How To Download Youtube Videos On Iphone Using Documents

Because YouTube uses so much data, saving YouTube videos to your iPhone is a good idea. But watching YouTube offline is tricky business.

If you don't mind paying, you can subscribe to YouTube Premium to watch without ads and download videos for offline viewing. But this still requires you to watch the videos in the YouTube app.

What if you want to save YouTube videos and watch them in your iPhone's Camera Roll? We'll show you how, and it doesn't require jailbreaking or anything else shady.

How to Download YouTube Videos to the iPhone Camera Roll

Unfortunately, any iPhone apps on the App Store that let you download YouTube videos directly don't last long. You should avoid using any of those, since Apple will remove them before long. See our discussion of whether it's legal to download YouTube videos for more info on this.

Thankfully, downloading YouTube videos to your iPhone is still pretty easy. It just requires a small workaround using a browser.

First, install the free app Documents by Readdle. It's a file manager with an integrated web browser, which makes it handy for the purpose of downloading YouTube videos and transferring them to the Camera Roll folder.

Next, browse to the YouTube video you want to download. You can use the official YouTube app to do this; just open the video, tap Share, then choose Copy link.

After you have the link copied, head over to the Documents app. You'll probably have to walk through a quick introduction the first time you use it, and can skip the offer to upgrade to the premium version of the app.

Once you're inside Documents, tap the Safari icon in the bottom-right corner to open the app's built-in browser. Then browse to a website that can download YouTube videos, such as YT1s. These sites can come and go, so search Google for find a similar one if this page stops working.

Saving the YouTube Video to Your iPhone

On the download site, tap inside the Search or paste YouTube link here field, then choose Paste to add the link to your YouTube video. Tap the Convert button to start.

After a moment, the site will generate download links for your video. Tap the MP4 video dropdown menu to review the available options and their sizes. In our example, the 1080p video is about 95MB, while the 480p version is only 20MB. You'll also see an MP3 heading if you want to download only the audio.

Tap Get link when you're satisfied, then hit Download once it's ready. This will pop up a Documents window with saving preferences.

If you like, change the Name to something shorter or more descriptive. The default save location of My Files/Downloads is fine, unless you want to move it somewhere else. And you can uncheck the Ask me every time slider if you want to save future downloads to the same folder automatically.

Tap Done to download the YouTube video to your iPhone. If you want to check its progress, tap the Downloads button on the bottom toolbar of the Documents app.

Moving the YouTube Video to Your Camera Roll

Now, you just need to move the downloaded video into the Camera Roll folder. The Documents app makes this easy, as well.

Tap the Folder icon at the bottom-left corner of the app to leave the web browser and go back to the file manager. Next, open your Downloads folder, which should appear under the main My Files heading.

Press the Ellipsis icon below the file you just downloaded, then choose Move. On the Move to page, you should see a Photos folder under My Files. Tap Photos to check it. Due to privacy features on modern versions of iOS, you'll be prompted to give access for Documents to access your photos. Tap Allow Access to All Photos for it to work correctly.

When that's done, hit the Move button at the top-right to complete the process.

You've successfully downloaded a YouTube video to your Camera Roll now. To view it, open the Photos app on your phone. Your new video will appear in the Recents folder on the Albums tab, as well as the Videos option under Media Types at the bottom. It will also be the newest item under Library > All Photos.

If you like, you can also open the video in the Documents app for some additional options.

Download YouTube Videos to iPhone and Watch Anywhere

With these methods, you can save YouTube videos to your iPhone so you aren't dependent on the YouTube app or service to watch them. The Camera Roll method is the best for most people, as it makes them easily accessible and you don't need to transfer any files.

There's plenty to watch on YouTube, so make sure you stay updated on the best YouTube channels if you're not sure what to download.

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