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I have the Galaxy S3, and I'd like to watch YouTube videos during my commutes. I like to watch long videos (around 1 hours), so I have no more than 1 video per commute.

However, youtube video takes a lot of bandwidth and I have a cap on data usage. Besides, connection outside during peak hours tend to be slow, which makes the video pause to download a lot of times.

Is it possible to pre-download a video at home (using my Wi-Fi, which is faster and has no data cap), and watch it on the way? I tried pausing it at home and let it download, but whenever the phone sleep (it sleeps often!), or the application switch from youtube to anything else, it seems all previous download will be lost.

Flow
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Briyanti
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6 Answers6

19

Update:

YouTube has removed this feature. Source

YouTube's official app allows you to preload a video. You can either preload all your subscription or the videos you have added to watch later.

When your phone is connected to WiFi and charger, Youtube automatically pre-loads them.

Open Youtube -> Settings -> Preloading

One thing to note is that this still requires data connection to view the pre-loaded video. It won't download the videos but it does something (may be verification) before showing pre-loaded videos.

Read more at support doc

Source: "notesofgenius.com"

Andrew T.
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roxan
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  • I disagree with this answer! You'll end up with a sure fire way of racking up a bill! Read this subreddit to find out why! The gist was the OP in the subreddit was subscribed to certain subscriptions, AT&T ended up charging the customer for going over the limit! – t0mm13b Feb 10 '13 at 01:49
  • That answer is assuming the OP has unlimited data plan in which the cap is limited and governed by the Fair Usage Policy hence -1 from me! :) – t0mm13b Feb 10 '13 at 01:58
  • @t0mm13b It uses Wi-Fi to preload the subscription which the OP has unlimited cap. So give my +1 back. If you are citing the reddit example it could be weird bug or some other misunderstanding. From Google support doc: "Conditions for preloading

    Once you turn on this feature, preloading will happen only when:

    The device’s battery is charging. The device is connected to a WiFi network. "

     – roxan Feb 10 '13 at 03:54
  • OP does not have unlimited cap, read the question again youtube video takes a lot of bandwidth and I have a cap on data usage ... – t0mm13b Feb 10 '13 at 17:12
  • Read the full question, (....using my Wi-Fi, which is faster and has no data cap.....). Preloading works over Wi-Fi. It doesn't use mobile data. However you still need mobile data to watch the videos but its only for authentication purpose or similar, which I'm not sure. OP's scenario and my scenarios is exactly same and I've been doing same from many months. – roxan Feb 11 '13 at 03:30
  • There is a misunderstanding, what I quoted was true for 3G mobile data (Op included both, youtube video takes a lot of bandwidth and I have a cap on data usage, and for the wifi using my Wi-Fi, which is faster and has no data cap, obviously downloading over the wifi is fine, but for on the go, the solution does not seem viable, because 3G data is still being used for some purpose which you have stated yourself However you still need mobile data to watch the videos but its only for authentication purpose or similar, which I'm not sure – t0mm13b Feb 11 '13 at 14:59
  • One thing to note for this answer is that it only works on the phone YouTube client - it doesn't work on a tablet. :( – jamuraa Feb 11 '13 at 18:36
  • @t0mm13b Less than 1 KB of mobile data is used for authentication or similar purpose. The videos are already pre-loaded and saved to your phone. Mobile data is needed but this will never reach the cap value, not even 10MB cap which is mine. I watch at least one video every day as there is no electricity for more than half the day in my country and I've never ran out of 10MB cap. – roxan Feb 12 '13 at 03:38
  • I thought this answer was a great fit for the OP's question, +1. I appreciate solutions built-in to the app (rather than having to download a separate app) even if they require a specific workflow (making sure the video you want is in Watch Later or Subscriptions and your phone is plugged in and on WiFi every night). The subreddit mentioned by t0mm13b is perhaps cause for monitoring, but one bad report doesn't render the whole feature invalid AFAIC. – Mr. Buster Feb 12 '13 at 19:27
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    This feature is pretty bugged though, often times if you lose your wifi signal it will continue downloading over mobile data connection which can be pretty expensive. – Yalla T. Feb 14 '13 at 11:12
  • @YallaT.It has never happened to me. I frequently lose Wi-Fi due to power outage. And yes I'm on 10MB data cap. – roxan Feb 14 '13 at 14:33
  • @roxan: Exactly this happend back in december after i first enabled this option: https://www.dropbox.com/s/riyk89315iz9lh8/Screenshot_2013-02-19-14-40-51.png I enabeld the Setting but unplugged the phone and left my house shortly afterwards. Still, it loaded 30MB over mobile data and i was able to watch 1 video. – Yalla T. Feb 19 '13 at 13:44
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    The setting seems gone in KitKat (Android 4.4) – offby1 Oct 25 '14 at 03:56
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There's a Python script floating around called youtube-dl (which is an open source project), an example invocation would be something like this:

youtube-dl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1MIVOTstF0

depending on the video format, either MP4 or flv, the file would be saved to disk as 'O1MIVOTstF0.mp4' or 'O1MIVOTstF0.flv'.

It is cross-platform friendly, and can run under any environment provided the Python run-time is installed.

Then push that across using a video player on the handset to play the youtube video - that is off-line, thereby minimizing data caps limit.

Addendum Am not 100% sure if Android has a video decoder for flv format... so that is an open ended question depending on what video player can support it.

t0mm13b
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Assuming you also have a PC at home, most modern browsers have extensions that will allow you to download a YouTube video, which you could then side load to your S3 and watch in airplane mode, if you liked. I know Opera has an extension that allows YouTube downloads and I assume other browser do too.

trlovejoy
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Any chance that TubeMate might do the trick?

Just download them over wi-fi and watch 'em on the go. I find it too hard to view a video on a small screen for too long, but this might do the trick.

eldarerathis
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k k
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There are a couple on the Google Play Store. Search for youtube mp3 and you will find them.

Best one I found is MP3/Video Downloader - Grab It.

It's really simple to use. You can search YouTube and then download music in video or MP# format. Really nice app!

keithy991
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  • The question is specifically about watching pre-downloaded videos when commuting, not about a youtube-mp3 converter. Does GrabIt also download videos (without converting them to MP3s)? – ce4 Oct 29 '13 at 13:22
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    Yes! Grab It http://www.grabit-mp3downloader.com allows you to download VIDEOS while you’re connected to WiFi and enjoy it later, when internet connection is not available. Videos are in MP4 and you have different qualities as well... – keithy991 Nov 01 '13 at 08:33
  • Ah, ok. I was a bit confused by the title... – ce4 Nov 01 '13 at 10:57
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There is a new app called TubeDroid that will enable you to download videos to your device, rather than preloading them.

Chris Ward
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