Downloading YouTube videos to your iPhone is a better idea. However, watching YouTube offline is a tricky task. If you do not mind paying, you could just subscribe to YouTube Premium to watch without ads as well as download videos for offline viewing. This still requires you to watch videos on the YouTube app.
Say you wish to save YouTube videos and watch them on your Camera Roll. Well, don’t worry. I will show you how, and the best part is, it does not require jailbreaking or anything else shady.
How to Download YouTube Videos to the iPhone Camera Roll?
Sadly, any YouTube video downloader apps for the iPhone that appear on the App Store do not usually serve you for long. Avoid using any of those, as Apple will remove the apps after some time. Thankfully, downloading YouTube videos to your iPhone is easy, all it needs is a small workaround using a browser.
First, you need to install the free app Documents by Readdle. This is a file manager that has an integrated web browser, which makes it handy for downloading YouTube videos as well as transferring them to the Camera Roll.
Next, find the YouTube video you wish to download. Use the official YouTube app to do this; you just need to open the video, tap Share, then click on the Copy link.
After you copy the link, head over to the Documents app, you will probably have to navigate a quick introduction the first time you use it. Skip the offer to upgrade to the premium version.
After you navigate to Documents, tap on the Browser icon in the bottom-right corner to open the app’s built-in browser. Then browse to a website that can download YouTube videos, for example, Btclod or X2Download. Sites like these come and go, so search on Google to find a similar one if either of the suggestions stops working.
How to Download YouTube Videos to Your iPhone?
On the download site, use the Search field, then tap on Paste to add the link to a YouTube video.
After some time, the site will generate download links for the video. Depending on the site you visit, you may see just a single link or several links for different quality. Or, you might even see the option to download only the audio (MP3). Select the Video option, then choose the quality you wish.
Tap the Download link to start downloading the video after it’s ready. This will pop up a Documents window, this window will contain preferences on how to save the file.
If you want to change the name to something more descriptive. The default save location will be My Files/Downloads unless you wish to move it elsewhere. You can uncheck the Ask me every time slider if you wish to save future downloads to the same folder.
Tap on Done to download the YouTube video. To check its progress, tap on the Downloads button on the bottom toolbar of the app.
How to move the YouTube Video to Your Camera Roll?
Now, all you need to do is move the downloaded video so it shows up in your Camera Roll.
Tap on the Folder icon at the bottom-left corner of the app, this will take you back to the file manager. Next, open the Downloads folder, this will appear under the main My Files heading. If you changed the saving place of the videos, open the folder where you saved them instead.
Press the Ellipsis icon below the file you downloaded, then tap on Move. On the Move to the page, you will be able to see a Photos Folder under My Files. Tap on Photos to check it, due to privacy features on modern versions of iOS, you will be prompted to allow the Documents app to access photos. Tap on Allow Access to All Photos, only then it will work correctly.
After that, tap on the Move button at the top right to complete this process.
You have successfully downloaded a YouTube video to your iPhone now. To view the video, open the Photos app on your iPhone. The new video will appear in the Recent folder on the Albums tab, along with the Videos option under Media Types at the bottom of the page. The video will also be the newest item under Library > All Photos.
If you want, you can also open as well as watch the video in the Documents app for some additional options, for example, changing the zoom as well as changing gestures to control playback.
What are the other Ways to Download YouTube Videos to Your iPhone?
As mentioned earlier, YouTube Premium has several benefits, one of the biggest is that you can download videos offline to watch them anytime. If you regularly watch videos offline, the monthly cost is worth it. Plus, this is an official method, so there is no risk of any rule-breaking activity.
If you do buy YouTube Premium, all you need to do is just tap on Download on any video in the app. This will save all your downloaded videos in one place. However, you will not have the ability to export them to watch outside the YouTube app, as they will expire if you happen to cancel YouTube Premium.
If you do not wish to pay for the Premium, you can try to use a bulk YouTube downloader on your desktop. After the videos are converted onto a computer, transfer the files to your iPhone using a USB cable or wireless methods.
For dire cases, you can use the clumsy, yet doable workaround of recording your iPhone screen while playing the video. However, this would require you to play through the whole video, which is not ideal, and you don’t get the best quality.
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