How to Download Videos on iPhone from Safari

Updated May 18,2020 | by Cody

Many websites allow you to directly download videos. Since iPhone storage option is starting at 32GB, you probably have enough space to store some online files for offline view. Therefore, it will be great to download videos on iPhone from Safari.

If you are using iOS 13, you can directly download files with Safari download manager. If you are using iOS 12 or previous version, keep reading to find how. 

With the help of a free application, which can be downloaded from Appstore, you can easily download videos or other files that you find from Safari. You can follow the steps to get started.

Step 1. Open Appstore and search for “Documents 6”. Select the app named Documents by Readdle and install it on your iPhone.

Step 2. Open Safari and go to the website that provides video for free download. Tap on the Download button. Before the page fully loaded, change the first part of URL in the address bar from http:// to rhttp://, and tap Go.

Step 3. Click Open when prompted with “Open this page in ‘Documents ?’”.

Step 4. You can change the file name or location to save this video file. Then tap Done to start downloading this video.

If you want to edit the downloaded video, you can use the Documents app to move videos to Camera Roll. After the first time you move a file to Camera Roll, you can select the Camera Roll as the location to save the downloaded video.

Not all video websites provide free download feature. If you want to download files from websites not offering a Download button like YouTube, you can follow the steps below.

Step 1. Copy the video URL from Safari or YouTube app.

Step 2. Open the Documents app you installed before.

Step 3. Tab on the Browser at the right side of the button menu, then go the YouTube video downloader page. If you are using an iPad, then the Browser button is at the left side menu.

Step 4. Paste the YouTube video URL in the blank box and tab Download to PC.

Step 5. Select the preferred Video quality and file type by tapping on the corresponding Download link.

Step 6. In a pop-up window, you can rename the video file and change the location if needed. Then tap Save to download the video.

If you want to download online videos from other websites besides YouTube, you can use this free online video downloader.  

There is also another way to download files on iPhone and it is better. If you are using iOS 11 or previous versions, then you can free download the Shortcuts app, acquired by Apple, from Appstore. If you are using iOS 13, the Shortcuts app is already pre-installed on your iPhone or iPad.

For downloading any files from Safari, simply run this shortcut Download File.

For downloading YouTube videos on your iPhone, just copy the URL of the video and run this shortcut.

If needed, you can also add this shortcut to Siri, so you can download videos on iPhone from Safari by asking Siri. 

If you want to download online video to iPhone in a faster way, you can use a Windows PC to download online videos to your iPhone without iTunes.

IOTransfer is free video downloader software specially designed for iPhone and iPad users. It allows you to download videos from Youtube, Facebook, Vimeo and save the downloaded videos to your iPhone/iPad in the meantime.

To download videos from any websites to iPhone:

Step 1. Free download IOTransfer, install and launch it on a computer running Windows 10/8/7.

Step 2. Connect your iPhone to this PC via a lighting cable and authorize the connection on your iPhone.

Step 3. Under the Videos tab, paste the video URL in the box.

Step 4. Check the option “Automatically transfer the downloaded videos into your iOS device”. And click “Download” button to download videos to your iPhone or iPad.

To check if this works, you can open the TV app on your iPhone to watch the video you just downloaded.

IOTransfer is regarded as iPhone transfer software. You can use it to transfer files between iPhone and PC, free up iPhone storage space, delete iPhone apps, etc.

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