To add an intro or outro on iPhone you need a card - a clip of its own - not just a title. This trips up almost everyone once: you drag the playhead to the end, add a text overlay, and nothing appears.

Why your end title disappears

A title is an overlay on video. It is drawn on top of frames, so it can only be seen where frames exist. Put one at 45 seconds on a 45-second video and its window is [45 s, 48 s] - entirely past the last frame. It composites onto nothing and renders invisibly. No amount of restyling fixes it, because the problem isn't the title.

To put text before your first frame or after your last, the timeline itself has to get longer.

How to add an intro and outro card to a video on iPhone

On iPhone and iPad, screen capture goes through ReplayKit, Apple's system framework for recording and broadcasting the screen.

Under the hood this is AVFoundation, Apple's media framework, which is what Mac editors use to compose a timeline and write the result back out.

The fix: an intro/outro card

A card is a solid-colour segment inserted as a real clip, with your text laid over exactly that window. Because it's a clip:

  • It extends the video rather than floating over it.
  • An intro card pushes the rest of your edit right, so nothing needs re-timing.
  • You can trim it, recolour it or delete it like any other clip.

How the built-in apps handle it

Photos has no titles at all. Nothing to work around; it is a trimmer with filters.

iMovie makes you build the card by hand. Titles in iMovie attach to a clip - you select a clip and tap the T. So to get text before or after your footage, you first insert something for the title to sit on: tap +, choose Backgrounds, and pick a solid colour, a gradient or an animated map. That inserts a real clip. Then select it and add your title. It works, and it is the card pattern done manually.

The screenshot trick has a catch. People often make a black image in Photos and insert that instead. It works, but iMovie applies a Ken Burns pan to still photos by default, so your "static" card slowly drifts. You have to select the photo clip and turn the pan off before it behaves like a card.

What makes a good one

Intro: under about 2 seconds. On short-form the opening second decides whether anyone stays, and a branded intro spends it on you instead of on them. If your hook is strong, skip the intro and open on your face.

Outro: 2 to 4 seconds, one call to action. There is a real floor here, and it is reading speed. Broadcast subtitle guidance puts comfortable reading at roughly 17 characters a second, so a 34-character line like "Follow for more iPhone editing tips" needs about two seconds on screen just to be read - before anyone decides to act on it. Two calls to action need twice that, which is why one is better than four.

Mind the loop. Short-form players loop. A long static end card is dead air inside that loop and drags your average watch time down, so keep the outro to a beat rather than a paragraph if the loop matters to you.

Contrast. Light text on a light card is the classic mistake. Pick a style where the text colour is chosen for the background, not one you set separately and forget.

Stay out of the platform's furniture. On TikTok and Reels the caption block sits along the bottom of the frame and the button rail runs down the right edge. Centre your outro text; a call to action placed low and right is the one spot guaranteed to be covered.

Sound. A card in silence sounds like the video broke. A music bed running under the whole video carries it across the cut, and should fade out on the card rather than stopping at it.

How Zella does it

In Zella for iPhone & iPad, open Studio > Titles. The Full-screen cards row at the top is the first thing there:

  • Text - or leave it empty for a plain card (a breath, or a slot for a logo).
  • Style - Dark, Light or Brand, each carrying its own text colour so a light card never gets unreadable white text.
  • Length - 1 to 8 seconds.
  • Add music - lays a mood-matched bed under the whole video if there isn't one, so the card doesn't land in silence.

Then tap Intro card or Outro card. Alongside the cards you get 8 one-tap title templates with 12 kinetic entrances, Text Behind Subject, and 16 blend modes for titles and callouts. Titles and cards are free on every tier. The Mac app is on the Mac App Store today; Zella for iPhone and iPad is coming to the App Store. Full details in the captions & titles docs.

FAQ

Can I put a photo or logo on the card? Add the card, then place an image overlay on top of it - the card is a normal clip, so anything you can put on a clip works.

How long should an outro be? Two to four seconds for short-form. Long enough to read one call to action at roughly 17 characters a second, short enough that people don't swipe away mid-card.

Will an intro card push my captions out of sync? No - inserting at the start shifts every existing element with it, so captions, titles and sounds keep their positions relative to your footage.

Can I use a card in the middle of a video? Yes, and it is one of the better uses. A one-second card between sections works as a chapter break, and it gives the viewer a beat to reset.

Do I need an intro at all? Often not. On TikTok, Reels and Shorts the first second decides whether anyone stays; a branded intro spends it on you instead of them. Outros earn their place more reliably.