12 YouTube Shortcuts for Downloading Videos and More

As YouTube continues to be the go-to platform for video content, it’s essential to know how to improve your experience. With the help of custom shortcuts for iOS, you can enhance your YouTube experience and make it more convenient and enjoyable. 

In this article, we will introduce some of the best iOS shortcuts for YouTube to help you download YouTube videos, skip ads, bypass YouTube age restrictions, etc. 

YouTube Downloader Shortcuts

The most popular ones are the Downloader shortcuts. If you search it on Google, you can find many shortcuts in this kind. However, most of them are no longer working after YouTube updates. 

After testing a lot, I selected a few YouTube Downloader shortcuts that are working well in 2024. You can use them to download YouTube videos and extract audio from YouTube videos. In addition, you can even download all in a YouTube playlist. 

YouTube Shorts Downloader

With the YouTube Shorts Downloader shortcut for iOS, you can download videos and shorts from YouTube without needing to use a separate app or website.

To use the shortcut, find the video or short you want to download, and copy its link. Then, open the Shortcuts app and select the YouTube Shorts Downloader shortcut. The shortcut will automatically extract the video link and download it to your device’s Camera Roll.

If you choose the Audio option, this shortcut will extract audio from the YouTube video and save the audio to Files. 

Overall, the YouTube Shorts Downloader shortcut is quite convenient to download YouTube shorts and videos to their Camera Roll. If you also need to download videos from other platforms besides YouTube, you can check Chrunos Multi Downloader shortcut.

YouTube Playlist Ripper

YouTube Playlist Ripper is a handy shortcut for iOS devices that allows you to extract audio from a YouTube playlist and save it to your device’s local storage. This shortcut is perfect for music enthusiasts who want to listen to their favorite songs from YouTube playlists without having to watch videos.

The shortcut is simple to use, requiring only the YouTube playlist URL as input. Once you input the playlist URL, the shortcut will load all videos in the playlist. You can choose them all or some of them to download audio-only. 

By default, it will download the audio files and save them to iCloud>Shortcuts/Music folder. YouTube Playlist Ripper allows you to keep all your audio files on your device, eliminating the need for an internet connection to listen to your favorite songs.

YouTube Music Downloader

If you want to download audio from YouTube or YouTube Music, you should try this YouTube Music Downloader shortcut. Additionally, it allows you to download YouTube videos to MP3 on your iPhone. 

Yt-dlp (Embeded Subtitles)

If you want to download YouTube videos with subtitles, the yt-dlp (subtitles) shortcut is a great option for iOS users. However, it requires the installation of the A-Shell or A-Shell Mini app to function properly. If you don’t need subtitles, use this one instead.

yt-dlp is a command-line program that allows you to download YouTube videos and extract audio from them. The yt-dlp shortcut for iOS takes advantage of this program and offers a user-friendly interface to access its features.

As know yt-dlp can download videos and music from thousands of websites. Therefore, you can also pretty much use this shortcut to download media from all social media and other sites.

Once you have the A-Shell or A-Shell Mini app installed, you can download the yt-dlp shortcut from here. To use the shortcut, simply copy the link to the YouTube video you want to download and run the yt-dlp shortcut.

This is the first A-Shell shortcut I made, so it does not offer many customization options. During creation, I use ChatGPT to write the yt-dlp command because I am not quite familiar with yt-dlp commands. Later, I will update this shortcut for more options. 

YouTube Subtitles Downloader

If you only want to download subtitles, use this subtitle downloader shortcut. It can download auto-generated subtitles. If there are more than 1 subtitles available, you can choose a language to download.

YouTube Shortcuts for Watching

These shortcuts will improve your watching experience by removing ads, bypassing YouTube age restrictions, and PIP mode.

YouTube ++ Watch YouTube Without Ads

YouTube++ is a powerful shortcut for iOS devices that enhances your YouTube experience. It removes ads, returns YouTube dislike, and bypasses YouTube age restrictions and geo-restrictions. With this shortcut, you can watch your favorite YouTube videos without any interruptions or restrictions.

Honestly, this shortcut simply redirects you to an open-source alternative front-end website for YouTube. This website Piped offers an intuitive interface, making it easy to use, regardless of technical expertise. 

The project prioritizes privacy and security by blocking third-party trackers and removing unnecessary metadata from YouTube videos. This means that Piped provides a more private and secure way to browse and stream YouTube videos compared to the official YouTube website.

YouTube PIP

YouTube PIP feature is free for US users. If YouTube PIP is not available in your country, you can use the YouTube PIP shortcut to play YouTube videos in the background. Most YouTube PIP shortcuts require you to run it from Safari. This Tubey shortcut allows you to run it from the YouTube app.

You can just need to share a YouTube video URL to the shortcut to get started. It supports live streams, age-restricted videos, and closed captions.

Play YouTube Video

If you need to quickly play a YouTube video from the Home screen or set up an automation, you can this shortcut. Once you import the shortcut, You can add it to your Home screen or set up an automation to run it. If you need a YouTube video to wake you up, this is the way.

Be sure to paste the URL to the video that you want to play into the shortcut followed by a comment in the shortcut. You can run the shortcut from Share Sheet to start playing a YouTube video without ads.

YouTube Playlist Transfer Shortcuts

As you may know, there are a few apps for transferring playlists between music streaming services. However, they are free with limitations. That’s why I made a few shortcuts to transfer unlimited songs among YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music. 

YouTube Playlist to Spotify: This shortcut allows you to easily convert YouTube playlists into Spotify playlists. If it failed to get YouTube videos, it is most likely the YouTube API running out of quota. In that case, you can use your own YouTube API key to fix it by following the comments in the shortcut.

YouTube Playlist to Apple Music: This shortcut is similar to the YouTube Playlist to Spotify shortcut, but instead of creating a Spotify playlist, it creates an Apple Music playlist. 

Apple Music Playlist to YouTube: This shortcut allows you to easily convert Apple Music playlists into YouTube playlists. 

Spotify Playlist to YouTube: This shortcut allows you to easily convert Spotify playlists into YouTube playlists. 

Check Our Premium Shortcuts

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Conclusion

iOS shortcuts are powerful tools that can make your life easier and more productive. They can also improve your experience with apps like YouTube. I hope that this article has given you some ideas on how to use iOS shortcuts for YouTube effectively.

If you love shortcuts, you can also check our top shortcuts collection with more than 30 custom shortcuts. I made all these YouTube Downloader shortcuts and others. If you have any suggestions or if any of them stops working, be sure to let me know in the comments.