This post was inspired by my work with a group of grade 5/6 students at Blue Water Coast Elementary in Kerri-Lynn Case Scheper’s class. As they were working through the process of app smashing (using multiple apps to create) a video, one of the challenges they faced was how to download and save a YouTube background (video of snow falling) on their iPads to include in their video. Below are the steps we followed to save a YouTube video to an iPad:
How to Download a YouTube Video to your iPad
1. Visit the iTunes App Store and install Documents 5.
2. Once installed, open the app. You will be asked to “Sign up to get Tips . . .”. Tap “Not Now” (unless you want to receive emails).
3. Select “Browser” from the left hand menu.
4. In the search bar at the top of the page, type “savefromnet”
5. Select the first site in the list of results (The fastest free YouTube Downloader – en.savefrom.net)
6. Tap “INSTALL” (green button)
7. Tap “INSTALL” again (green button)
8. If you receive this message “Unfortunately SaveFrom.net helper is unavailable . . .”, choose the option – Google Chrome: and click on the link (for older versions: helper_last.crx)
9. Tap “Done”
10. Tap “OK”
11. Tap the black back arrow in the top left hand corner of the screen.
INSTALLING SAVEFROM.NET IS A ONE TIME PROCESS. ONCE YOU’VE INSTALLED SAVEFROM.NET – YOU DON’T NEED TO INSTALL IT AGAIN. THE NEXT TIME YOU WANT TO DOWNLOAD A YOUTUBE VIDEO TO YOUR IPAD, FOLLOW STEPS 3-5, THEN SKIP TO STEP 12 AND CONTINUE.
12. Leave this screen/ app open.
13. Double tap your home button, locate, and open your YouTube app. You must use the app. It won’t work if you open YouTube in a browser like Safari or Chrome.
14. Tap the magnifying glass to open the search bar (top right).
15. Type in the search terms to find the video you want. For our purposes, the kids needed a video background of snow falling.
16. Once you find the video you want, open it. Touch the arrow (share icon) in the top right hand corner of the video. Tap “Copy Link”
17. Double-tap the home button (or, while still in YouTube, swipe in from the right side of the iPad, scroll through the available apps until to you find Documents 5). Open Documents 5.
18. Paste the link into the box where it reads “Just insert a link”
19. Tap “Download” (green button).
20. Tap “Done”
21. Tap the download symbol in the top right hand corner of your screen. You should see your download. Tap the title of your download, which will take you to the folder in the Documents 5 app where your download is saved. Please note – your download does not saved to your Camera Roll. It is saved in a folder in the Documents 5 app.
22. To open the video, tap the image of the video in the Documents folder. If you want to just play the video you downloaded, you’re all done!
23. If you want to upload the video into iMovie, or Do Ink (green screen app), continue following the instructions.
24.Double-tap the home button and select the app where you want to upload the YouTube video. For our purposes, we are using Do Ink (pink octopus).
25. Open Do Ink. Create a new project by tapping the “+” sign in the top right hand corner of the app.
26. At the bottom of the screen, touch one of the “+” signs. This will open the “Select a Source” (media) menu. Tap “Video”.
27. Tap “Locations” in the top right hand corner of the pop-up window.
28. Tap “More”.
29. Tap the button beside Documents to add this app as an file location option. I would also tap the button beside “Google Drive” to add this app as an option as well.
30. Now tap “Documents”.
31. Tap “Documents” again.
32. Touch the name of the video you want to upload and then tap “Done”.
33. Tap “Use” in the top right hand corner of the video.
34. You’re done! Now wasn’t that easy? Only 34 steps to follow . . .
As mentioned above, there is always more than one way to accomplish a task when using technology. I did read about an app called Video Downloader Lite Super – VDownload, however it is not available in the Canadian iTunes Store. 😦 I am hopeful someone in our community has found a more efficient way to tackle this. Please share your ideas below!
Leigh Cassell Consulting 