Save Twitter Videos on iPhone (Share Sheet & Shortcuts)

You're scrolling X on your phone and a clip you want to keep goes by. On a computer you'd figure something out, but on iPhone the options feel even thinner. There's no download button in the app, and long-pressing the video does nothing useful. iOS also refuses to let a random website write directly to your camera roll, which is a sensible security rule that happens to block the obvious path. Screen recording is the usual fallback, and it drags in the same problems it always does: a soft, cropped capture with your status bar along the top and a stray notification sliding across the good part.

You can get the real file into Photos in a few taps, and once it's set up you can do it with a single tap.

Short answer: in the X app, tap the share icon and choose Copy link, paste it into the downloader, save the MP4, then use the share sheet's Save Video to drop it into Photos.

Method 1 — Share sheet in Safari

This works on any iPhone with no setup, and it's the one to reach for if you only save a clip now and then.

1. In the X app, tap the share icon under the video and choose Copy link.
2. Open Safari and go to the downloader.
3. Tap the input box, tap Paste, and let it read the tweet.
4. Tap the quality you want, up to 1080p Full HD. Safari downloads the MP4.

If you'd rather land on a page built for this exact task, there's a dedicated iPhone downloader with the same box.

Save the MP4 to Photos

Downloading the file and getting it into your Photos app are two separate steps on iOS, which trips up a lot of people. After the download finishes:

1. Tap the download arrow in Safari's toolbar and tap the file to open it. If you can't find it, look in the Files app under Downloads.
2. Tap the share icon, then choose Save Video.

The clip lands in your Photos app, ready to edit, trim, or re-share. If Save Video is missing from the menu, the file may still be downloading, or it opened as a webpage instead of a video; back out and reopen it from the Files app.

Method 2 — An Apple Shortcut (one tap)

If you save clips often, spend five minutes building a Shortcut that hits the API and drops the video straight into Photos. After that it lives in your share sheet and runs in one tap from inside X.

Open the Shortcuts app and create a new shortcut with these actions:

1. Start with Get Clipboard to read a copied tweet link, or use Receive input from the share sheet so it accepts whatever you share into it.

2. Add a Text action and build the request URL:

   https://download-twitter-video.drummerduck.com/api/download?url=[the tweet URL]
   

3. Add Get Contents of URL and point it at that Text. The endpoint returns the MP4 directly, streamed as a file attachment.

4. Add Save to Photo Album and feed it the result of the previous step.

In the shortcut's settings, turn on Show in Share Sheet so it appears when you tap Share on a tweet. Because /api/download streams the raw MP4 with a proper filename, the Shortcut saves it without any extra conversion steps. The API reference covers the quality and n parameters if you want to pin a specific resolution or pick the second video in a multi-clip tweet, and the developers page has the rest.

Troubleshooting

Save Video doesn't appear. The share sheet only offers it once the file is a recognized video sitting locally. Open it from the Files app under Downloads first, then share from there.

The Shortcut saves a tiny broken file. Usually the tweet URL didn't make it into the Text action cleanly, so the API got a blank or malformed link. Check the clipboard actually held the full https://x.com/.../status/... address.

A private or protected account. Locked accounts keep their media behind a login, so neither the website nor the Shortcut can reach it. You'd need to save it while signed in as an approved follower.

Deleted or age-restricted tweets. A removed post takes its video with it, and some sensitive clips are gated behind a logged-in age check. Both can fail to extract from a link alone.

It downloaded but looks low quality. The uploader may have posted below 1080p. There's more on why in the 1080p guide.

Frequently asked questions

Why can't I just tap and hold the video?

X's player blocks the normal iOS save gesture, so long-press never shows a download option. The link plus downloader flow above is the way around it.

Where do downloaded videos go first?

Into Safari's Downloads, which live in the Files app. Use Save Video from the share sheet to move a clip into Photos.

Does this work on iPad?

Yes. The same Safari share-sheet flow and the Shortcut both work on iPadOS.

Can I download GIFs on iPhone?

Yes. They save as silent MP4s; see the GIF download guide. The general steps are in how to download a Twitter video, and Android users have their own guide.

Only download public content you have the right to use, and respect copyright.