Requirements: OS X 10.10+ , 25.32MB size
Version 3.29.2.400 (25 Apr, 2024) Release notes
Category: Utilities
How to download YouTube video on Mac quickly? Many tools offer YouTube downloading capability, but not all of them can do it in one or two clicks. Usually, copying and pasting is necessary. Nonetheless, some apps have streamlined the process and became a lot more convenient as a result. The following list only includes solutions that can start a YouTube conversion with a single button.
A toolbar button is a simple, reliable way to download YouTube clips. While it’s not very ergonomic (the download button for YouTube is often out of the way), this plugin type allows you to move and hide it according to your desires. Its inconvenience can be offset by hotkeys.
One of the main reasons why toolbar YouTube button downloaders still exist is that they are simple to make. In order to render a button on YouTube pages, the developer would have to mess with the underlying web code.
Right off the bat, here’s a hint: don’t install the companion app. It’s not malicious, but the app is notorious for placing watermarks on videos and asking for money. The thing is, Video DownloadHelper is perfectly functional without it! The only issue is that you’ll get separate video and audio. But plenty of apps and services can deal with that nowadays.
That’s about it.
Some YouTube download buttons are located on the page itself, giving them a more ordered, fitting look. Being in the center of the screen, they are easy to access, and when you don’t need them, they don’t take up any space on the toolbar.
There is a serious downside to this sort of button. YouTube page layout may change, rendering the add-on invisible and non-functional until the developer repairs it. And it’s well-known that the YouTube interface changes often - at least once a year.
To offset the risk, a developer might opt for a two-sided approach, using both an on-page button and a toolbar widget.
Here’s a decent option. This add-on works out of the box on several platforms, including Safari and Opera (it got removed from Chrome, however). The EYVDE doesn’t bring anything new to the table, instead settling for stability and speed.
Sadly, where many developers excel, Google manages to fail. The download service offered by YouTube premium is in no way competitive, even with the most basic browser add-ons. How did it manage that?
First of all, the official YouTube downloader button is exclusive to Android and iOS, despite how useful it would be to download YouTube movies on PC officially. Secondly, it doesn’t even download files - the videos are somehow stored in the app cache, cannot be accessed from a file manager, and stop being accessible if your Premium subscription expires.
And thus it happened. Instead of capitalizing on the YouTube download market, the company failed - they didn’t even manage to stop the other software providers.
It is notably difficult to find a working YouTube downloader button for Chrome. We have licensing issues to thank for that, but alternative solutions can be found. For example, a combination of Crosspilot (allows Opera plugins to run on Chrome) and Addoncrop Opera add-ons will work flawlessly.
MP3 and MP4 MPEG files offer a superior 1080p experience compared to online streams. How to watch YouTube offline on Mac? Naturally, browser add-ons are not the only way to get YouTube movies on your hard drive. They are quickest and cheapest to get, but you might get a lot more mileage out of desktop apps - apps like Airy Mac YouTube downloader. Stunning speed, rich functionality and frequent updates make up for the costs of desktop apps.