Creating Impactful YouTube Thumbnails & Ads

How to Make YouTube Banners and Thumbnails

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

The art on your YouTube channel – banners, thumbnails, icons, and watermarks – will help to determine how viewers feel about your vlog. If your art does not look like it all goes together then people will get a sloppy, amateurish, impression of your channel. However, if your different pieces of channel art all seem to complement each other and match the tone and theme of your channel then it will help viewers to have a pleasant browsing experience. They will get the impression that you take your YouTube channel seriously and that they can trust you as a source of information, comedy, or general entertainment.

How to Make YouTube Banners and Thumbnails

YouTube Banners and Thumbnails are two of the most important pieces of channel art you will need. This article will explain the best practices for both, and suggest sites where you will be able to build your own banners and thumbnails for free.

1. YouTube Banners

Quick Tips:

1. The image you upload for your YouTube banner should be 2560 x 1440px (pixels).
2. The ‘safe area’ for text, logos, and other important visual information (like faces) is 1546 x 423px.

Your banner is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think about channel art. Banners are the headers that rest at the tops of channel pages on YouTube. Your banner should be 2560 x 1440 px, although not all of it will always be visible. On a desktop computer or mobile device only a 1546 x 423 px ‘safe area’ will be visible. When viewed on a TV screen your entire image will be visible. YouTube does support PNG, but if your PNG file does not upload properly (as has been the case for some YouTubers) then changing your file type to JPEG might help.

YouTube Banners are extremely important to the success of your channel. If you do not have a banner then it looks like you do not really care about your vlog. If you have a basic banner that is not at all personalized then it certainly looks like you care, but it might also look like you are new to YouTube.

The best banners are customized to reflect the kind of experience you want viewers to have on your channel. The banner of a comedic YouTube channel might use bright colors, where the banner for a gaming channel will probably use darker colors similar to the ones that are in the games the vlogger plays. Connecting your banner to the theme of your channel is part of how you define the style of your vlog. It is the difference between being a Beauty Guru and a general YouTuber who gives makeup tips sometimes.

Including a photo of yourself, or your logo if you have one, is a great way to personalize your banner.

2. YouTube Thumbnails

Quick Tips:

1. Search for your video’s topic to see the thumbnails your thumbnail will be competing against.
2. Make any text huge so people can read it on their smartphone screens.
3. Emojis, colored boarders, and graphics are all potential ways to stand out.

Thumbnails are often ignored by newer YouTubers. YouTube selects a thumbnail for every one of your videos and it is always a still image from that video. You can choose which frame you want to use and a lot of people feel like that is good enough. When you create a custom thumbnail, however, you get to not only choose your image but insert a title.

If you are choosing the images you are using for thumbnails you can make sure they are always similar frames. This will help people identify your videos quickly in searches. Using titles in your thumbnails will also help searchers identify your videos, if you always use the same title style. Another benefit of titles is that they capture the attention of people looking for your specific topic. Remember when building your thumbnails that they will appear smaller on YouTube than they probably are while you edit them. On mobile devices, they will look even smaller. So, if you are going to use text in your thumbnail, make sure it is huge.

One thumbnail taboo that you should never break is using an image that has nothing to do with your video. Using an image of a cute cat for a vlog post that has nothing to do with cats is misleading and will anger viewers. You may draw in a lot of viewers who want to see a cat video, but they will leave right away when they do not see a cat and they will never watch anything by you again.

3.Where To Create Banners and Thumbnails

There are sites online that will allow you to edit images and use them in templates for YouTube banners. You can also use these services to edit your thumbnails. Two of the most popular, free, online photo editors are PicMonkey.com and Canva.com.

Canva has templates you can use to create YouTube banners, as well as a variety of stock images you can use in combination with your own when creating channel art. It is free to edit images on Canva, but they do have some premium features which cost $1 each to access. This service has both a desktop version and an iPad app.

PicMonkey lets you import images from your computer or social media accounts, edit them, and use them in templates for YouTube banners or other kinds of social media graphics. PicMonkey is free to use, but you can only access their more advanced editing tools if you buy a paid subscription. Monthly subscriptions are $4.99 per month, and yearly subscriptions are $2.75 per month.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

The art on your YouTube channel – banners, thumbnails, icons, and watermarks – will help to determine how viewers feel about your vlog. If your art does not look like it all goes together then people will get a sloppy, amateurish, impression of your channel. However, if your different pieces of channel art all seem to complement each other and match the tone and theme of your channel then it will help viewers to have a pleasant browsing experience. They will get the impression that you take your YouTube channel seriously and that they can trust you as a source of information, comedy, or general entertainment.

How to Make YouTube Banners and Thumbnails

YouTube Banners and Thumbnails are two of the most important pieces of channel art you will need. This article will explain the best practices for both, and suggest sites where you will be able to build your own banners and thumbnails for free.

1. YouTube Banners

Quick Tips:

1. The image you upload for your YouTube banner should be 2560 x 1440px (pixels).
2. The ‘safe area’ for text, logos, and other important visual information (like faces) is 1546 x 423px.

Your banner is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think about channel art. Banners are the headers that rest at the tops of channel pages on YouTube. Your banner should be 2560 x 1440 px, although not all of it will always be visible. On a desktop computer or mobile device only a 1546 x 423 px ‘safe area’ will be visible. When viewed on a TV screen your entire image will be visible. YouTube does support PNG, but if your PNG file does not upload properly (as has been the case for some YouTubers) then changing your file type to JPEG might help.

YouTube Banners are extremely important to the success of your channel. If you do not have a banner then it looks like you do not really care about your vlog. If you have a basic banner that is not at all personalized then it certainly looks like you care, but it might also look like you are new to YouTube.

The best banners are customized to reflect the kind of experience you want viewers to have on your channel. The banner of a comedic YouTube channel might use bright colors, where the banner for a gaming channel will probably use darker colors similar to the ones that are in the games the vlogger plays. Connecting your banner to the theme of your channel is part of how you define the style of your vlog. It is the difference between being a Beauty Guru and a general YouTuber who gives makeup tips sometimes.

Including a photo of yourself, or your logo if you have one, is a great way to personalize your banner.

2. YouTube Thumbnails

Quick Tips:

1. Search for your video’s topic to see the thumbnails your thumbnail will be competing against.
2. Make any text huge so people can read it on their smartphone screens.
3. Emojis, colored boarders, and graphics are all potential ways to stand out.

Thumbnails are often ignored by newer YouTubers. YouTube selects a thumbnail for every one of your videos and it is always a still image from that video. You can choose which frame you want to use and a lot of people feel like that is good enough. When you create a custom thumbnail, however, you get to not only choose your image but insert a title.

If you are choosing the images you are using for thumbnails you can make sure they are always similar frames. This will help people identify your videos quickly in searches. Using titles in your thumbnails will also help searchers identify your videos, if you always use the same title style. Another benefit of titles is that they capture the attention of people looking for your specific topic. Remember when building your thumbnails that they will appear smaller on YouTube than they probably are while you edit them. On mobile devices, they will look even smaller. So, if you are going to use text in your thumbnail, make sure it is huge.

One thumbnail taboo that you should never break is using an image that has nothing to do with your video. Using an image of a cute cat for a vlog post that has nothing to do with cats is misleading and will anger viewers. You may draw in a lot of viewers who want to see a cat video, but they will leave right away when they do not see a cat and they will never watch anything by you again.

3.Where To Create Banners and Thumbnails

There are sites online that will allow you to edit images and use them in templates for YouTube banners. You can also use these services to edit your thumbnails. Two of the most popular, free, online photo editors are PicMonkey.com and Canva.com.

Canva has templates you can use to create YouTube banners, as well as a variety of stock images you can use in combination with your own when creating channel art. It is free to edit images on Canva, but they do have some premium features which cost $1 each to access. This service has both a desktop version and an iPad app.

PicMonkey lets you import images from your computer or social media accounts, edit them, and use them in templates for YouTube banners or other kinds of social media graphics. PicMonkey is free to use, but you can only access their more advanced editing tools if you buy a paid subscription. Monthly subscriptions are $4.99 per month, and yearly subscriptions are $2.75 per month.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

The art on your YouTube channel – banners, thumbnails, icons, and watermarks – will help to determine how viewers feel about your vlog. If your art does not look like it all goes together then people will get a sloppy, amateurish, impression of your channel. However, if your different pieces of channel art all seem to complement each other and match the tone and theme of your channel then it will help viewers to have a pleasant browsing experience. They will get the impression that you take your YouTube channel seriously and that they can trust you as a source of information, comedy, or general entertainment.

How to Make YouTube Banners and Thumbnails

YouTube Banners and Thumbnails are two of the most important pieces of channel art you will need. This article will explain the best practices for both, and suggest sites where you will be able to build your own banners and thumbnails for free.

1. YouTube Banners

Quick Tips:

1. The image you upload for your YouTube banner should be 2560 x 1440px (pixels).
2. The ‘safe area’ for text, logos, and other important visual information (like faces) is 1546 x 423px.

Your banner is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think about channel art. Banners are the headers that rest at the tops of channel pages on YouTube. Your banner should be 2560 x 1440 px, although not all of it will always be visible. On a desktop computer or mobile device only a 1546 x 423 px ‘safe area’ will be visible. When viewed on a TV screen your entire image will be visible. YouTube does support PNG, but if your PNG file does not upload properly (as has been the case for some YouTubers) then changing your file type to JPEG might help.

YouTube Banners are extremely important to the success of your channel. If you do not have a banner then it looks like you do not really care about your vlog. If you have a basic banner that is not at all personalized then it certainly looks like you care, but it might also look like you are new to YouTube.

The best banners are customized to reflect the kind of experience you want viewers to have on your channel. The banner of a comedic YouTube channel might use bright colors, where the banner for a gaming channel will probably use darker colors similar to the ones that are in the games the vlogger plays. Connecting your banner to the theme of your channel is part of how you define the style of your vlog. It is the difference between being a Beauty Guru and a general YouTuber who gives makeup tips sometimes.

Including a photo of yourself, or your logo if you have one, is a great way to personalize your banner.

2. YouTube Thumbnails

Quick Tips:

1. Search for your video’s topic to see the thumbnails your thumbnail will be competing against.
2. Make any text huge so people can read it on their smartphone screens.
3. Emojis, colored boarders, and graphics are all potential ways to stand out.

Thumbnails are often ignored by newer YouTubers. YouTube selects a thumbnail for every one of your videos and it is always a still image from that video. You can choose which frame you want to use and a lot of people feel like that is good enough. When you create a custom thumbnail, however, you get to not only choose your image but insert a title.

If you are choosing the images you are using for thumbnails you can make sure they are always similar frames. This will help people identify your videos quickly in searches. Using titles in your thumbnails will also help searchers identify your videos, if you always use the same title style. Another benefit of titles is that they capture the attention of people looking for your specific topic. Remember when building your thumbnails that they will appear smaller on YouTube than they probably are while you edit them. On mobile devices, they will look even smaller. So, if you are going to use text in your thumbnail, make sure it is huge.

One thumbnail taboo that you should never break is using an image that has nothing to do with your video. Using an image of a cute cat for a vlog post that has nothing to do with cats is misleading and will anger viewers. You may draw in a lot of viewers who want to see a cat video, but they will leave right away when they do not see a cat and they will never watch anything by you again.

3.Where To Create Banners and Thumbnails

There are sites online that will allow you to edit images and use them in templates for YouTube banners. You can also use these services to edit your thumbnails. Two of the most popular, free, online photo editors are PicMonkey.com and Canva.com.

Canva has templates you can use to create YouTube banners, as well as a variety of stock images you can use in combination with your own when creating channel art. It is free to edit images on Canva, but they do have some premium features which cost $1 each to access. This service has both a desktop version and an iPad app.

PicMonkey lets you import images from your computer or social media accounts, edit them, and use them in templates for YouTube banners or other kinds of social media graphics. PicMonkey is free to use, but you can only access their more advanced editing tools if you buy a paid subscription. Monthly subscriptions are $4.99 per month, and yearly subscriptions are $2.75 per month.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

The art on your YouTube channel – banners, thumbnails, icons, and watermarks – will help to determine how viewers feel about your vlog. If your art does not look like it all goes together then people will get a sloppy, amateurish, impression of your channel. However, if your different pieces of channel art all seem to complement each other and match the tone and theme of your channel then it will help viewers to have a pleasant browsing experience. They will get the impression that you take your YouTube channel seriously and that they can trust you as a source of information, comedy, or general entertainment.

How to Make YouTube Banners and Thumbnails

YouTube Banners and Thumbnails are two of the most important pieces of channel art you will need. This article will explain the best practices for both, and suggest sites where you will be able to build your own banners and thumbnails for free.

1. YouTube Banners

Quick Tips:

1. The image you upload for your YouTube banner should be 2560 x 1440px (pixels).
2. The ‘safe area’ for text, logos, and other important visual information (like faces) is 1546 x 423px.

Your banner is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think about channel art. Banners are the headers that rest at the tops of channel pages on YouTube. Your banner should be 2560 x 1440 px, although not all of it will always be visible. On a desktop computer or mobile device only a 1546 x 423 px ‘safe area’ will be visible. When viewed on a TV screen your entire image will be visible. YouTube does support PNG, but if your PNG file does not upload properly (as has been the case for some YouTubers) then changing your file type to JPEG might help.

YouTube Banners are extremely important to the success of your channel. If you do not have a banner then it looks like you do not really care about your vlog. If you have a basic banner that is not at all personalized then it certainly looks like you care, but it might also look like you are new to YouTube.

The best banners are customized to reflect the kind of experience you want viewers to have on your channel. The banner of a comedic YouTube channel might use bright colors, where the banner for a gaming channel will probably use darker colors similar to the ones that are in the games the vlogger plays. Connecting your banner to the theme of your channel is part of how you define the style of your vlog. It is the difference between being a Beauty Guru and a general YouTuber who gives makeup tips sometimes.

Including a photo of yourself, or your logo if you have one, is a great way to personalize your banner.

2. YouTube Thumbnails

Quick Tips:

1. Search for your video’s topic to see the thumbnails your thumbnail will be competing against.
2. Make any text huge so people can read it on their smartphone screens.
3. Emojis, colored boarders, and graphics are all potential ways to stand out.

Thumbnails are often ignored by newer YouTubers. YouTube selects a thumbnail for every one of your videos and it is always a still image from that video. You can choose which frame you want to use and a lot of people feel like that is good enough. When you create a custom thumbnail, however, you get to not only choose your image but insert a title.

If you are choosing the images you are using for thumbnails you can make sure they are always similar frames. This will help people identify your videos quickly in searches. Using titles in your thumbnails will also help searchers identify your videos, if you always use the same title style. Another benefit of titles is that they capture the attention of people looking for your specific topic. Remember when building your thumbnails that they will appear smaller on YouTube than they probably are while you edit them. On mobile devices, they will look even smaller. So, if you are going to use text in your thumbnail, make sure it is huge.

One thumbnail taboo that you should never break is using an image that has nothing to do with your video. Using an image of a cute cat for a vlog post that has nothing to do with cats is misleading and will anger viewers. You may draw in a lot of viewers who want to see a cat video, but they will leave right away when they do not see a cat and they will never watch anything by you again.

3.Where To Create Banners and Thumbnails

There are sites online that will allow you to edit images and use them in templates for YouTube banners. You can also use these services to edit your thumbnails. Two of the most popular, free, online photo editors are PicMonkey.com and Canva.com.

Canva has templates you can use to create YouTube banners, as well as a variety of stock images you can use in combination with your own when creating channel art. It is free to edit images on Canva, but they do have some premium features which cost $1 each to access. This service has both a desktop version and an iPad app.

PicMonkey lets you import images from your computer or social media accounts, edit them, and use them in templates for YouTube banners or other kinds of social media graphics. PicMonkey is free to use, but you can only access their more advanced editing tools if you buy a paid subscription. Monthly subscriptions are $4.99 per month, and yearly subscriptions are $2.75 per month.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

A Complete Guide to Downloading YouTube Videos to iPhone or iPad

A Complete Guide to Downloading YouTube Videos to iPhone or iPad

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

It is no secret that the iPhone and the iPad are the most popular smartphone and tablet respectively. You could argue that Samsung has impressive sales and is almost at par with Apple but in regards to sheer dominance or superiority, the South Korea based conglomerate bows down to the American tech juggernaut. YouTube is indisputably the most popular video hosting and sharing site in the world. It doesn’t help that YouTube is owned by Google, the search engine giant that also owns Android which powers all popular Samsung smartphones at the moment. As a result, what you get is a tad incompatible with YouTube and iPhone or iPad. Downloading YouTube videos is very simple if you are using an Android smartphone or a Windows computer. It is not so when you are using an iPhone, iPad or even a Mac.

You May Also Like: iPhone Video Downloaders >>

Fortunately, there are ways you can download YouTube videos to iPhone or iPad, and we aren’t talking about YouTube’s promise of offline video streaming. Here is a complete guide.

Note: We resolutely oppose all forms of copyright-infringing downloads. This tutorial is only for downloading YouTube videos/audio materials from your own channel.

First, you need a video downloader

You need a third party app which is approved by Apple and available in App Store. There are quite a few free video downloader apps that you can check. But do make sure that the app is active or usable right now. Apple is a tad infamous for deleting some of the apps from its store from time to time. If that happens after you have installed and started using a video downloader, then you can just remove it and opt for another. Most of these free video downloader apps will save your videos within the app. Some would add them to the videos in your Camera Roll. You can use AirPlay to watch the videos if you have an Apple TV. The videos saved by downloader apps will not be found in the native Videos app of iPhone or iPad. When you search for such apps, use ‘video downloader’ or ‘YouTube downloader’ as the keywords.

Find a suitable app, download it for free and install it

Some of the downloader apps will have premium or pro versions. You don’t need to pay before you have used the free or basic version. Once installed, start the app. Most of these apps have a built-in browser which should allow you to access YouTube. In most cases, you would get to m.youtube.com. If there is no default address, then save the mobile version of YouTube as the default URL. On iPad, you can go for <www.youtube.com>.

Downloading Youtube videos to iPhone or iPad

In all likelihood, you are familiar with how YouTube works. Search for a video that you wish to download, pick the one you want from the search results and it would automatically start to play. In some cases, you may have to click the play button or tap on the video thumbnail for it to start playing. As the video begins to stream or buffer, you would find an icon of the app, usually bobbing or hovering over the screen playing the video. You can tap on this icon, which could be a disk sign or the logo of the app. As you tap on it, you would have a popup that will prompt you to download the video that you are watching.

Depending on the app you are using, the download may begin immediately after tapping on the download icon or there can be another step, which will perhaps show you the list of downloading videos or videos that you have downloaded already. If the download doesn’t start immediately, there could be another button to initiate the download. Tap on it and you are done. The download would be automated and you don’t need to do anything else. You can also have your iPhone or iPad in sleep mode and the download would be completed, as long as there is an active internet connection. You can also see the progress made. Once the download or downloads are complete, you would get a notification. The video downloaded would be within the app’s video library or in your files.

Some apps rename the videos that are being downloaded so it is best you opt for a title or a name that will help you to recognize the video immediately. Other apps will keep the name of the video that appears on YouTube.

Almost all video downloader apps for iPhone and iPad will allow you to watch these videos offline. Some apps may need an internet connection to open but the videos saved will not require any internet to be played and replayed.

Given the fact that there are many video downloader apps and you cannot be sure of the experience of any, you will have to indulge in a bit of trial and error to find the best one.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

It is no secret that the iPhone and the iPad are the most popular smartphone and tablet respectively. You could argue that Samsung has impressive sales and is almost at par with Apple but in regards to sheer dominance or superiority, the South Korea based conglomerate bows down to the American tech juggernaut. YouTube is indisputably the most popular video hosting and sharing site in the world. It doesn’t help that YouTube is owned by Google, the search engine giant that also owns Android which powers all popular Samsung smartphones at the moment. As a result, what you get is a tad incompatible with YouTube and iPhone or iPad. Downloading YouTube videos is very simple if you are using an Android smartphone or a Windows computer. It is not so when you are using an iPhone, iPad or even a Mac.

You May Also Like: iPhone Video Downloaders >>

Fortunately, there are ways you can download YouTube videos to iPhone or iPad, and we aren’t talking about YouTube’s promise of offline video streaming. Here is a complete guide.

Note: We resolutely oppose all forms of copyright-infringing downloads. This tutorial is only for downloading YouTube videos/audio materials from your own channel.

First, you need a video downloader

You need a third party app which is approved by Apple and available in App Store. There are quite a few free video downloader apps that you can check. But do make sure that the app is active or usable right now. Apple is a tad infamous for deleting some of the apps from its store from time to time. If that happens after you have installed and started using a video downloader, then you can just remove it and opt for another. Most of these free video downloader apps will save your videos within the app. Some would add them to the videos in your Camera Roll. You can use AirPlay to watch the videos if you have an Apple TV. The videos saved by downloader apps will not be found in the native Videos app of iPhone or iPad. When you search for such apps, use ‘video downloader’ or ‘YouTube downloader’ as the keywords.

Find a suitable app, download it for free and install it

Some of the downloader apps will have premium or pro versions. You don’t need to pay before you have used the free or basic version. Once installed, start the app. Most of these apps have a built-in browser which should allow you to access YouTube. In most cases, you would get to m.youtube.com. If there is no default address, then save the mobile version of YouTube as the default URL. On iPad, you can go for <www.youtube.com>.

Downloading Youtube videos to iPhone or iPad

In all likelihood, you are familiar with how YouTube works. Search for a video that you wish to download, pick the one you want from the search results and it would automatically start to play. In some cases, you may have to click the play button or tap on the video thumbnail for it to start playing. As the video begins to stream or buffer, you would find an icon of the app, usually bobbing or hovering over the screen playing the video. You can tap on this icon, which could be a disk sign or the logo of the app. As you tap on it, you would have a popup that will prompt you to download the video that you are watching.

Depending on the app you are using, the download may begin immediately after tapping on the download icon or there can be another step, which will perhaps show you the list of downloading videos or videos that you have downloaded already. If the download doesn’t start immediately, there could be another button to initiate the download. Tap on it and you are done. The download would be automated and you don’t need to do anything else. You can also have your iPhone or iPad in sleep mode and the download would be completed, as long as there is an active internet connection. You can also see the progress made. Once the download or downloads are complete, you would get a notification. The video downloaded would be within the app’s video library or in your files.

Some apps rename the videos that are being downloaded so it is best you opt for a title or a name that will help you to recognize the video immediately. Other apps will keep the name of the video that appears on YouTube.

Almost all video downloader apps for iPhone and iPad will allow you to watch these videos offline. Some apps may need an internet connection to open but the videos saved will not require any internet to be played and replayed.

Given the fact that there are many video downloader apps and you cannot be sure of the experience of any, you will have to indulge in a bit of trial and error to find the best one.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

It is no secret that the iPhone and the iPad are the most popular smartphone and tablet respectively. You could argue that Samsung has impressive sales and is almost at par with Apple but in regards to sheer dominance or superiority, the South Korea based conglomerate bows down to the American tech juggernaut. YouTube is indisputably the most popular video hosting and sharing site in the world. It doesn’t help that YouTube is owned by Google, the search engine giant that also owns Android which powers all popular Samsung smartphones at the moment. As a result, what you get is a tad incompatible with YouTube and iPhone or iPad. Downloading YouTube videos is very simple if you are using an Android smartphone or a Windows computer. It is not so when you are using an iPhone, iPad or even a Mac.

You May Also Like: iPhone Video Downloaders >>

Fortunately, there are ways you can download YouTube videos to iPhone or iPad, and we aren’t talking about YouTube’s promise of offline video streaming. Here is a complete guide.

Note: We resolutely oppose all forms of copyright-infringing downloads. This tutorial is only for downloading YouTube videos/audio materials from your own channel.

First, you need a video downloader

You need a third party app which is approved by Apple and available in App Store. There are quite a few free video downloader apps that you can check. But do make sure that the app is active or usable right now. Apple is a tad infamous for deleting some of the apps from its store from time to time. If that happens after you have installed and started using a video downloader, then you can just remove it and opt for another. Most of these free video downloader apps will save your videos within the app. Some would add them to the videos in your Camera Roll. You can use AirPlay to watch the videos if you have an Apple TV. The videos saved by downloader apps will not be found in the native Videos app of iPhone or iPad. When you search for such apps, use ‘video downloader’ or ‘YouTube downloader’ as the keywords.

Find a suitable app, download it for free and install it

Some of the downloader apps will have premium or pro versions. You don’t need to pay before you have used the free or basic version. Once installed, start the app. Most of these apps have a built-in browser which should allow you to access YouTube. In most cases, you would get to m.youtube.com. If there is no default address, then save the mobile version of YouTube as the default URL. On iPad, you can go for <www.youtube.com>.

Downloading Youtube videos to iPhone or iPad

In all likelihood, you are familiar with how YouTube works. Search for a video that you wish to download, pick the one you want from the search results and it would automatically start to play. In some cases, you may have to click the play button or tap on the video thumbnail for it to start playing. As the video begins to stream or buffer, you would find an icon of the app, usually bobbing or hovering over the screen playing the video. You can tap on this icon, which could be a disk sign or the logo of the app. As you tap on it, you would have a popup that will prompt you to download the video that you are watching.

Depending on the app you are using, the download may begin immediately after tapping on the download icon or there can be another step, which will perhaps show you the list of downloading videos or videos that you have downloaded already. If the download doesn’t start immediately, there could be another button to initiate the download. Tap on it and you are done. The download would be automated and you don’t need to do anything else. You can also have your iPhone or iPad in sleep mode and the download would be completed, as long as there is an active internet connection. You can also see the progress made. Once the download or downloads are complete, you would get a notification. The video downloaded would be within the app’s video library or in your files.

Some apps rename the videos that are being downloaded so it is best you opt for a title or a name that will help you to recognize the video immediately. Other apps will keep the name of the video that appears on YouTube.

Almost all video downloader apps for iPhone and iPad will allow you to watch these videos offline. Some apps may need an internet connection to open but the videos saved will not require any internet to be played and replayed.

Given the fact that there are many video downloader apps and you cannot be sure of the experience of any, you will have to indulge in a bit of trial and error to find the best one.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

It is no secret that the iPhone and the iPad are the most popular smartphone and tablet respectively. You could argue that Samsung has impressive sales and is almost at par with Apple but in regards to sheer dominance or superiority, the South Korea based conglomerate bows down to the American tech juggernaut. YouTube is indisputably the most popular video hosting and sharing site in the world. It doesn’t help that YouTube is owned by Google, the search engine giant that also owns Android which powers all popular Samsung smartphones at the moment. As a result, what you get is a tad incompatible with YouTube and iPhone or iPad. Downloading YouTube videos is very simple if you are using an Android smartphone or a Windows computer. It is not so when you are using an iPhone, iPad or even a Mac.

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Fortunately, there are ways you can download YouTube videos to iPhone or iPad, and we aren’t talking about YouTube’s promise of offline video streaming. Here is a complete guide.

Note: We resolutely oppose all forms of copyright-infringing downloads. This tutorial is only for downloading YouTube videos/audio materials from your own channel.

First, you need a video downloader

You need a third party app which is approved by Apple and available in App Store. There are quite a few free video downloader apps that you can check. But do make sure that the app is active or usable right now. Apple is a tad infamous for deleting some of the apps from its store from time to time. If that happens after you have installed and started using a video downloader, then you can just remove it and opt for another. Most of these free video downloader apps will save your videos within the app. Some would add them to the videos in your Camera Roll. You can use AirPlay to watch the videos if you have an Apple TV. The videos saved by downloader apps will not be found in the native Videos app of iPhone or iPad. When you search for such apps, use ‘video downloader’ or ‘YouTube downloader’ as the keywords.

Find a suitable app, download it for free and install it

Some of the downloader apps will have premium or pro versions. You don’t need to pay before you have used the free or basic version. Once installed, start the app. Most of these apps have a built-in browser which should allow you to access YouTube. In most cases, you would get to m.youtube.com. If there is no default address, then save the mobile version of YouTube as the default URL. On iPad, you can go for <www.youtube.com>.

Downloading Youtube videos to iPhone or iPad

In all likelihood, you are familiar with how YouTube works. Search for a video that you wish to download, pick the one you want from the search results and it would automatically start to play. In some cases, you may have to click the play button or tap on the video thumbnail for it to start playing. As the video begins to stream or buffer, you would find an icon of the app, usually bobbing or hovering over the screen playing the video. You can tap on this icon, which could be a disk sign or the logo of the app. As you tap on it, you would have a popup that will prompt you to download the video that you are watching.

Depending on the app you are using, the download may begin immediately after tapping on the download icon or there can be another step, which will perhaps show you the list of downloading videos or videos that you have downloaded already. If the download doesn’t start immediately, there could be another button to initiate the download. Tap on it and you are done. The download would be automated and you don’t need to do anything else. You can also have your iPhone or iPad in sleep mode and the download would be completed, as long as there is an active internet connection. You can also see the progress made. Once the download or downloads are complete, you would get a notification. The video downloaded would be within the app’s video library or in your files.

Some apps rename the videos that are being downloaded so it is best you opt for a title or a name that will help you to recognize the video immediately. Other apps will keep the name of the video that appears on YouTube.

Almost all video downloader apps for iPhone and iPad will allow you to watch these videos offline. Some apps may need an internet connection to open but the videos saved will not require any internet to be played and replayed.

Given the fact that there are many video downloader apps and you cannot be sure of the experience of any, you will have to indulge in a bit of trial and error to find the best one.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

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