How To Play Downloaded Videos On Iphone

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 is a way to download videos directly 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.

Saving videos from the internet can take up a lot of space on your iPhone. Gemini Photos helps you free up storage by deleting similar photos, large videos you don't need anymore, and other clutter.

Download on the App Store

Where do you 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 have another cloud service set up with the Files app, like Dropbox or Google Drive, you can 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.

Screenshots: Safari download settings on iPhone

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 need to use a third-party download site, like SaveFrom.net. Since you're not able to natively download videos using the Facebook or YouTube apps, this site will create a link to let you download videos in Safari. (The video download feature has been added to Safari in iOS 13). A less elegant, but sometimes the only way to save a video to your iPhone is to record your iPhone's screen while playing the clip.

How to 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 in the Search field.
Tap the arrow.
Tap and hold on Download > Download Linked File.
Tap on the Downloads icon at the top.

How to save a YouTube video to your phone

Downloading videos from YouTube is very similar to 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 in the Search field.
Tap the arrow.
Hold on Download > Download Linked File.
Finally, tap on the Downloads icon at the top.

How to save a YouTube video to your phone

How to download videos on iPhone from Safari

If you've found a video you want to download anywhere else on the internet aside from Facebook or Youtube, you can still download it if you:

Copy the URL of the video you want to download.
Go to SaveFrom.net.
Paste the URL in the Search field.
Tap the arrow.
Tap and hold on Download.
In the quick action menu, tap Download Linked File.
Tap the Downloads icon in the top-right corner.

While the thought of trying to download a video from the internet using only your iPhone can seem daunting at first, it's actually quite simple. And it's getting simpler with each new update. Hopefully, this article helped show you just how easy it can be. That being said, please be careful and use your new-found downloading powers responsibly.