How to download YouTube videos directly from Safari on iOS 13

It sounds sketchy, but it's official!


Note: OnlineVideoConverter.com, the website that originally made downloading YouTube videos possible has shut down. Here’s an explanation as to why. Nevertheless, there are still other free websites that let you do just that.


You have an iPhone. You found a splendid video on YouTube. It really connects to you whenever you watch it. But you are annoyed because every time in a day that you need to stream that video, YouTube spends some time buffering it, preparing the video for you.

It’s not annoying when YouTube does that once. Or twice. But when you intend to watch the video several times a day, even seconds of delay can tick you off. Then, you decide to perform a daring task. You decide to download the video locally for offline viewing.

After doing everything that is required to download a YouTube video locally, you realize Safari doesn’t approve downloading unauthorized files. These are files that Apple doesn’t want in its ecosystem due to security reasons. They include videos from unsupported formats, files that can potentially alter the filesystem, and those that can introduce malware. A YouTube video converted and downloaded from a sketchy website is one such file.

But you won’t have to worry about this anymore. Why? Because Apple now allows you to install files from all over the internet using Safari on iOS 13. It now contains a brand new downloads manager that allows file downloads in an interface that looks similar to that of Safari on a Mac. This means YouTube videos are also supported.

Note: Those who are unaware of the fact that you can download YouTube videos locally, note that YouTube itself does not offer them to download. Instead, they can be downloaded from websites and apps that offer this service.

How to download a YouTube video from Safari itself

Steps:

Download YouTube video using Safari.
  1. Open YouTube and copy the link for the video that you want to download.
  2. Open Safari and type in this link. If you are following this tutorial using a device running Safari on iOS 13 already, just tap on it: https://www.onlinevideoconverter.com/youtube-converter
  3. Paste the YouTube link you copied before into the text field on this website.
  4. Make sure the selected format is MP4 or else the video will convert into some other format deeming it unplayable later.
  5. Tap on Start and wait for the service to process the video.
  6. Tap on the Download button. The website will sometimes redirect you to a sponsor website, so just close the tab on which you were redirected to.
  7. Wait for the prompt to download the YouTube video.
  8. Tap on Download once the prompt appears.
  9. Wait for the download to complete. In the meanwhile, you can track the download’s progress by tapping on the download icon on the top right corner beside the URL bar in Safari.
  10. After the download is complete, tap on the video file. Then tap on the share sheet icon in the bottom left of the screen, scroll down a bit, and tap on Save Video to save it in the Photos app.

Downloading a YouTube video, let alone any other file from Safari wasn’t possible before. But it feels nice to witness Apple opening up without sacrificing its users’ security. And this is just one of the features introduced in iOS 13 that provide a sense of liberation.

Some say iOS 13 steals a lot from the jailbreak community, but in my opinion, Apple has instead made using iPhones and iPads more convenient because now, you don’t have to go through the extensive labor of jailbreaking your iPhone/iPad to achieve these features in the first place.

They are baked right into the official experience, with all the official support one may ever need. You also get the assurance of updates. Isn’t it a jackpot?


Check out the devices featured in this list:

iPad Pro

iPad Pro 11-inch


iPhone XS

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