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Download videos to your iPhone or iPad with Video Downloader
Download Web videos to watch for those unimaginable times when you are away from the Internet.
Going somewhere remote? Or perhaps you are looking for a little entertainment on the subway? If you are going to be without the Internet and would like Web videos to get you through such a difficult passage, Video Downloader can help. This universal app works on both the iPhone and iPad. The free version (Super Lite, it's called) lets you store up to 10 videos, while the $3.99 Pro version gives you an unlimited number. Here's a quick look at Video Downloader Super Lite on the iPad.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET)
The app opens in Browse mode, which is basically a specialized Web browser. Here, you can navigate to a Web video repository of your choosing and when you click to play a video, you'll be greeted by a small pop-up window with a download button.
Your downloaded videos are then listed in the Downloads view. By default, they are sorted alphabetically, but if you tap the Edit button in the upper-right corner, you can sort by date, size, type, and duration.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET)
Some videos import a thumbnail for this view, others don't. For the videos with a thumbnail, you can tap the thumbnail to add them to a playlist. Tap the green play button in the upper right corner to start a playlist. (When a video is queued up for a playlist, the blue arrow button to its right turns into a checkmark.) Swipe on a video on the Downloads list to delete it.
You can edit a video's title by tapping on the blue arrow button on the right. From this window, you can also add the video to your Camera Roll.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET)
I encountered the occasional error when downloading a file, and the app can't download videos from YouTube, putting a big hole at the center of your video searching. I did find success, however, with downloading "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" videos, as well as videos from Funny or Die, which is nice.
The free app serves banner ads. I don't know if the paid app gets rid of the ads because I didn't upgrade; with my 16GB iPad 2 littered with apps and photos and music, I don't have the room for more than a handful of videos anyway.
CBS Interactive does not encourage or condone the illegal duplication or distribution of copyrighted content.
