Sierray2lb

Download a video to this iPhone for offline viewing

Quality

60fpsSmoother, bigger files
iPhone-compatibleH.264 MP4 up to 1080p, plays in the Files app

Split into parts

Cuts at keyframes without re-encoding. Handy for 8-hour videos.

Transcript

Saves the site's own captions in the video's original language as a .txt file (plus a timestamped copy). With Text only, a video without captions gives a small audio file (.m4a) instead, for the free Whisper notebook in your Google Drive (or an AI app) to turn into text.

Open directly in a-Shell instead

Engine in Google DriveRuns sierray2lb.py from your Drive folder (a-Shell bookmark "Sierray2lb"); videos still save to the phone

Size guide for an 8-hour video

QualityApprox. sizePlay in
Audio onlyabout 0.5 GBFiles
720p4 to 9 GBFiles
1080p6 to 16 GBFiles
4K (2160p)45 to 80 GBVLC, Infuse

Estimates. Merging briefly needs about twice the final size free. Download on Wi-Fi before you travel, and keep a-Shell open on screen until it says DONE.

First-time setup

1. Install a-Shell and the engine
  1. Install a-Shell (free) from the App Store.
  2. In a-Shell run pip install -U --pre "yt-dlp[default]"
  3. Then pip install -U yt-dlp-apple-webkit-jsi (YouTube helper)
  4. Engine in Google Drive (default): install the Google Drive app, then in a-Shell run pickFolder and choose Google Drive, My Drive, Sierray2lb. a-Shell bookmarks it as Sierray2lb (see README).
  5. Check with cd ~Sierray2lb then python3 sierray2lb.py --doctor
  6. Or keep it on the phone: put sierray2lb.py in ~/Documents/Sierray2lb/engine/ and switch "Engine in Google Drive" off.
2. Build the "Sierray2lb" Shortcut

Follow shortcut/SETUP.md. The Shortcut takes this page's request (or a link from the Share Sheet) and opens a-Shell to run the download.

3. Where the files go

Files app, On My iPhone, a-Shell, Sierray2lb. Above 1080p, open the file in VLC or Infuse.