How To Download YouTube Videos On Your Android Phone Or Tablet Device

Although there are numerous ways to download YouTube videos from a regular desktop computer, there seems to be no easy way to download YouTube videos on Android phones and tablets.  A quick search in the market for “YouTube video downloader” shows very irrelevant results and fact is that none of the free YouTube apps in the market are as convincing as the official one.

The biggest problem with Android is that the operating system does not support browser plugins and extensions. There are so many Google Chrome extensions, userscripts and Firefox adds-ons available for downloading YouTube videos but sadly, none of them can be installed on your Android device.

Hence, Android users are always on the lookout for a free app that would let them download YouTube videos in a preferred format or download only the audio of a YouTube video as an MP3 file.

Here are two easy ways to download YouTube videos on your Android phone, without having to use a computer:

WonTube: The Best YouTube Client For Android That Supports Free Video Downloads

If you need a single app that can act as a video browsing client and a download manager for YouTube videos, try Wontube’s free YouTube downloader.

When you start the app, you will be redirected to the lightweight mobile version of the YouTube website. The home screen lists a queue of currently popular videos and featured YouTube videos for today. You can also sign in to your Google or YouTube account and watch a customized stream of video activity that includes subscriptions, favorites, artists and so forth. Pretty sleek and works really fast!

When you want to download or play a YouTube video, simply hit the “Play” button on the video player and the app will show you two options – play/download. Hit the “Download” button and the video will be added to the download queue of Wontube. Works like a charm!

There are advanced filters to sort videos by today, this week, this month or anytime. You can also sort search results into “channels only” or choose an entire playlist. While you are watching a YouTube playlist from your Android, hit the “Download” button on the first video of the playlist and continue watching the playlist on Wontube’s video player. Unfortunately, there is no way to download the entire YouTube playlist on your Android; you have to hit the “Download” button on each individual video and download it separately.

The app houses a download manager which can be used to pause a download or cancel it completely. All the videos are downloaded in standard MP4 format, so you have the highest quality preserved and less space consumed.

This app is completely free, absolutely no strings attached.

Tubemate: Download YouTube Videos In A Preferred Screen Resolution

Not all Android phones and tablets have the same screen resolution. Some phones are small, some are quite big while some have extra large screens. On rare occasions, you might encounter errors while trying to play an FLV or MP4 video file :”This format is not supported / This screen resolution is not supported”.

Hence, it becomes really important to download YouTube videos in a resolution that is supported on your phone or tablet. Tubemate is another third party Android app (not available in the market) which can be used to download YouTube videos in a preferred screen resolution or format.

Tubemate works the same way as WonTube does, but there are a couple of more features which makes this app my personal favorite.

• You can choose the fast download mode from app preferences and the app will use multiple connections for speeding up the file download process.
• You can toggle between the mobile and desktop version of YouTube website.
• There is an option to download YouTube video as MP3 audio file, so you can browse through random YouTube videos and download an MP3 copy from the app itself.
• Supported resolutions: 320X240, 640 X360, 1280 X 720 (high end devices), 1080 p full hd, 1920 X 1080 full HD (for tablets).

Unlike Wontube, Tubemate is ad supported and available as a free download from the author’s website.