Save YouTube videos to your iPhone for offline viewing

Save YouTube videos to your iPhone for offline viewing

Store your favorite clips so you can watch them even when you're not connected.

Xiaokang Ren

Google's YouTube app is all well and good for watching Superman rescue Sandra Bullock, airplane passengers belt out "Circle of Life," and the like. But what if you want to view your favorite clips when there's no Internet (like, say, on an airplane)?

Furthermore, streaming lots of YouTube can quickly chew through your monthly data allotment, meaning unless you're connected to Wi-Fi, you should probably resist the urge to see your favorite "Nashville" song for the trillionth time.

The fix for both issues: Download YouTube clips for offline viewing. Google's own YouTube app doesn't allow this, but at least one iOS app does. Here's how to save YouTube clips to your iPhone.

Step one: Install iTube. It's a free YouTube player, though if you want to remove ads, it'll cost you 99 cents via an in-app purchase.

Screenshot by Rick Broida

Step two: Browse or search YouTube for a video you want to save, then start it playing.

Screenshot by Rick Broida

Step three: In the top-right corner, tap the little floppy-disk icon -- which is easy to identify because it bounces. (You may also see a somewhat misleading "Preload to Cache" label, which appears to be developer-speak for "Save to iPhone.")

Step four: For some videos you may have the option of selecting a resolution. Either way, tap Done. That starts the download process.

Screenshot by Rick Broida

Step five: Tap the Cache icon and you'll see your saved video(s). Tap any one of them to play it -- no Internet connection required.

By the way, iTube lets you sign into your Google account (More > Account > Sign in) if you want to retrieve and save videos from your own playlists.