iMovie for iPhone 3GS - there's a hack for that

By Rene Ritchie
last updated

iMovie has been modified to run on iPhone 3GS, making the previously iPhone 4 exclusive app just a tad less exclusive:

David Romhan Torres: I just make iMovie for iphone 4 run on an iphone 3GS, it’s very simple just download it from iTunes, modify info.plist file and change the Minimum system version to 3.0.0 and front-facing-camera to false

If iMovie can run on an iPhone 3GS, why did Apple make it iPhone 4 exclusive? Probably for the same reason there's no video recording or wallpaper on an iPhone 3G. Apple is very quick to cut off older hardware when they think it will have any impact at all on user experience. iPhone 4 has double the RAM and a faster processor and that's what Apple decided to make the cut off point.

And just like 3rd parties came up with video recorders for the 3G, iPhone 3GS has had video editors for a while already (Reel Director, obviously), and will obviously continue to do so. Just not Apple's. It's how they roll.

Taimur over at Redmond Pie gave the iMovie for iPhone 3GS mod a whirl and you can check out the results in the video below.

Rene Ritchie
Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.

13 Comments
  • Now we need a hack to export videos larger than 1 minute
  • What about for the iPad. While I'm waiting for mine I'd like to find some photo and video editing apps for it.
  • Multitasking kills performance on my 3G. I can imagine the 3GS is powerful enough for now but as the software evolves I am guessing the 3GS will show it's weaknesses. I honestly hate multitasking on the 3G but don't know how to disable it without doing a full restore an rejailbreaking
  • @Tom the 3GS is pretty fast, I never had a complaint on the speed of the 3GS. I can see a little difference in the iPhone 4 from the 3GS but not much. It will probable start showing more when the games upgrade their graphics and if more apps are built to edit video.
  • I'm tempted to try it but reeldirector works fine for me for now, I'll prob get imovie when I get an iphone 4.
  • I have to agree with Daniel on this one, they'll always have features that are ONLY available on their new devices to give people more reasons to throw away money on a new device. I find it hard to believe that any iPhone could have trouble having a picture for a background.
  • How come my app store shows iMovie for purchase. Is that random? I have a 3GS on 4.0
  • they deleted the instructions how to do this
  • to be honest, although imovie is nice ., reel director beats it on transitions and features at the moment. iMovie does have themes which are nice but the editing is lousy at the moment.
  • You think iBooks can be done the same way for 3.1.2?
  • TOM, i think there is something in cydia that disables multitasking on 3g from the sinfuliphone repo
  • @Tom
    There is a jailbreak app in Cydia or Rock for that.
    Just search a little.
  • What David said.
    Add the source sinfuliphonerepo.com