Vidnip for iPhone: your Mac downloads, your iPhone does the rest
iPhone camera
What you can do with it
- Send a link from any app. In Safari or any other app, tap Share and choose Vidnip. The link goes to your Mac, and the Mac finds the videos on that page.
- Confirm on the phone. The Mac never starts a phone-sent download on its own. The Tasks tab shows “The Mac found 1 video. Tap to confirm the download”, and that is where you pick the video and the quality.
- Follow and control the queue. Every download on the Mac, including the ones you started at the Mac itself, shows live progress, speed and time remaining. Pause, resume or cancel from the phone.
- Use the finished video three ways. Keep a copy on the phone, stream it, or play it on the Mac with the phone as the remote.
Three ways to use a finished video
| Download to iPhone | Play on iPhone (stream) | Play on Mac | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What happens | The file is copied over Wi‑Fi and checked with SHA‑256 before it joins your Library | Plays straight from the Mac, with seeking, speed control and full screen | The video opens on the Mac's screen and the phone becomes the remote |
| Away from home | Works, because the file is on the phone | Doesn't work. The Mac has to be on the same Wi‑Fi | Doesn't work |
| Space used on the phone | The whole file | A small temporary cache | None |
| Extras | Save to Photos, or share to Files | AirPlay to a TV. “Keep Offline on iPhone” turns what you are streaming into a local copy | Skip 15 seconds either way, volume, speed, subtitles, full screen |
Set it up in about two minutes
- On the Mac: open Vidnip (1.7.0 or later), click iPhone in the sidebar, turn on Allow iPhone to connect over the local network, then click Show Pairing Code.
- On the iPhone: install Vidnip from the App Store, open it and allow Local Network access. On the Mac tab your Mac appears under Nearby Macs. Tap it and type the 6‑digit pairing code. The code is valid for 5 minutes and is discarded after 5 wrong attempts.
- Done. From now on the phone connects by itself whenever both devices are on the same Wi‑Fi. To remove a phone, revoke it in the Mac's device list.
What it needs, and what it doesn't do
- A Mac running Vidnip for Mac 1.7.0 or later (macOS 14 or later, Apple Silicon), awake and on the same Wi‑Fi as the phone.
- An iPhone or iPad with iOS 17 or later.
- The phone follows the Mac's license. It can add tasks while the Mac still has free downloads left (the first 3 are free) or is licensed. The iPhone app itself is free, with no in‑app purchases.
- It doesn't download from websites on its own, and it doesn't work over the internet, only on your local network. If you share a link while the Mac is out of reach, the link is kept and sent the next time you open the app on the same network.
- Copying to the phone runs while the app is in the foreground. It pauses in the background and picks up where it left off.
- MKV and WebM don't play natively on iPhone. Use Convert to MP4 on Mac (lossless remux) first. It usually takes a few seconds.
- DRM‑protected streams can't be downloaded, the same as on the Mac.
Privacy
No account, no analytics, no ads, no third‑party SDKs. The app talks only to the Mac you paired, over TLS with the certificate pinned at pairing, and only inside your own Wi‑Fi. It never connects to our servers. On the App Store its privacy label reads “Data Not Collected”. Videos you copy to the phone stay in the app's own storage and are left out of iCloud backups. The details are in the privacy policy.
Guides
- Found a video on your iPhone? Ways to send the link to your Mac
- Downloaded a video on your Mac? Ways to watch it on your iPhone
- Help & support: pairing, troubleshooting, contact
Questions people ask
Is Vidnip for iPhone free?
Yes. It is free on the App Store and has no in‑app purchases. Vidnip for Mac gives you the first 3 downloads free and is a one‑time purchase after that.
Does it work without a Mac?
No. It is a companion app: the Mac detects and downloads the video, and the iPhone sends links, shows progress, and plays or receives the finished file.
Can it download videos straight to my iPhone?
Not from websites. The Mac downloads the video. When it is done, choose Download to iPhone and the finished file is copied to the phone over Wi‑Fi, where you can watch it offline or save it to Photos.
Do I need an account? Does anything go through the cloud?
No to both. You pair the phone with your own Mac using a 6‑digit code, and everything travels over an encrypted connection inside your local network. The app never connects to our servers.
Do both devices have to be on the same Wi‑Fi?
Yes. Sending links, following progress, streaming, copying to the phone and remote control all happen on the same Wi‑Fi. Videos you have already copied to the phone play anywhere.
Can I watch on a TV?
Yes. While streaming, tap the AirPlay button in the player. The TV has to be on the same Wi‑Fi as the iPhone.
Does it work on iPad?
Yes. It is a universal app for iPhone and iPad and needs iOS 17 or later.
Can I pair more than one Mac, or more than one iPhone?
Yes. One iPhone can be paired with several Macs and switch between them on the Tasks tab. A Mac can have several paired iPhones, and you can revoke any of them from the Mac's device list.
My iPhone can't find the Mac. What should I check?
Check that Vidnip for Mac is 1.7.0 or later with “Allow iPhone to connect over the local network” turned on, that both devices are on the same Wi‑Fi, and that Vidnip has Local Network permission in iOS Settings. Some routers block discovery with AP or client isolation; turn it off, or enter the Mac's address manually.
Which languages does the app support?
English, Simplified Chinese and Japanese.
Start on the Mac, finish on the phone
The iPhone app is free. Vidnip for Mac gives you the first 3 downloads free, then it is a one‑time purchase.
Get the iPhone appDownload Vidnip for Mac