Which Mac apps can search inside your videos by content?
Seven that I could verify in October 2026: Final Cut Pro 12, Premiere Pro, Jumper, Focus, Fenn, Apple Photos and HyperArc. The first three are built for video editors and search footage inside an editing workflow. Focus is a standalone app for searching a video library and sending clips to an editor. Fenn searches almost every file type on a Mac, video included, entirely on the device. Photos is free but only covers your Photos library. HyperArc searches any folder you add, across video, audio, images and PDFs, and jumps to the matching moment or page.
01Who should use which
- You edit in Final Cut Pro on Apple silicon: use its built-in Visual Search and Transcript Search first. You already paid for them.
- You edit in Premiere Pro: Media Intelligence search is part of your subscription.
- You edit across several apps, or want one search that works from Premiere, Final Cut, Resolve and Avid: look at Jumper.
- You want to search a big video library without living in one editor, and send selects to Premiere, Resolve or Final Cut afterwards: look at Focus. It's free for up to 30 videos, so you can test it on your own footage.
- You want one private search for everything on your Mac, documents, photos, recordings, notes and mail, with nothing leaving the machine: look at Fenn. It needs an Apple silicon Mac.
- Your videos are in the Photos app: try Photos search with Apple Intelligence. It's free.
- Your videos are in folders, mixed with audio, photos and PDFs, and you are not working inside an editor: that's the case I built HyperArc for.
02Side by side
Scroll the table sideways on a phone.
| Feature | HyperArc | Final Cut Pro 12 | Premiere Pro (Media Intelligence) | Jumper | Focus | Fenn | Apple Photos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Searches inside video/audio | Yes. Video and audio files are split into time segments (2 minutes by default) and you search them by describing what you want | Yes, for clips in your library. Visual Search finds objects and actions. Transcript Search finds spoken English words or related phrases | Yes, for clips in your project. Searches people, objects, locations and camera angles, plus transcribed speech and metadata | Yes. Visual content and spoken words across your footage. People search and face recognition are in Jumper Pro | Yes, video. Searches moments, scenes, people and transcribed speech. Audio-only files aren't mentioned | Yes. Transcribes speech in video and audio files and jumps to the timestamp. Fenn also says it searches on-screen text, visual content and faces in indexed videos | Videos in your Photos library. Describe a moment and Photos can find it inside the video |
| Images | Yes, by describing what is in the picture | Built for video clips, not photo folders | Built for footage in your projects, not photo folders | Built for footage. Image folders aren't listed as a focus | Built for video libraries, not photo folders | Yes, by describing what is in the picture, including camera RAW files. Also face recognition and similar-image search | Yes, photos in your Photos library, by description |
| PDFs | Yes, page by page. Also plain text files (.txt, .md, .csv, .json, .html) | No | No | No | No | Yes, including scanned PDFs. Also Word, Pages, Keynote, PowerPoint, Excel, design files, Apple Notes, Mail and more (100+ file types) | No |
| Works offline | Partly. Indexing and new search queries call Gemini, so they need a connection. Repeat queries are cached locally | Not stated by Apple. Clips are analyzed in the background after import | Adobe says visual analysis runs locally on your computer | Yes after setup, per Jumper. The free trial needs internet | Mostly. Focus says core analysis and search run on your computer. Model downloads, updates and license activation use the network | Yes, per Fenn. AI models are downloaded to your Mac on setup | Not specified by Apple for this feature |
| Where processing happens | Each chunk (video clip, PDF page, image) goes to Google's Gemini embedding API with your own key. The index and search live in a local SQLite database on your Mac | Background clip analysis inside Final Cut Pro. Needs a Mac with Apple silicon | On your computer. Adobe says it can't see your footage. Caption translation is a separate cloud feature | On your computer. Jumper says no cloud and no uploads | On your computer. Focus says no library upload is required | On your Mac. Fenn says files and the index never leave your Mac and nothing is sent to AI model providers | Apple Intelligence. Photos processes your library in the background, so results can take a while to show up |
| Price | $29 one-time launch price (regular $129), up to 3 Macs. Gemini usage is billed by Google (free tier works to try) | $299.99 one-time on the Mac App Store (US), or included in Apple Creator Studio ($12.99 a month or $129 a year) | Part of a Premiere Pro or Creative Cloud subscription | Free trial, then paid per-seat licenses: lifetime for Jumper, monthly, yearly or lifetime for Jumper Pro. Current prices are on their site | $49 one-time (Personal) or $89 one-time (Pro, adds sequences and exports to Premiere, Resolve and Final Cut). Free for up to 30 videos, 14-day refund | Flex $9 a month, billed yearly. Lifetime $249 one-time with 1 year of updates. Both cover 1 Mac. Teams $999 for 5 Macs | Free, built into macOS |
| Platform | macOS 14 or later, Apple Silicon and Intel | macOS, Apple silicon required for these search features | macOS and Windows | Mac and Windows. Standalone app plus plugins for Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve and Avid Media Composer | Mac and Windows. Setapp lists macOS 13.4 or later; Focus's own site doesn't list a minimum | Mac, Apple silicon (the download is labeled Apple Silicon). Minimum macOS isn't listed on its site | macOS 15.1 or later on an M1 or later Mac, with Apple Intelligence on. Not available in every language or region |
| Best at | Finding a moment, page or photo across folders of mixed media when you only remember what it looked or sounded like | Final Cut editors searching footage they have already imported | Premiere editors finding shots across big projects | Professional editors who want footage search inside their editing app | Editors and creators who want to find shots in a large local video library and send selects to an editing app | One private, on-device search across almost every file type on a Mac, including documents, photos, recordings and screen history | Personal photos and videos that already live in the Photos app |
03Where the others are better than HyperArc
- Editing workflow. Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro and Jumper put results inside the timeline tools you already use. HyperArc shows you the file and time range, and you take it from there.
- Exact spoken words. Final Cut Pro's Transcript Search, Premiere's transcript search, Focus and Fenn transcribe speech and match the words people said. HyperArc matches whole segments by meaning and doesn't produce a transcript.
- Fully on-device. Fenn, Focus, Jumper and Premiere's Media Intelligence say they analyze on your computer, so your files stay there. HyperArc sends each chunk to Google's Gemini API with your key, and needs a connection to index and for new searches. If nothing may leave your Mac, Fenn or Focus is the better pick.
- People. Jumper Pro and Fenn offer face recognition, and Focus lists people search. HyperArc doesn't recognize specific people.
- More file types. Fenn also indexes Word, Keynote, Excel, design files, Apple Notes and Mail. HyperArc covers video, audio, images, PDFs and plain text files only.
- Windows. Jumper, Focus and Premiere Pro run on Windows too. HyperArc is Mac only.
04Where HyperArc fits
- Files that aren't in an editing project or the Photos library. Add a folder and it gets indexed in place.
- More than video: the same query also searches audio files, images, PDFs (page by page) and plain text files.
- A one-time price instead of an editing suite or subscription.
- Runs on Intel Macs as well as Apple Silicon, macOS 14 or later. Fenn's download is for Apple silicon only.
05Also checked, not in the table
- Rewind (Limitless). Meta acquired Limitless in December 2025, and the Mac app stopped all screen and audio capture on December 19, 2025. It also recorded your screen rather than searching existing video files.
- Screenpipe. Records your screen and audio going forward so AI tools can use your work history. It doesn't index video files you already have, so it solves a different problem.
- Eagle's AI Search plugin. Runs offline and does reverse image search, but its natural-language search matches text attached to assets (names, descriptions, notes), not what is in the picture.
- Spotlight. Doesn't look inside video. Details in HyperArc vs Spotlight.
- DEVONthink. Can transcribe speech from video in its Pro edition, but doesn't search visuals. Details in HyperArc vs DEVONthink.
If you just want the steps, the guide to searching inside your videos on a Mac walks through the free options before the paid ones.
FAQQuestions people ask
Which Mac apps can search inside videos by what's in them?
As of October 2026: Final Cut Pro 12 (Visual Search and Transcript Search, Apple silicon only), Adobe Premiere Pro (Media Intelligence search), Jumper (standalone app and editor plugins), Focus (standalone video library search for Mac and Windows), Fenn (on-device search across most file types, video included, Apple silicon), Apple Photos (for videos in your Photos library, with Apple Intelligence) and HyperArc (for videos, audio, images and PDFs in any folder you add).
Is there a free way to search inside videos on a Mac?
Yes, if the videos are in the Photos app. On an M1 or later Mac with macOS 15.1 or later and Apple Intelligence turned on, you can describe a moment and Photos can find it inside a video. Spotlight can't search video content. For videos in regular folders, the options are paid.
Does Rewind still work?
No. Meta acquired Limitless, the company behind Rewind, in December 2025, and the Mac app's screen and audio capture was turned off on December 19, 2025. It also recorded your screen rather than searching video files you already had.
Which one should I pick if I'm not a video editor?
If your videos are in Photos, try Photos search first. If they are in folders, mixed with recordings, photos and PDFs, HyperArc is built for that case. The editor tools (Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, Jumper) make most sense if you already edit in those apps.
Do these apps upload my videos?
Jumper, Focus, Fenn and Premiere Pro's Media Intelligence say their analysis runs on your computer. HyperArc sends each chunk of a file (for example a 2-minute video clip) to Google's Gemini embedding API with your own key, and keeps the index and search in a local SQLite database. HyperArc's own servers never receive your files. Apple doesn't spell out where Final Cut Pro's search analysis runs.
MORERelated pages
- HyperArc vs Spotlight. What the built-in Mac search can and can't find in your media.
- HyperArc vs DEVONthink. A document manager with transcription versus a media search app.
- How to search inside your videos on a Mac. Free options first, then the paid ones.
- How to find something said in a recording on a Mac. Voice memos, podcasts and meeting recordings.
- HyperArc home page. Natural-language search for your videos, audio, photos and PDFs on Mac.
Your footage isn't in an editor. Search it anyway.
HyperArc is for the videos, recordings and photos sitting in folders: old projects, screen recordings, lectures, client calls. One-time price, up to 3 Macs, 30-day money-back guarantee.
One-time purchase. Up to 3 Macs. 30-day money-back guarantee. macOS 14 or later.