YouTube Download gives your iPhone two options in one tap: open any YouTube link in Picture in Picture, or download it as a file. It handles videos, shorts, music, live streams, audio, thumbnails, and subtitles at resolutions from 144p all the way up to 8K with HDR. Works on iOS 15 and later. Not for macOS.

What it actually does

Paste or share a YouTube URL and you get a menu. Pick PiP if you just want background or floating playback. Choose a download and the shortcut grabs the file in the format you want. Video comes through as MP4 or WEBM. Audio can be extracted as M4A, WEBM, or MP3 without the picture track. Thumbnails save as the highest-quality images straight to Photos, and subtitles can either be burned into the video or exported as a separate SRT file. Community post images and live stream captures work too.

What you’ll need

Scriptable — runs the JavaScript that drives the menus and stitching. Free on the App Store.
a-Shell mini — provides the unix shell environment that does the heavy fetching and muxing. Also free on the App Store.

Supported formats

Video: MP4 (AVC, AV1, or HEVC) and WEBM, from 144p to 8K, HDR supported.
Audio: M4A, WEBM, or MP3.
Thumbnails: highest-quality JPEG/PNG saved to Photos.
Subtitles: embedded into the video file or exported as SRT.

Adding it to your iPhone

Install Scriptable from the App Store.
Add a-Shell mini from the App Store too.
Tap Add Shortcut on this page to open the preview in the Shortcuts app.
In the preview that opens, scroll down and tap Add Shortcut to confirm.

Running the shortcut

The fastest path is the Share Sheet. Open a video in the YouTube app or Safari, tap Share, and pick YouTube Download from the list. If sharing isn’t convenient, copy the link, open the Shortcuts app, and tap the shortcut to run it on whatever’s on your clipboard. To change defaults like preferred resolution or audio format, run the shortcut directly from inside the Shortcuts app rather than the Share Sheet. That’s where the settings menu lives.

Where saved files go

MP4 files using AVC or HEVC land in Photos automatically. AV1 video, WEBM, audio tracks, thumbnails, and SRT subtitles save into the Files app instead. Quick tip: in Files, sort by Date descending and turn on Show All Extensions so fresh downloads jump to the top and you can tell formats apart at a glance.

FAQ

Can I run this on my Mac?

iPhone and iPad only. Both Scriptable and a-Shell mini behave differently (or not at all) on macOS, so the shortcut has no working engine over there. Stay on iOS 15 or later.

Can my iPhone actually play HEVC HDR files?

Smooth HEVC HDR playback really wants A17 Pro or M3-class silicon. Older chips will handle a lot of clips just fine, but expect occasional stutters or outright failures on the heaviest 4K and 8K files.

Why two extra apps?

Shortcuts on its own can’t run arbitrary scripts or shell commands, which is most of the work here. Scriptable provides the JavaScript runtime for the menus and stitching, and a-Shell mini contributes the Unix tools that actually fetch and mux the streams. Drop either one and the shortcut has nothing to call into.