Lately, it's impossible to scroll through social media for very long without coming across a post that used green screen editing. Whether it's a meme, informative video, or an aesthetic edit, you know what we're talking about.

If you're wondering how people do this, on their mobile devices nonetheless, you're in the right place. We're going to share with you our four best smartphone apps for green screen editing and show you how to use them. It's simpler than you think because these apps pretty much do the work for you.

What Is Green Screen Editing?

Green Screen on Smartphone

You're probably already familiar with the concept of a green screen. Typically, we think of it as someone sitting in front of a green sheet in a studio. But green screen editing is a little different. There are two elements to green screen editing.

The first is creating a green screen by isolating the subject in an existing image or video; remove the background and replace it with green. This is usually how mobile editors do it, but if you want to go old-school, you can shoot the subject in front of an actual green sheet yourself.

The second is using the green screen images or videos you've created as overlays on other images and videos. Editors will then perform what's known as "keying", which is the process of removing the green background.

Getting Started

If you want to make a green screen out of an existing image or video, it needs to be of decent quality—unless you're fine with the edges of the subject being craggy or parts of the background still visible.

It doesn't always have to be green. The bright green color is only due to it being the least likely color to be in an image or video. But if the subject is wearing a green sweater, for instance, you should use a different color, like bright pink or royal blue, whatever color isn't present on the subject.

If you're not confident about creating your own green screens and only want to learn out how to use them, you're most likely going to use other creators' green screens. In this case, it's imperative to ensure that you have permission to do so, and if so, always credit the creator if you're going to share your final result.

Related: What Is a Green Screen and How Does It Work?

Let's jump straight into the four best smartphone apps for green screen editing.

1. CapCut: Best Free App for Green Screen Editing

CapCut is everyone's favorite mobile video editing app these days. It's easy to see why—it features some pretty advanced editing tools, all for free.

Check out our extensive tutorials for making green screens and using green screens on CapCut. We'll give you a quick recap...

To create green screens, all you need to do is use the Remove Background tool. The background will be removed and replaced with the bottom layer, aka the green screen image you've imported. To use green screens on CapCut, you're going to use the Chroma key tool to erase the green background.

Download: CapCut for Android | iOS (Free)

2. Video Star: Most Powerful App for Green Screen Editing

This one is for iPhone users. The Video Star mobile video editing app is often dubbed the "After Effects for smartphones" because it's just that powerful. And, as you can guess, it has some advanced green screen features.

Check out our extensive tutorials for how to make green screens and use green screens on Video Star. We'll quickly go over the basics...

To create a green screen, you're going to use the Erase masking feature in the Multi-Layer window. From there, you can auto-mask the subject and perform further edits to clean up any imperfections.

To use a green screen on Video Star, you're going to use the Color masking feature in the Multi-Layer window. You'll pick the color to remove and it lets you modify the removal.

For the green screen features on Video Star, you'll be prompted to purchase one or a few packs in order to use them. Or you can get the Pro subscription which gives you access to all of the app's features.

Download: Video Star for iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)

3. PicsArt: Best App for Creating Green Screen Images

The abovementioned apps can edit both green screen videos and images. However, if you're looking for an image editing app in particular that can also perform green screen edits, we've got you.

PicsArt is one of our favorite image editing mobile apps because of how many diverse and powerful editing tools you get to use with the free version.

To create green screens on PicsArt:

  1. Open the app and select a solid green color from the templates.
  2. Once in the editing window, select Add Photo. Choose the picture you want to transform into a green screen from your library.
  3. ​​​Now, either select the Eraser icon at the top to manually remove the background and isolate the subject, or locate and select the Cutout tools at the bottom to have the app do it for you.
  4. Hit Apply when done.

The subject will now sit on top of the first layer, which is the green background we've imported in the first step. From here, you can export this green screen image to then import and use in other apps.

PicsArt doesn't have a color masking feature that can erase the green background of a green screen image, but there's no point in importing green screen images to PicsArt, anyway. This is because you have the Cutout tools and Eraser at your disposal to remove any background and position the subject over whatever you've imported to the first layer.

Download: PicsArt for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)

4. Chromavid: Best Real-Time Green Screen App

This app is for those who have a green screen setup. It's not as fancy as it sounds; all you need is a flat material in a solid color (this will act as the green screen sheet).

Chromavid combines traditional green screen filming with green screen editing. It lets you film a subject in front of a colored screen (green, blue, red, or yellow), and replaces the background with an image in real-time. There's a selection of stock-free images on the app, or you can choose your own from your library.

To film with green screen on Chromavid:

  1. After opening the app, tap the colored dot in the top-left corner, and select a color.
  2. Then tap the pictures icon in the bottom-left and select an image, and you can crop it if needed.
  3. Position the subject in front of your colored sheet and hit the Record icon, the camera will turn to landscape mode automatically. For this example, we recorded a beloved Lego friend.
  4. Once you stop recording, you'll be directed to a window from where you can play back the result, and share it or save it to your device.

The only drawback to Chromavid is that you'll end up with a watermark across your video. If you get the subscription for only $2.99 a year, the watermark will be removed, plus there will be more default images for you to choose from.

Download: Chromavid for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)

Green Screen Editing Made Easy

Green screen editing is so common lately, we can almost consider it a basic editing technique, and more and more apps are rolling out green screen features to accommodate this trend. If you want to try your hand at editing green screens on your smartphone, give the apps listed here a go.