How to compress the video you just recorded on iPhone in one tap (widget, Action button, Siri)

People tend to compress a video right after filming it: it is too big to send, or you are about to run out of space. In Photos, the Videos album and the picker both start from the top and make you scroll. A shortcut that goes straight to the newest video skips that.

No shortcut compresses anything by itself. Each one only opens the right video; you still choose the setting and start the compression.

The Shortcuts app can find your most recent video and run the Encode Media action on it, then save the result. You can put that shortcut on the Home Screen or on the Action button.

The trade-off is the same as for any Shortcuts route: you set a fixed resolution up front and never see the resulting file size before it runs, so a result can still be too big for a limit. Action names and menus can differ slightly between iOS versions.

Minivid’s “Compress Latest Video” finds the newest video in Photos and opens it in the same setup screen you get when you pick a video yourself. There you see the original size and the estimated size before anything starts, change the preset if you want, and tap Make it small. Nothing is uploaded, and the original is not changed. Which route is available depends on your iOS version:

• Home Screen widget: the Latest Video widget shows your newest video’s frame, size and length, with a Shrink button. The widget works from iOS 14; the Shrink button needs iOS 17.
• Control Center, Lock Screen or Action button: add the Compress Latest Video control. Controls need iOS 18, and the Action button needs an iPhone that has one.
• Siri or Spotlight: say “Compress my last video with Minivid”. This works from iOS 16.

1. 1Open Minivid, then Settings, then About, and choose Minivid everywhere. It lists the steps for the routes your iPhone supports.
2. 2To add the Home Screen widget, touch and hold the Home Screen, tap Edit, then Add Widget, search for Minivid and pick Latest Video.
3. 3To add the control, open Control Center, touch and hold an empty spot, tap Add a Control and search for Minivid. For the Action button, go to Settings, Action Button, Controls, and choose Compress Latest Video.
4. 4Tap Try it now in that guide to check it opens your newest video.

• Minivid needs access to Photos to find the video. Without it you get a message and a button to choose a video yourself.
• The newest video is the one Photos lists first. If it is only in iCloud, Minivid has to bring it onto the phone first, so it can take a moment.
• Free compresses one video at a time, up to 100 MB, with the result at up to 720p, the same as from the Home screen. A bigger video opens in setup but needs Pro to compress.
• Keep Minivid open until it finishes, then play the result before deleting the original.