Introduction
YouTube is the largest video platform out there; with such a vast library of content, it doesn’t really have to fear any competitors. After all, millions of videos attract hundreds of millions of viewers. This is not an exaggeration: YouTube has more than a hundred million daily visitors. This is why YouTube doesn’t allow its users to download videos; it would much rather prefer you visited the website each time you want to watch a video. This way, you’ll see more ads and other sponsored content. However, this is not very convenient. For one, it means you can’t watch any videos while offline. If you’re on a metered connection, you’ll be spending data each time you watch a video, even if you saw it before. There’s also plenty of music on YouTube, which you might want to add to your local collection. There are several programs that can solve these problems, including some very capable ones. But what if you want something simpler? What if you want to download YouTube videos in Safari, without installing anything else? That, too, is possible. Read the article below for a list of YouTube downloader websites. You can visit these websites using Safari, on any other browser for that matter. However, these websites are limited in their functionality, so we advise you to consider using a program after all.
How to download YouTube videos on Mac
Use a program
Though it is possible to download YouTube videos on Mac in Safari, it is not the best solution. A dedicated program is much more efficient; such programs have many useful features, such as batch downloading. If you plan on downloading YouTube videos regularly, using a downloader program will save you a lot of time in the long run.
SnapDownloader
SnapDownloader is one of the best YouTube downloader programs currently available. It can download videos in any resolution, as well as download entire playlists or channels at once. You can also schedule downloads; so if you want to download many videos, you can do it overnight, without impacting your internet speed. It is also capable of bypassing YouTube’s geographic restrictions, so you can download videos not available in your country.
SnapDownloader is a paid application, but it features a free trial. The free version doesn’t have any feature restrictions, but will stop working after 48 hours. This is more than enough time to download many YouTube videos, especially if you prepare beforehand. And if you plan to do it regularly, purchasing a full version may be a worthwhile investment.
Other programs
There are other programs for downloading YouTube videos as well, though they’re generally not as good as SnapDownloader. ClipGrab, for example, is a very simple program that lacks bulk downloading features; although it is free, there’s little reason to use it. Youtube-DL, on the other hand, is a very powerful application that can do everything SnapDownloader does and more. However, it is also extremely difficult to use.
Use a website
Savefrom
Savefrom, also known as Savefrom.net, is a website for downloading videos from YouTube, but also from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Soundcloud, and many other websites. Notably, it features a neat shortcut that makes the website a lot easier to use.
While you can go to their website and download any video from there, there is an easier way. Simply open the video that you want to download on YouTube and click on the address bar. Then, replace “www.” with “ss” and press Enter.
Example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHMYFlh9DeE -> https://ssyoutube.com/watch?v=sHMYFlh9DeE
This will open Savefrom page for your video right away, allowing you to download it. This is great for infrequent users, because you don’t even need to memorize the website’s name or add a bookmark. Just remember this shortcut: “ss” stands for “save”. One-time users don’t benefit from this much, but this feature still put it on the top of this list.
Y2Mate
Y2Mate is another great YouTube downloader website. In some ways it is even better than Savefrom. You can download videos in more resolutions, and it also provides the ability to download audio only, a feature missing from Savefrom. To use it, open the tab with your video in it and click on the address bar. This time, you will need to replace “youtube” in the link with “youtubepi”. Don’t forget to press Enter afterwards, of course.
Example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHMYFlh9DeE -> https://www.youtubepi.com/watch?v=sHMYFlh9DeE
This shortcut is a little less intuitive than Savefrom’s, but it’s worth remembering if you need the features Y2Mate provides. Of course, you can also simply visit its website and download videos this way.
SnapSave
SnapSave is a somewhat inferior option. Still, it is worth listing as an alternative, in case the former two websites are not available for you or if you’ve ran into some restrictions using them. Don’t think it’s terribly bad, though; all it’s really missing is the shortcut feature. Although very convenient, it is not necessary, and it can even be argued that it’s better than Savefrom because it offers more resolutions.
This means that to use SnapSave, you need to go to its website and paste the link there as instructed, then press Download. Then, select the resolution (you can also choose to download .mp3 or .ogg for a sound-only option) and click Download again.
YTB.rip
YTB.rip is easily the worst of the four websites we’ve listed. Do not use it unless you cannot access any of the websites above. It is only listed here as a last-resort option. It still does the job, but it doesn’t offer many resolutions and doesn’t have a shortcut feature either. It does let you download audio, but not in .mp3, so you might have to convert it later.
Here’s the link to its website. Even though it is very limited, it’s still an option.
Conclusion
The websites listed above provide an easy way to download YouTube videos in Safari. However, these websites are rather simple; they work well when all you want is to download a single video, but cannot do much beyond that.
This is why you should consider using a dedicated program instead. SnapDownloader is an excellent choice.