How to download YouTube videos to iPhone or iPad: Summary

To download YouTube video to iPhone or iPad you need to download and install the free Video Downloader Super Lite app or a similar third-party app from the App Store. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to download YouTube video to iOS. 

How to download YouTube videos to iPhone or iPad: Step-by-step guide

Months and months ago YouTube promised to introduce offline watching, but this hasn't happened. The good news is that you can download most YouTube videos directly to your iPad and iPhone using a free app. 

Here we'll show you how to save videos so you can watch them even when there's no internet connection. There are many similar apps which can download YouTube video and they all work in the same way as we'll describe here.

Update: With the release of iOS 9 you might find that your video downloader doesn't work any more. This tends to happen when Apple updates iOS. This time around, the Video Downloader Super Lite app has been removed entirely from the UK app store. We have no idea if it will ever return. If you already had the app before you updated, you will notice the disk icon is missing the first time you use it. We found we could quit the app (after double-pressing the home button) and the icon was back when we launched the app again.

Please let us know in the comments if you've managed to install an app AFTER upgrading to iOS 9 and are able to download videos from YouTube with it.

Video downloder apps can't save videos to your iPhone or iPad's native Videos app, but you can watch them within the downloader app, and some let you save the videos to your Camera Roll or use AirPlay to watch them via an Apple TV.

Having used such apps for years, we know that they often disappear from the app store, so search for 'video downloader' or 'YouTube downloader' and you will see a list of what's currently available.

If the following guide doesn't work for you, you can download videos to your PC or Mac, and then copy it to your iPad or iPhone. Here's a step-by-step guide explaining how to download YouTube videos to your computer.

See also: Is it legal to download YouTube videos?