Why There's No YouTube to MP3 App for iPhone (and What Works Instead)

Search the App Store for "YouTube to MP3" and you'll find nothing that does the job. Now and then an app gets in by calling itself a "file manager" or a "music player", but it's usually gone a few weeks later. People who use our YouTube to MP3 Converter on a computer often ask us for an iPhone or iPad version too. There isn't one, and here is why. Everything below applies to the iPad just as much as to the iPhone.

TL;DR: Apple doesn't allow apps that save music or video from YouTube, and YouTube's own terms don't allow it either. If you only listen inside YouTube, YouTube Premium lets you play songs offline in its app. If you want real music files in your iPhone's Music app, download them on a Mac or PC and move them to the iPhone. On a Mac, you set this up once and it runs by itself after that.

If you have a computer, that is the route we recommend: YouTube to MP3 Converter →

Why the App Store Has No Such App

Apple checks every app before it goes into the App Store, and its rules are clear on this point. Rule 5.2.3 of the App Store Review Guidelines says apps must not "save, convert, or download media from third-party sources (such as Apple Music, YouTube, SoundCloud, Vimeo, etc.) without explicit authorization from those sources."

YouTube never gives that permission. Its terms of service only allow downloading where YouTube itself shows a download button. So an app like this breaks two sets of rules at once, and when Apple finds one, it removes it. That's why the apps you may have heard about from a friend can no longer be found.

In the EU, iPhones can now install apps from other app stores too. That changes Apple's side of the story, but not YouTube's terms, so it doesn't make such apps any more reliable.

What About Converter Websites in Safari?

There are websites that promise to turn a YouTube link into an MP3 right in the browser. Sometimes they work. Often they come with fake "Download" buttons that lead to ads, pop-ups that ask you to allow notifications, and sudden jumps to other sites. The sites also change their addresses all the time, and copies with similar names appear. On a phone screen it's even harder to tell the real button from the ad. That's why we don't recommend them.

Option 1: YouTube Premium, If You Only Listen in YouTube

A YouTube Premium or YouTube Music Premium subscription lets you download songs and playlists in the YouTube Music app and listen without internet. It's the official way, and it works well on an iPhone.

There's a catch, though. You don't get music files. The songs stay inside the YouTube Music app, you can't move them to the Music app or to another device, and they stop playing if the subscription ends.

Option 2: Download on a Computer, Then Move It to the iPhone

If you'd like the songs to be yours, as files that play in the iPhone's own Music app, use a computer. A Mac or a Windows PC can download the audio from YouTube, and the iPhone takes it from there.

On a Mac, this is almost automatic. In YouTube to MP3 Converter, open Preferences, go to the Audio output tab and turn on Add to iTunes. Every song you download then goes straight into the Music app on your Mac. Our guide on sending YouTube music to the Music app shows where everything is. To get the songs onto the iPhone, connect it to the Mac, select it in the Finder sidebar, open the Music tab and sync.

On Windows, there's one extra step. Apple has replaced iTunes with a new Apple Music app, and unlike iTunes, it doesn't let other programs add songs to it. So you add the downloaded files to the Apple Music app yourself. Then you sync the iPhone with the Apple Devices app, which comes from Apple as well.

If you pay for Apple Music or iTunes Match, it's simpler still. With Sync Library turned on, the songs you add on your computer appear on your iPhone by themselves, without a cable.

You don't have to choose MP3 for the iPhone, by the way. The default format in YouTube to MP3, Original M4A, plays on the iPhone just as well and keeps the sound exactly as YouTube sent it. For more on quality, see why 320kbps from YouTube isn't better.

Option 3: iCloud Drive and the Files App

If syncing sounds like too much, there's an easier route. Save the downloaded songs into a folder in iCloud Drive on your computer. On the iPhone, open the Files app, find the folder, and tap a song to play it.

This is quick, but the songs don't become part of your music library. You won't see them in the Music app, and you can't make playlists of them. It suits a few songs better than a whole collection.

The Bottom Line

A YouTube to MP3 app for iPhone isn't coming, because both Apple and YouTube forbid it. For listening inside YouTube, Premium does the job. For songs of your own in the Music app, the reliable way is still a computer: download once, move the files to the iPhone, and they're there for good. Just make sure you only download what you have the right to.