each of the 25 video formats available.

How it works

Making a Replay video is simple and takes only a couple of minutes. Once you open the app, you can select up to 200 images and video clips of any duration from your camera roll or import media from Facebook or Instagram.

The video will be automatically created using a default style, but a list of the three options available for free can be found at the bottom of the screen.

Each option comes with its own video transitions and soundtrack, but you can personalise it by changing the filter and font.

Tapping the film strip icon on the screen will also let you edit each element of your package individually, by trimming the clip, adding text and changing the order of the files.

replay app
The free video styles available in Replay (left) and the different editing options (right)

For soundtracks, you can choose from a collection of free songs within the app or use your own music.

Replay will also let you set the pace of the video to slower or faster and opt for either a standard 16:9 ratio, or a square one for Instagram.

When you've finished editing, the video can be saved to your camera roll or shared via email, message and social media platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Additional video styles cost £0.79 each, but you can also choose to purchase a smaller collection for £2.29 or splurge on all 25 options for £7.99, which will also remove the Replay watermark that is displayed when you export the videos.

Click here to browse through some of the videos created by the Replay community using the app.

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