How to Download YouTube Videos on iPhone or iPad Using Siri Shortcuts

Oftentimes, I find a video while browsing YouTube on my iPhone that I want to save to my device. Now, I know that there is an option to download YouTube videos for offline viewing, however, those downloaded videos remain in the YouTube app only and I cannot use them on any other third-party editing application. So, I have been using this Siri Shortcut to download and save YouTube videos on my device without any hassle.

Now, there are a lot of Siri Shortcuts that you can find in the “Gallery” of the “Shortcuts” app. However, the “Social Media Downloader (SMD)” is a shortcut that won’t find in the shortcuts gallery. And as this is a shortcut created by a third-party developer, you won’t be able to add this shortcut to your “My Shortcuts” list in the traditional way.

How to Set Up “Shortcuts” App to Run SMD

So here’s how to set up the “Shortcuts” app to run the SMD shortcut.

• First, go to “Settings” on your device and find “Shortcuts” in the system app list.

• Enter the settings page for “Shortcuts” and you will see the title “Allow Untrusted Shortcuts”.

• Toggle the switch to turn it on.
• Press “Allow” on the following prompt.

• Enter your device’s passcode and you’re ready.

Now that you have set up your “Shortcuts” app to add shortcuts from sources other than the “Gallery”, follow the steps below to download a YouTube video using the shortcut.

How to Download YouTube Videos using SMD

• First, get the “Social Media Downloader (SMD)” shortcut from this link.
• After adding it, you will find the shortcut in your “My Shortcuts” section of the “Shortcuts” app.

• Now, go to the YouTube app and open the video you want to download.
• Once the video opens up, find the “Share” button and tap it.

• Once the in-app share sheet comes up, slide to the left, and tap the button with three dots. This will open up the device’s share sheet.

• In the device’s share sheet, scroll down a bit and you will find a button titled “SMD 4.0.2”.

• Tap this button to start your download.
• After some progression, the shortcut will give you the option to choose your preferred video resolution.

• Later in the download process, the shortcut will ask your permission to send certain data to some websites. Press “OK” when the prompt comes up.

• After that, you will get the option to “Save” the video or “Open in” any third-party app. Press “Save”.

• Once the video is completely downloaded, it will open up in the system media player.
• Now, on this media player, find the “Share” button on the top-right corner.

• Tap it to open up the share sheet again and then tap “Save Video” to save it on your device.

• Go to the “Photos” app and you will find the downloaded video right there.

So, this is one of the easiest ways to download a YouTube video on an iPhone or an iPad. And it is all thanks to Siri Shortcuts and the developers who created the “SMD” shortcut.

I hope this shortcut helps you to download your favorite videos from YouTube and save it on your device. And if you have already used it, then you know who to thank down in the comments section.