You probably don’t let a week pass before you open the YouTube app on your Android Smartphone or tablet. Watching interesting or educative videos, be they movie trailers, music or just funny clips can be a great way to pass time. But what if you don’t have a Wi-Fi hotspot in close range? Using mobile data to watch those old time favorites can be a real pain. You most likely end up exceeding your allowance and spending much more on unplanned data. Downloading your favorite videos to your Smartphone’s local storage is the way to go about it.
Get the Tubemate app
There are several free apps that claim to help you download YouTube videos to your Android handset. Based on a review of most of them, TubeMate appears to be your best bet. However, you won’t find this app on the Google Play Store.- Navigate to net using your internet browser and click to download version 2.2.9 from the list of verified sites.
- If you find the green CNET download bar, I recommend that you click on it – the link takes you express to the downloads page.
- Tap on the big Install app button, then choose OK when warned about the file you’re downloading harming device your device (this happens whenever you download an app outside the play store, but TubeMate won’t harm your device).
Install the downloaded app
Android won’t automatically install any app that was not downloaded from the Play Store. Follow the following steps to install the TubeMate app on your device.- Navigate to Settings>Security and enable the option to allow installations from ‘Unknown Sources’. You’ll get another warning – tap Ok to clear it (Note: it’s important that you turn off this setting after installing TubeMate).
- Open the downloaded .apk file from the drop-down notification bar to install the TubeMate app. If you already cleared this notification, you can trace the download to your Downloads folder through the File manager app on your phone or tablet. Just to make sure that you’re on the safe side, consider scanning the file using Avast, Lookout or any other Android security app before installing. Simply tap to begin the installation process.
Launch the installed app
- You’ll be prompted to agree to theirs terms of service (that you only use the app for private purposes) – go right ahead.
- If TubeMate presents you with a ‘Release Notes’ screen, close it (there’s a button at the bottom) to go to the main app screen. There’s a Search field at the top that you can use to browse YouTube videos. You’ll also be able to access the Playlist option from the 3-dots icon at the top menu bar in the app.
- Find a play (select) a video that you want to download. Tap on the Green (downward arrow) button at the top.
- TubeMate will present you with a range of download qualities. Choose an appropriate one based on the speed of your internet connection, and the storage space available on your device. You can choose your preferred video file format, or tap on the AUDIO (MP3) option if you just the audio file.
- Select the Download button located at the bottom of the app screen.
- If you have turned on battery optimizations, you’ll be asked to turn them off since the app runs in the background. Tap ‘Yes’.
- Your video (or audio file) will be downloaded. Once finished, you’ll get a notification at the drop-down notification bar.
- All downloaded videos will be automatically saved to your gallery. If you cannot see them here, open the Video folder through the File manager app on your Android device.