Insta360

Review by eFreeware

Insta360 is the companion app for the company's own cameras and handheld gimbals, made by Insta360 and listed under video players and editors on Google Play. It is free to download, carries no ads and offers in-app purchases, and it has been installed more than a million times with a 3.6 average from 48,118 ratings. The app first appeared in January 2020 and was last updated in September 2026.

What makes it worth a look is that it turns a phone into the editing room for footage shot on Insta360 hardware. Instead of moving files to a computer, you can reframe 360 clips, let automated tools cut highlights together and post results to social media without downloading the footage first. For anyone already carrying one of these cameras, that is the appeal: the edit happens close to where the shooting happened.

The hardware owners this is built around

This is not a general-purpose video editor for whatever happens to be in your camera roll. It is built for people who shoot with Insta360 cameras and handheld gimbals, and the tools are shaped around that footage. If you own one of those devices and want to work on clips from a phone, the app is the intended route. The app is built for people shooting with Insta360 cameras, and it concentrates on editing that footage.

The app targets creators, athletes and adventurers, and it combines automatic templates with manual controls. Some users want a finished clip with as few decisions as possible; others want to place keyframes and adjust perspective themselves. The app offers both paths, which means it can serve someone who mostly shoots action highlights as well as someone who wants to fine-tune a single shot.

There is also a community side. The app includes content from creators, tutorials and a space to share clips and interact with the people who made them. That gives new owners somewhere to pick up ideas, though it is a secondary reason to install rather than the main one.

Automated editing and the template library

AI Edit is the app's hands-off option. According to the developer, it can handle the whole reframing process on its own, with subject detection that has been improved to make the job easier. The idea is that you supply the footage and the app decides what to keep in frame, producing action highlights without you working through each shot.

Shot Lab goes further with a library of AI-powered editing templates, more than 25 of them, designed to produce shareable clips in a few taps. Named effects include AI Warp, Clone Trail, Sky Swap and Nose Mode. Templates like these are the fastest way to get something distinctive out of a short clip, and the count suggests there is enough variety to keep the results from looking identical.

The trade-off with any template-driven approach is that you are working inside someone else's idea of what the clip should be. That is fine when speed matters more than control, and the app does not force you down that path. The manual side is there for the shots that deserve more attention.

Reframing, tracking and time control

Reframing is the core skill with 360 footage, and the app handles it by letting you set a keyframe and shift the clip's perspective. Each keyframe marks a new view, so a single recording can move between angles as it plays. It is a straightforward way to build a sequence out of footage that captured everything at once.

Deep Track keeps a subject centered with a single tap, and it works for a person, an animal or a moving object. That covers a lot of common situations, from a runner crossing a frame to a pet that will not stay still, and it removes the need to chase the subject manually.

Hyperlapses are handled with the same economy. You can speed up a video into a stabilized hyperlapse in a few taps, then adjust the speed of the clip afterward. Having control over both time and perspective in one place is useful when a shot needs to be shortened without losing the part that matters.

The album page has been reworked so thumbnails automatically use the best angle, which makes it easier to identify and manage files. Small as that sounds, it matters once a card holds dozens of 360 clips that all look alike at a glance.

Editing without filling up your phone

Download-free editing is the feature I would point to first for anyone short on storage. Clips can be edited and shared to social media without being downloaded to the phone first, which saves space and means an edit can happen while you are still away from a computer. For travelers and anyone shooting through a long day, that removes a step that usually involves cables and a laptop.

The app also includes Stage Mode for Luna Ultra, added in the most recent update. It supports up to 15x zoom, and up to 22.5x with the Ultra Telephoto Lens attached, along with improved image quality, tracking and audio performance and exclusive watermarks. That is a feature for owners of that specific hardware rather than something everyone will use.

One technical note from the developer is worth knowing about. When a phone connects to a camera over the camera's Wi-Fi, that network has no internet access, and most users lose connectivity as a result, which can cause repeated disconnection during live streaming. The app uses VPNService to route certain requests over the cellular network so you do not have to keep switching connections. It is an unglamorous fix for a real annoyance.

What it costs and what comes with it

The app is free to download and shows no ads. It does offer in-app purchases. The sensible approach is to treat the free download as the starting point and see what the app asks for once you are inside it.

The rating picture is worth a moment. A 3.6 average across 48,118 ratings is middling rather than glowing, and with more than a million installs there is a wide range of users behind that number. I would not read it as a verdict on the editing tools themselves, but it does suggest expectations are not always met. Since the app is free, trying it costs nothing but time.

The developer maintains an official website where the desktop Studio software and the latest firmware updates are available, and there is a customer service email for support. Feedback can be sent through the in-app private message system by following the Insta360 Official account.

How it compares with the alternatives

The obvious comparison is a general video editor from an app store. Those tend to work with whatever footage you have, but they do not know what a 360 file is and will not reframe one for you. The Insta360 app is narrower by design, and that narrowness is exactly what makes the 360 tools possible.

A desktop editing suite is the other route. It gives you more room to work and finer control, at the cost of sitting down at a computer and moving files across first. For a quick clip to post the same day, the phone app is the shorter path; for a project you intend to shape carefully, the desktop remains the more capable environment.

Then there is the camera's own software ecosystem. Some hardware makers expect you to use their companion app and little else, and this one sits in that category, though the developer also offers Studio for desktop work. If you already own Insta360 hardware, the app is the natural companion rather than a choice between rivals.

A companion app for people who own the hardware

Insta360 is a focused tool, and it is best judged that way. It gives owners of Insta360 cameras and gimbals a way to reframe, track, speed up and share footage from a phone, with automated templates for the quick posts and manual keyframes for the shots that deserve more care. The download-free workflow is the part that will matter most to anyone shooting away from a desk.

The caveats are straightforward. It is free with in-app purchases, it is built around Insta360 hardware, and its 3.6 average suggests a fair number of users have found something to complain about. None of that changes what the app is for.

If you shoot with one of these cameras and want to edit on your phone, this is the app the hardware is designed to work with, and the price of entry is nothing. If your footage comes from elsewhere, the tools here are aimed at a format you are not shooting.

What's new in version 2.34.5

1.Stage Mode for Luna Ultra is now available, with up to 15× zoom for photos and videos, and up to 22.5× zoom when the Ultra Telephoto Lens is attached. Enjoy enhanced image quality, tracking, and audio performance, plus exclusive watermarks to highlight every standout moment on stage. For further support, head to Me > Help and Feedback > Insta360 Technical Support.