Photo video maker with music

This is a slideshow maker: pick photographs, choose a transition and a track, and it produces a video sized for social platforms. The category is crowded and the apps are largely interchangeable, so the useful thing to know is the caveat that applies to all of them and is almost never mentioned in a store listing.

The music will get your video muted

Every app in this category ships a library of tracks. That library is licensed for use inside the app. It is not a licence to publish the result on YouTube, Instagram or TikTok, and those platforms run automated content matching that does not know or care where you got the file.

The realistic outcomes when you upload:

• The video is muted, sometimes silently
• Advertising revenue is redirected to the rights holder
• The upload is blocked in some countries

Some apps state which tracks are cleared for redistribution and some do not. If your video is going anywhere public, use the destination platform’s own audio library — YouTube, Instagram and TikTok each provide one that is pre-cleared for their platform. Add the music there, not here.

The other things to check

• The watermark. Most free tiers apply one at export. It is applied at export rather than shown while editing, so check before spending an hour on a project.
• Export resolution is frequently capped below the source photographs on the free tier.
• Advertising volume in this category is high, including interstitials between steps.

For anything beyond a slideshow, a proper editor such as KineMaster gives far more control for the same money.