How to download YouTube videos to iPad & iPhone

If you'd like to download a YouTube video to watch offline on your iPad or iPhone, then you've come to the right place! Here, we show you how.

Step 1 of 5: How to download YouTube videos to iPad & iPhone: Is it legal

Downloading a YouTube video to your iPad or iPhone is actually pretty easy once you know how, and it's something we know that a lot of iPad and iPhone users are looking to find out how to do so that they can watch YouTube videos offline when there's no access to an internet connection. Plus, it's incredibly annoying when something good gets removed from YouTube, and downloading it is a way to keep it. 

There are several ways to download YouTube videos directly to your iOS device. It should be noted that there are often apps on the Apple App Store which allow you to directly download videos to your iOS device, however these apps often get taken down by Apple, as they spark legal controversy. 

Speaking about the legality of it all, it's all a bit shady. For a start, the people that create videos in YouTube have worked hard on their videos and are entitled to place advertising on them to earn some money. By downloading the video you're preventing Google and the video creator from profiting from their work.

Most importantly, you absolutely must not attempt to profit from any videos you download for which you don't own the copyright – this is for personal use only. For more discussion of this issue, see: 'Is it legal to download YouTube videos?'.

It should be noted that these methods should work on most iOS devices, we tested these on iOS 9 and we can confirm that these methods work on iOS 10 and 8.

Step 2 of 5: How to download YouTube videos to iPad & iPhone: Download on iOS

As aforementioned, having the ability to directly download a YouTube video through an app can be hard, as the apps seem to disappear on the App Store.

Thankfully, there's a work-around which works flawlessly. You'll first want to download the app called 'Documents 5', as this will allow you to download a YouTube video then transfer it into your camera roll.

Once the app has downloaded, click on the small browser icon found at the bottom right hand-corner of the app (the icon that looks like a small compass). Once you're in the browser within Documents 5, type in 'savefromnet' and you'll be presented with the website Savefrom.net at the top of your Google search. 

Open the website and then press your home button to grab the URL of your video - see our next slide on how to continue.

See also: How to play YouTube audio in background on an iPhone or iPad.

Step 3 of 5: How to download YouTube videos to iPad & iPhone: Copy the YouTube URL

There are two ways you can find the YouTube URL of your video. The most obvious way is to grab the URL straight from the Safari browser (or any other browser you use). This simply involves finding the video you want, holding down your finger on the top URL address and then selecting to copy it.

If however you're using the YouTube app on your iOS device, then hit the share icon, which is denoted by a small arrow to reveal a pop-up menu that enables you to 'Copy Link'.

Once you've copied the link through any method you find the easiest, you'll want to re-enter Documents 5 and paste the link within the Savefrom.net white rectangular box, by tapping within the white box and then holding down your finger and pasting the URL. 

Once you've added the URL hit the green tick and the video thumbnail and quality options should load. Select your quality and hit the green download button. Feel free to rename the file (which will be default take the video title's name) and select 'Done'. Read next: Ways to make space on an iPhone.

Your video will now start to download. Remember that you might be downloading a large file, so ensure you're on a WiFi connection or have enough Data on your iOS device to deal with the rather large download.

Move on to our next slide to know how to move the video to your Camera Roll.

Step 4 of 5: How to download YouTube videos to iPad & iPhone: Moving the video to your Camera Roll

Once the video has finished downloading you'll see a 'Downloads' section and will be able to see the YouTube video downloaded on your iOS device.l