Open your phone. Look at your "Editing" folder. You probably have five or six different apps in there. They all have cool names. They all have "AI Effects." They all cost $4.99 a month.

But if you are a professional editor, 90% of them are dangerous. Why? Because they are dead ends.

1. The "Baked-In" Problem

• The Scenario: You are on a flight. You start cutting a project on your iPad. You get a solid rough cut done. You land, and you want to polish it in the studio.

• The Trap: Most apps (Splice, InShot, CapCut) only let you export a video file.

  • They don't give you the project. They give you a "baked" mp4.

  • You can't fix the audio mix. You can't grade the raw footage. You are stuck with the compressed mess you made at 30,000 feet.

2. The Professional Standard: Round-Tripping

• The Rule: A mobile editing app is only "Pro" if it allows Round-Tripping.

  • This means you can start on the phone and finish on the desktop.

  • If an app cannot export an XML (Extensible Markup Language) or a DRP (DaVinci Project) file, it is not a tool; it is a sandbox.

3. The Only Two That Pass the Test

• DaVinci Resolve for iPad: It is literally the same code as the desktop version. You can AirDrop the project file to your Mac and pick up exactly where you left off.

• Premiere Rush (With Caveats): It syncs to the Creative Cloud. It’s buggy, but at least it tries to get you to the desktop.

The Verdict: Stop editing in "Islands." If you spend 4 hours editing on your phone, you should own that timeline. Check the export settings. No XML? Delete the app.