YouTube is so big that it uses a lot of data. It’s a smart idea to save YouTube videos to your iPhone. However, YouTube offline viewing can be a tricky business.
YouTube Premium is available to subscribers who are willing to pay a monthly fee. You can also download videos to your computer for offline viewing and watch them without ads. However, you will still need to use the YouTube app to view the videos.
What if you wanted to save YouTube videos? And then watch them on your iPhone’s camera roll? This is possible without jailbreaking your iPhone or any other shady methods.
How to download YouTube videos to your iPhone Camera Roll
YouTube video downloader applications for iPhones that are available on the App Store usually don’t last very long. Apple will eventually remove any of these apps. For more information, see our discussion is it legal to download YouTube videos.
It is still quite simple to download YouTube videos to an iPhone. You just need to use a browser to do it.
First, download the free app Docs by Readdle. It is a file manager that integrates with a web browser. This makes it easy to download YouTube videos and transfer them to your Camera Roll.
There is no Camera Roll folder in iOS 13. It has been replaced by the Recents directory in the albums tab. You can still use this method to view YouTube videos from your iPhone’s Photos app.
Next, find the YouTube video that you wish to download. To do this, you can use the YouTube official app. Simply open the video and tap Share. Next, choose Copy Link.
Once you have copied the link, go to the Documents app. The first time you use the app, you will likely need to go through the introduction. You can also skip the option to upgrade to the premium edition.
To open the built-in browser of the app, tap the Browser icon at the bottom-right corner. Next, browse to a site that allows you to download YouTube videos. If any of these sites stop working, you can search Google to find another one.
How to download the YouTube video to your iPhone
Tap inside the search or paste box, then choose Copy to add your YouTube link. To convert the video to a downloadable format, tap the button beside the field.
The site will generate links to your video after a while. You may only see one link depending on which site you visited. Or you might see several links with different quality levels. Click on the Video or similar to select the quality you prefer.
The 1080p video in the example below is about 95MB. While the 480p version is only 20MB.
To download your video, click the Download button. The Documents window will open with options for how to save the file.
You can change the name to be shorter or more descriptive if you wish. If you prefer to move the My files/Downloads, then the default save location is fine. You can also uncheck the Ask Me Every Time slider to stop future downloads from being saved to the same folder.
To download the YouTube video to iPhone, tap Done. To check the progress of your download, tap the Downloads button in the Documents app’s bottom toolbar.
Move the YouTube video to your Camera Roll
You just need to drag the video you have downloaded so that it appears in your Camera Roll. This is also possible with the Documents app.
To exit the web browser, tap the folder icon in the lower-left corner. Next, go to the file manager. Next, you will need to open the Downloads folder. It should be located under the main My Files heading. Open the folder you saved the video to instead.
Next, press the Ellipsis button below the file that you have just downloaded. Then choose Move. You should see the Move page. There will be a Photo folder located under My files. To check it, tap Photo. You’ll be asked to authorize the Documents app access to your photos due to privacy settings in modern iOS versions. To make it work, tap Allow access to all photos
To complete the process, click the Move icon at the top-right.
Now you have successfully downloaded a YouTube YouTube video to your Camera Roll. Open the Photo app on you phone to view the video. The Recents folder under the Albums tab will show your new video, along with the Videos option under Media Types at bottom of the Albums pages. It will also appear under Library > All photos.
You can also open the Documents app to view the video and make adjustments such as zooming and gestures for controlling playback.
You can also download YouTube videos to your iPhone using other methods
Because many people want YouTube videos to be saved to their Camera Roll folder, we have covered it above. This is not the only way to download YouTube videos on your iPhone or iPad.
There are many benefits to YouTube Premium, as we have already discussed. The best part is the ability to download videos offline so you can watch them whenever you want. When you watch videos offline on an iPhone regularly, the monthly fee is well worth it. There is no risk of breaking any rules when using this method.
YouTube Premium is as easy as clicking Download to any video within the app. All your videos will be saved in one location for easy viewing. You can’t export your videos to YouTube, and they will expire if YouTube Premium is cancelled.
You can also use the bulk YouTube downloading tool from your desktop if you don’t wish to subscribe to Premium. It is much faster. After you’ve converted the videos on your computer, copy the files to your iPhone using a USB cable or wirelessly.
You can also use the awkward but possible workaround of recording the iPhone screen while you are watching the video. This requires that you watch the entire video. It is not ideal. You won’t get the best quality video.
You can download YouTube videos to your iPhone and watch them anywhere.
These methods allow you to save YouTube videos to your iPhone, so that you don’t have to rely on YouTube to view them. Camera Roll is the best option for most people. It makes them accessible easily and doesn’t require you to transfer files from another device.
