How to Download YouTube Videos on Android
YouTube was designed for streaming, but that doesn’t mean you can only watch videos on it if you have an Internet connection. Downloading videos from YouTube is ideal when you don’t have access to the internet or when you want to archive your favorite videos on your phone (it’s not uncommon for videos to be deleted from the platform). While the easiest way to download videos from YouTube is to subscribe to YouTube Premium, you don’t actually have to pay for this privilege.
Of course, you might think otherwise if you listen to Google: the company is banning tools on the Play Store that let you download YouTube videos without a Premium subscription , which might lead some to think that you can’t download YouTube videos on Android for free. As it turns out, you’ll have to bypass Play Store restrictions and install the app directly from the APK file. There are many apps that can help with this task, but the best one that most users recommend is TubeMate .
How to Download YouTube Videos on Android Using YouTube Premium
If you are trying to download a YouTube video using YouTube Premium, all you need to do is navigate to the video you want to download and then find the download button highlighted on the watch page. Clicking the download button will automatically download the video to your device, allowing you to access it and watch it offline at any time.
Of course, this will require you to pay YouTube’s $13.99 per month subscription , which is quite expensive, especially when you can download videos for free elsewhere.
How to download YouTube videos for free in 2024
Using TubeMate or any other application is technically against YouTube’s Terms of Service. Downloading videos using TubeMate or any other third party application is at your own risk and is not recommended if you want to comply with YouTube’s terms of service.
However, YouTube is not in the habit of enforcing these rules, so it is quite safe. What you should avoid is downloading any copyrighted content on your Android device. YouTube has a habit of tracking this type of activity. So, if you are going to download videos for free, just save them on your phone.
To get started, download and install TubeMate . You may have to enable sideloading for apps on your Android device to install it.
If you’re using Google Chrome, simply go to settings as soon as the message you see in the screenshot above appears and turn on “allow from this source.” You’ll now be able to download apps outside of the Google Play store (just be careful what you download).
Once installed, open TubeMate and find the YouTube video you want to download. This should work as if you were searching for videos in the browser version of YouTube.
Once you select the video you are interested in, you will see a green download button. Click this button, then select the format and quality you want to download. Going forward, you will be able to access any downloaded videos from the download list, which can be found by clicking the three-dot menu at the top and then selecting download list from the drop-down list.
Can you download any YouTube video to watch offline on Android?
Yes. If you have Tubemate, you can download as many videos as you want from YouTube without having to create a premium YouTube account. The only limitation will be the amount of memory on your phone.