Having an iPhone in your pocket means you can record great-looking video at practically any time—and if you've got a 5S, you can also record cool-looking slow-motion video.

You're not stuck with the video as is, though; there's a video editor built into the Photos app that comes with the iOS that allows you to edit videos directly on your iPhone. Use the editor to snip out the parts of you don't want and leave a perfect clip that's ready to be shared with your friends via email or text messaging, or with the world on YouTube and Vimeo.

Because the iPhone isn't a professional-level video-editing environment, don't expect a full-featured video editor here. Adding sophisticated features like visual effects and sound editing requires complex, and often expensive, video-editing programs that run on powerful desktop computers. That's just not possible on a phone with a touch interface. But the built-in video editor will allow you to trim the videos you've recorded with your iPhone so you can save the best part of your videos.

NOTE: The video editing feature is available on the iPhone 3GS and newer running iOS 6 and higher.

1. In order to edit a video, you'll need to have some videos in the first place. You do that using the Camera app that's built into the iPhone. Read this article to learn how to use the Camera app to record video.
2. If you just took the video using Camera, tap the box in the lower left corner of the Camera app and skip to step 4. If you're looking to edit a video taken earlier, or have already left Camera, tap on the Photos app. Next, tap Camera Roll (in iOS 6 and lower) or Videos (in iOS 7 and higher), and find the video you want to edit. 

1. When you find the video you want to edit, tap on it.
2. At the top of the window, you'll see a timeline bar showing the frames that compose your video. A small white (iOS 7) or silver (iOS 6) bar rests on top of the timeline bar at the left (it's a bit subtle in iOS 7, but it looks like a progress indicator). You can tap and drag the silver bar to move forward and backward throughout the video. This lets you quickly get to the part of the video you want to edit.
3. To edit the video—which, remember, means just trimming footage off one end or the other—tap and hold either end of the timeline bar (there are two little lines/arrows at each end of the bar). At this point, the bar will turn yellow and a button labeled Trim will appear above the timeline bar.
   
   Drag either end of the yellow bar to cut out the parts of the video you don't want to save. The section of the video shown within the yellow bar is what you'll be saving. You have to save continuous chunks of the video; you can't stitch together two separate parts of the video.
   
4. When you're happy with your selection, tap the Trim button at the top right (or Cancel if you've changed your mind). You'll be given two options: Trim Original or Save as New Clip. If you choose Trim Original, you cut from the original video and will permanently delete the sections you remove. If you choose this, be sure you're making the right decision: there's no undoing it; the video will be gone.
   
   For more flexibility, choose Save as New Clip. This will save the trimmed version of the video as a new file on your iPhone, allowing you to view the new clip, but also leave the original untouched so you can return to it to make other edits later.
   
   Whichever you choose, the new video will be saved to your Photos app.
   

Sharing Your Editing Videos

Once you've created and saved the video clip, you've got a number of options for what to do with it. You can simply save it and then sync it to your computer as normal. But, if you tap the arrow button at the bottom left of the screen, you'll have the following options options:

• Message—Choosing Message will import the video into the Messages app and let you send the video as a text message. 
• Mail—Choosing Mail will import the video in the built-in Mail app; address the email as you would any other email and send it. 
• Online Video Services—Share your new video YouTube, Facebook, or Vimeo by tapping on these buttons. When you do that, your iPhone will automatically format the video for those sites and post it to your account (this requires you have an account with whatever site you're sharing to) for all the world to see.
• iCloud Photo Sharing—Share the video with people using iCloud by tapping this button. Write a message to be shown along with the video and then choose a person to share the video with.

Other iPhone Video Editing Apps

Other apps that can help you edit videos on your iPhone include:

• iMovie—Apple's iOS version of its versatile and powerful desktop iMovie program. US$4.99
• Magisto—This app applies intelligence to automatically create an edited video for you. Free, with in-app purchases
• Splice—This editor gives you separate tracks for video and audio to make more complex videos. Free, with in-app purchases
• Videoshop—Add audio, voiceovers, onscreen text, and special effects in this app. $1.99