How to Download Videos on iPhone or iPad

How to Download Videos on your iPhone or iPad 

When you're on the subway home or stuck on a long flight, nothing helps pass the time like watching videos on your iPhone. But what do you do when you don't have an internet connection? Fortunately, there's how to download videos on to your iPhone. In this article, we’ll go over what apps you’ll need, as well as talk about things to look out for when you’re saving a video.

Can you download videos to your iPhone?

It’s important to note that while it may be possible to download videos from places on the internet like YouTube or Facebook, it’s not always ethical or legal.

If you upload videos to those sites as a form of a backup, then downloading your own personal videos would not violate any copyright laws. However, if you were to download someone else’s video, that’s where you get into more of a gray area. And, obviously, if you were to sell someone else’s video, then you’d be drifting well into copyright infringement territory.

Where does one find downloaded videos on iPhone or iPad?

For the sake of this article, Safari will be the primary app you use. And by default, Safari saves downloads to the Files app, either storing them directly on your device or in a Downloads folder in your iCloud Drive. 

If you've got another cloud service created with the Files app, like Dropbox or Google Drive, you'll set those to be your download locations. Here’s how to select Google Drive or Dropbox as your download location:

Go to Settings app > Safari > Downloads.

Select the location you want from the list.

How to save videos on iPhone from all around the Internet

Even though Safari and Files are the apps you’ll primarily be using to download videos, you’ll also must use a third-party download site, like SaveFrom.net. Since you’re unable to natively download videos using the Facebook or YouTube apps, this site will create a link to permit you to download videos in Safari. A less elegant, but sometimes the sole way to save a video to your iPhone is to record your iPhone's screen while playing the clip. 

How you'll download a Facebook video to your iPhone

If you’ve uploaded a video to Facebook, but want to download it to your iPhone, all you have to do is:

Copy the link to the video from Facebook.

Open Safari.

Go to SaveFrom.Net.

Paste the URL within the Search field.

Tap the arrow.

Tap and hold on Download > Download Linked File.

Tap on the Downloads icon at the highest.

How you'll save a YouTube video to your phone

Downloading videos from YouTube is extremely the same as downloading them from Facebook. The difference being you’ll first find the video on YouTube, and then:

Copy the URL of the YouTube video.

Open Safari, if it’s not already open.

Go to SaveFrom.Net.

Paste the URL within the Search field.

Tap the arrow.

Hold on Download > Download Linked File.

lastly, tap on the Downloads icon at the highest.

How to download videos on iPhone from Safari

If you’ve found a video you would like to download anywhere else on the net except for Facebook or Youtube, you'll still download it if you:

Copy the URL of the video you'd prefer to download.

Go to SaveFrom.net.

Paste the URL within the Search field.

Tap the arrow.

Tap and hold on Download.

In the quick action menu, tap on the Download Linked File.

Tap the Downloads icon within the top-right corner.

While the thought of trying to download a video from the net using only your iPhone can seem daunting initially, it’s actually quite simple. And it’s getting simpler with each new update. Hopefully, this text helped show you simply how easy it may be. That being said, please take care and use your new-found downloading powers responsibly.