Is there a particular moment in your video that you want the audience to pay closer attention to? Do you know what would be perfect for that? A freeze-frame effect. This impactful movie technique dates back to Hithkok's 1960s cinema, but it's still as popular as ever. Both movie artists and content creators use it to emphasize an important frame.
Unlike Hitchcock in the 1960s, you can now create a hold frame effect on your mobile phone. However, you need a good freeze-frame app for that. That's where we come in. We've tried over fifty popular video editing apps and hand-picked the ones with the best (and easiest to use) freeze-frame tool. Here are their features, pros, cons, and more.
In this article
Best Freeze Frame Apps for Mobile
There are several freeze-frame video editing apps that we think check all the boxes for both content creators (YouTubers, TikTok influencers, gamers, online educators, etc.) and casual users. In addition to an overview and key features, we've also included the pros and cons of each app, as well as user ratings. These are the top freeze-frame apps.
Filmora
Here's a fantastic mobile app for creatives that features over 900 video effects, including a single-tap freeze frame. As one of the highest-rated post-production studios, Wondershare Filmora offers every imaginable functionality needed for creating cinematics, YouTube blogs, short videos for TikTok, etc. It's packed with advanced tools but very easy to use.
Filmora allows you to rotate, crop, flip, resize, duplicate, and replace still frames, adjust their opacity and duration, and remove and change the background. You can use the Mask effect to create exciting overlays or add dynamic transitions between the still frame and the rest of the video. Simply tap to apply, with minimal manual adjustments.
What else can you do with Filmora to improve your Freeze Frame game? You can add music, stickers, and animations or apply filters to change the color or style of the frozen frame. You can also use motion tracking to animate letters for character introductions, like in Tarantino's movies, or add fade-outs and rolling credits, like in closing sequences.
Key Features
- Freeze Frame Tool: Pause a frame with a single click and adjust the duration;
- Easy Split and Trim: Fine-tune length and composition on a multitrack timeline;
- Smooth Transitions: Create an effortless transition to and from a freeze frame;
- Speed Up and Reverse: Combine freeze frames with speed-ups for comic effect;
- Text with Animations: Add text overlays and animate letters to introduce dynamic;
- Effects and Filters: Choose a visual effect or color filter to achieve a specific mood;
- Auto Synchronization: Align background music and sound effects with the freeze frame.
Supported OS: Android/iOS/Windows/MacOS
User Ratings
- Google Play: 4.7/10 stars (1.03M reviews)
- App Store: 4.7/10 stars (73.1K ratings)
CapCut
CapCut is known for its clean interface and extensive editing tools. The app's AI effects and cutting-edge features like speed curve enable advanced editing, but that's not all. CapCut is also a great freeze-frame video effect app with several competitive features. For example, it allows you to "Retouch" the face and body and "Relight" objects.
Other than that, CapCut includes all the standard functions necessary for creating engaging freeze frames. You can use it to rotate, crop, flip, and resize, change the duration, remove the background, add transitions and effects, and more. CapCut can't help you composite complex videos but lets you play with video, photo, and sound overlays.
Key Features
- Freeze Frame: Rotate, flip, and crop a video frame after you pause it;
- Split and Trim: Cut, separate, and rearrange frames to tell a story;
- Video Effect: Enhance still frames with color filters, blurs, and more.
Supported OS: Android/iOS/Windows/MacOS
User Ratings
- Google Play: 4.3/5 stars (10.1M reviews)
- App Store: 4.8/5 stars (9.1K ratings)
InShot
InShot is a popular app for editing social media videos. It is packed with filters, transitions, and effects that can be seen all over TikTok and Instagram. InShot is widely used because it is made for absolute beginners, but it may not be the best choice for professional users.
The freeze-frame effect is an excellent example of this. InShot gives you the tools to achieve stunning still-frame results, and adding transitions and effects is a breeze. However, stacking video layers on top of each other to overlay or bland multiple (still) frames is somewhat limited.
Key Features
- Freeze: Pause a specific frame and edit the still image;
- Audio: Add music and sound effects or record a voiceover;
- Stickers and Text: With auto-captions, mosaic, and freehand drawing;
- Effects and Filters: Including AI Effects, Auto Adjust, and manual polishing;
- Animation: Add dynamic transitions between the still frame and the video.
Supported OS: Android, iOS
User Ratings
- Google Play: 4.9/5 stars (21.4M reviews)
- App Store: 4.9/5 stars (2.1M ratings)
KineMaster
KineMaster is a video editing app with a unique design, powerful layering capabilities, and a freeze-frame effect that you can find in the Trim/Split section of the toolkit. It lets you edit, customize, and transform still frames in all the usual ways, but the only way to crop and resize a still frame is by applying the Pan and Zoom effect.
Despite its landscape layout and emphasis on layering options, KineMaster's UI is a bit more complicated to grasp than that of leading video editing apps like Filmora and CapCut. Still, it has plenty of free features that make it worthwhile. Unlike some editors, KineMaster has blending functions that introduce a whole other layer of functionality.
Key Features
- Split and Insert Freeze Frame: Create and edit a still image;
- Pan & Zoom: Use Pan & Zoom to resize or crop the frame;
- Filter: Add a filter to change the style and mood of a freeze frame;
- Clip Graphics: Add animations with text or stickers and transitions;
- Audio: Add background music, short music, or SFX, or record a voiceover.
Supported OS: Android/iOS
User Ratings
- Google Play: 4.3/5 stars (5.84M reviews)
- App Store: 4.7/5 stars (26.9K ratings)
PowerDirector
PowerDirector is a trusted replacement for top-rated apps like Filmora and CapCut that can help you freeze a specific frame for emphasis and make it memorable. This app is one of the easiest ways to create still frames, largely thanks to a granulated timeline and familiar UI. The only downside of using PowerDirector is that it lags behind in the number of transitions and effects.
PowerDirector's true strength lies in AI-powered features like Video Enhancer and Speed Curve. The last one can be especially interesting in combination with still frames.
Here's an idea: you can use this combo in dynamic videos where the camera follows a moving object, like a ball or dancer, to juxtapose freeze frames with sped-up sequences.
Key Features
- Freeze: Pause and split, crop, rotate, flip, transform the still frame;
- Transition: Make the freeze frame pop or subtly transition to and from it;
- Effects: Including Video Effects, AI Effects, Effect Overlay, and Highlight;
- Filter: A wide range of trending, movie-like, and theme-specific filters;
- Layers: Add text, auto-captions, music, voiceover, sound effects, stickers…
- Audio Mixing: Manually adjust and sync sounds and audio tracks.
Supported OS: Android/iOS/Windows/MacOS
User Ratings
- Google Play: 4.5/5 stars (1.72M reviews)
- App Store: 4.6/5 stars (25.8K ratings)
iMovie
If you've been wondering how to freeze frame a video on an iPhone for free, all you need is the iMovie app. Known for its video editing capabilities in the Apple stratosphere, iMovie caters to different types of users and creative needs. You can use it to pause on a specific frame, as well as to split, edit, and integrate it into your video.
Like most iMovie functions, freeze frame is a single-tap feature that's easy to apply with zero video editing experience. This app is unique because it creates a separate segment in the timeline after you use the freeze frame tool, but it lacks multilayer editing. Another thing you can't do with iMovie is sync audio effects with the still frame.
Key Features
- Freeze Frame: Pause at a specific frame and highlight key moments with a few taps;
- Easy Trimming and Splitting: Edit and integrate still frames into a video with precision;
- Transitions and Effects: Create smooth transitions and add cool effects for a better flow;
- Text Overlays: Add annotations and captions to still frames for context or emphasis;
- Audio Syncing: Match background music, sound effects, and voiceovers to still frames.
Supported OS: iOS/MacOS
User Ratings
- App Store: 4.2/5 (180.2K ratings)
VN Video Editor
Another feature-rich alternative for beginner and intermediate-level video editing, VN Video Editor is an app with a professional take on timeline-based UI. Projects have separate tracks for different types of media, making it much easier to overlay videos, photos, and audio and combine visual and other effects—which brings us to the freeze frame.
VN Video Editor is a capable tool for creating freeze frames with tons of cool transitions and effects. Freezing a pivotal moment in a video is an instant single-tap functionality. You can easily remove the background, add text and music, and overlay frames.
Key Features
- Freeze: Pause a frame and adjust its position, size, and duration;
- Transitions and FX: Add fun effects throughout the frame or on its ends;
- Filter: Choose a perfect filter to match your still frame's mood;
- Layers: Add a photo, video, sticker, text, subtitle, music, or sound effect.
Supported OS: Android/iOS/MacOS
User Ratings
- Google Play: 4.9/10 stars (3.77M reviews)
- App Store: 4.8/5 stars (203.6K ratings)
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How to Freeze Frame a Video on iPhone/Android
While pressing pause on a specific frame in a video is easy, using freeze frames creatively is less so. Not with Filmora. To illustrate how it works, we'll now show you how to create a perfect freeze frame effect using Wondershare's video editing app:
Step 1: Download Filmora from the Google Play Store or App Store and launch the app.
Step 2: Tap on New Project or the + button to import an existing video from your phone.
Step 3: Move the Playhead down the Timeline to the frame you want to freeze.
Step 4: Tap on the Trim button at the bottom and swipe right to find the Freeze tool. Click on it to apply the effect. Filmora will automatically create a 3-second long still frame.
Step 5: To change the duration and adjust other aspects of the frozen frame, click on the freeze frame on the timeline to see editing options. Tap on Rotate to rotate, mirror, or flip the frame.
Step 6: Tap the Opacity button to make the still frame more or less transparent.
Step 7: If you want a longer or shorter frame, tap the Duration button and change how long it lasts.
Step 8: Another way to change the duration is to hold the Mark-in and Mark-out buttons in the Timeline and move them left or right.
Step 9: Tap the Arrow in the Toolbar to return to the main tools panel and continue with creative editing. Tap on Audio, Text, Sticker, or PiP to insert new layers of media, or scroll right for Effect, Filters, and more.
Conclusion
Using a freeze frame app can significantly improve the quality of your videos and make them more creative and impactful. Unfortunately, finding the right video editing app with this capability is easier said than done. In addition to the freeze tool, effective still frames require engaging animations and effects and assets like stickers, music, and more.
That said, the best freeze-frame app on our list is Filmora. It is closely followed by the likes of CapCut, InShot, and similar popular video editing apps. We like Filmora because it unlocks your creativity with tons of inspirational templates and creative assets, allowing you to stack them on top of layers of cinematic effects and make them more dynamic.
