In this article, I’ll cover three methods; one using an app, using a Siri Shortcut, and the other using the Safari web browser.
Download YouTube Videos to iPhone
Method I – Using Siri Shortcut
Using a Siri Shortcut is one of the easiest ways to download a YouTube video. However, not all shortcuts work as YouTube keeps updating its API, breaking the shortcut. I found a shortcut that works flawlessly and you can use it to download a YouTube video. Go ahead and install this shortcut using this iCloud link to your iPhone.
Once done, simply open the YouTube app and load the video. Tap the Share button next to the Like/Dislike button and scroll right on the popup menu.
Tap More (…) button to load the actual Share Sheet of iOS. You’d find your compatible Shortcuts here, tap DownTube to begin the download process. It would take a few seconds depending on the length of the video and once it’s done, you’d get a popup to save the video on your iPhone. The video would be saved directly to the Files app in 640p or 360p resolution. Unfortunately, there is no option to set a default resolution.
Pros
Download YouTube videos with Siri Works from the YouTube app.
Cons
No way to select Video Resolution No option to only download audio from video The video is saved to the Files app instead of Camera Roll.
Method II – Using a third party App
Video Saver is one of the few web apps that still work and lets you download YouTube videos to your iPhone. Using the app to download the videos is really simple. Here are some of the Pros and Cons of using this method. Start by installing the app on your iPhone using this link.
Before we can download the video, you’d need to copy the YouTube video URL. You can do it either from the YouTube app or from the web browser. To copy the URL from the YouTube app, open the video and tap the Share button next to the Like buttons and tap the copy link button to copy the URL.
Now that you’ve copied the video URL, go ahead and proceed to download the video using the app. Open the app, tap the + button on the top right corner of the screen, and select Internet from the list of options.
Now, paste the YouTube video link that you copied earlier in the URL bar on the top and tap Go on the keyboard.
The video would load in a web interface, simply tap the big red play button and you’d get a popup to download the video. Tap the Download button in the popup menu.
Your video will begin downloading in the My video section. Once the video is finished downloading, tap the Options button next to your video. Tap to select “Save to Camera Roll” from the list of options. Your video is now saved in the Photos app.
The only drawback of using this method is that you can’t select the video resolution for a video that you’re downloading. If that’s something that you want to control then the next option would work well for you. Pros
Password-protect the videos Download multiple videos at once.
Cons
No way to download higher-resolution videos. Ads.
Method III – Download Using the web browser
Savefrom.net has been around for a while and is mostly meant for desktop users. However, iOS 13 added a Downloader functionality to Safari which means we can download videos directly from this website. This method only works reliably with Safari on your iPhone running iOS 13 or higher. Open that Safari app. Go to en.savefrom.net by tapping this link and paste any YouTube video’s link in the green input text field. The website would generate a preview of the video and show a download button below. After selecting the resolution, tap Download.
You would get a popup with a Download and a view button. Tap the Download button to begin your download. You can find it in the Downloads folder on the Files app.
However, if you want to save the video to the Photos app, you can do that as well. Simply tap the Downloads icon on the top right corner, next to the URL bar. Tap the video you just downloaded.
It would open as a preview, tap the Share button on the bottom left of the screen. Select Save Video from the list of options in the Share Sheet. That’s it, your video is now on the Photos app.
Pros
Multiple Resolutions No need to install an app; works from a web browser.
Cons
Videos higher than 1080p don’t have sound, just video Some Videos can only be downloaded in webm and there is no way to change that.
Final Words
These were three ways to download YouTube videos to iPhone. If there are any, I’d update new ways of downloading YouTube videos in the future. Let me know in the comments below what do you think of these methods, and if you have a better one, hit me up on Twitter.
