Compressing a video, for example to share it, is very simple on a mobile device. There are many apps to do this. Here is a selection.
Smartphones make fantastic cameras. iPhone, Google Pixel, Galaxy, so many devices that can capture in 4K, with stabilization, an impressive level of detail and color quality. But these videos are quite huge in size. If you just watch them on your device or store them on one of your devices, it’s quite manageable, but if you want to send them to someone via the internet, it usually takes , going through the compression.
There are apps and sites to do this. And if you do it right, you won’t lose a lot of quality and resolution. Here are the best methods to compress video on iPhone and Android.
You will find many iPhone apps on the App Store that offer to compress videos. The app Video Compress does this very well. The free version is sufficient for most users and isn’t too restrictive, you won’t feel pressured into purchasing the paid version.
Video Compress is easy to use. Open the app, tap the plus button and choose the video to compress. The app will give you a standard template to modify, if you want. By default, the app goes hard, compressing a lot, but you can opt for 1080p with a higher sample rate, if you want.
Even these settings will result in a file weight reduction of around 90%, while remaining in full HD. You can also watch a preview of the video to make sure you’re happy with the result, and once processing is complete, the file will appear in your Photos app automatically.
On Android, there are a lot of apps available. Many of them full of ads and other paid options. We found that Panda did a very interesting job. The ads are unobtrusive, the compression fast and efficient and, most importantly, the interface is quite good.
The app also offers good default settings for sending by email (less than 25 MB) and sharing on social media like Facebook.
The process is extremely simple. Give the app access to your media files and choose the video to compress. Tap the “Next” button and choose the compression style. You can choose from predefined settings, like Email or Facebook, or you can customize to your needs. Then tap the “Compress” button and the output file will be saved automatically.
If your video is on your computer or if you don’t want to download an app, you can use a site to compress a video. Clideo offers a decent tool that encrypts your video so no one has access to your private data.
The free plan allows compression of videos weighing up to 500 MB. Click on the “Choose file” button, choose your video and let the site do the rest. You will have to wait a few minutes for sending and processing. Once the compression is done, click on the “Download” button.