How To: Quickly Download Streamable Videos on Your iPhone Before They Disappear Online

Videos hosted on Streamable may be fleeting or forever. So when you come across a cool video that you want to watch again later, it's a good idea to download it to your device in case it's one that disappears after a few months. There is no built-in download button in the Streamable player, but that doesn't mean you can't save anything on your iPhone.

Streamable is a free video-hosting service that's fast and simple to use, doesn't have in-video ads, and lets you upload videos that would otherwise be quickly removed on other platforms. Users can even upload videos without an account. Those are all good reasons why you'll frequently see Streamable videos embedded or linked to in Reddit and other popular websites. Videos uploaded with a free or anonymous plan are only kept on Streamable's servers for three months — so save them!

On an iPhone, Reddit clients like Apollo for Reddit have a "Download Video" option in the player that you can use for Streamable videos. That's the simplest, quickest way to go about it. But if you use the official Reddit app or another client that doesn't have a built-in "Download" button, try the "Download Streamable" shortcut from RoutineHub user FifiTheBulldog. Simply grab the video's Streamable URL, run the shortcut, and save the video to the Photos or Files app.

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Prerequisites

• Shortcuts: Although the application is pre-installed on iOS 13 and up, you may have removed it. Luckily, you can reinstall it from the App Store.
• Allow untrusted shortcuts: Go to Settings –> Shortcuts and toggle on "Add Untrusted Shortcuts" to install third-party shortcuts.
• iOS 13 or later: You don't need iOS 14 to run this shortcut since it was built using iOS 13, but it works great on iOS 14 too.

Step 1: Add the 'Download Streamable' Shortcut

The "Download Streamable" shortcut is free to add to your iPhone — just use the direct iCloud link below. You can also snag it from its RoutineHub page; if the developer enhances the shortcut, you'll see updated versions there. Currently, "Download Streamable" is on version 1.0.

• iCloud Link: Download Streamable (free)

After tapping "Get Shortcut," you'll be redirected to the Shortcuts app. Here you can preview the shortcut's actions. Scroll to the bottom and tap on the red "Add Untrusted Shortcut" button to add the shortcut to your library.

Step 2: Download a Streamable Video

Now you need a Streamable video to save, and you'll come across these on a variety of sites online. For example, on r/NBA, you'll find a ton of Streamable videos of NBA highlights. As mentioned before, some Reddit clients are different than others.

In Apollo for Reddit, you just tap the video to play it right then and there, tap the ellipsis (•••) in the full player, choose "Download Video," then "Save Video" in the Share sheet. However, in the official Reddit app, tapping a video will open it up in a browser window where it plays, then you have to tap it again to play it, and the player only has basic controls.

If you see the video itself open in a browser window on Streamable's website, tap on the Share button, then choose "Download Streamable" from the list of shortcuts in the Share sheet.

Note that on Reddit's web app in a browser, tapping a Streamable video will play it in the Reddit thread, and the expanded full-screen player has no downloading or sharing options. To get the URL, make sure the video preview shows the play button on it, then long-press it and copy the link or open it in a new tab. If it's playing, you won't be able to do that.

The first time you run the shortcut, you'll be asked to grant it access to the Streamable website — tap on "OK." From there, you can watch the video. If you want to save the video or share it, tap on the Share button in the top right. Here, you can share the video with your contacts, copy the video to your clipboard, or save the video to Photos, Files, or any other app.

If you don't use the Share sheet to save the video, you can also tap on "Done" in the top left of the video to bring up a menu to save it to Photos or Files. Below, you can see the video in the Photos app (right screenshot).