Download to watch offline
Yonto Player on an Android phone or tablet, an iPhone or an iPad can download a film or an episode and play it later with no connection, on a flight or on bad hotel Wi-Fi. Downloading is part of Yonto Pro, and its 7-day trial includes it. The files stay on the device: nothing about a download is sent to us.
What you can download
Section titled “What you can download”- From every source whose videos come over the network: your own Jellyfin, Emby or Plex server, a WebDAV folder (for example on a NAS), a cloud drive, a source made by a plugin and a Custom HTTP source.
- A video the source gives as one file. On an Android phone or tablet, an iPhone or an iPad, a video that streams in pieces (an HLS playlist) downloads too, as one file; a live stream cannot be downloaded (below).
- On an Android phone or tablet, an iPhone or an iPad.
A Folder on this device, a Folder in Files and an SMB source have no Download button. A folder on the device or a USB drive is already on the device, so there is nothing to fetch. The Android TV app and the Mac app have no downloads, and neither does the website.
Yonto Player saves the file exactly as the source serves it, which from your own server, a WebDAV folder or a drive that sends the stored file is the original; some drives send a converted copy to a free account, and a source made by a plugin may serve a converted one too. There is no quality setting and no conversion: a file your device cannot play as the source serves it, it cannot play from a download either, even one your server converts when you stream it. Subtitle files kept beside the video come with it and play with it.
What a source streams decides it
Section titled “What a source streams decides it”Whether a title downloads is decided when you touch Download, by the stream its source gives for it. If it cannot be kept, “Couldn’t start the download” says why, and nothing starts:
- “This video streams in pieces, which can’t be downloaded yet.”: the source streams this video in short pieces rather than as one file, and Yonto Player cannot keep it. That is a DASH video, and an HLS video whose pieces are protected (SAMPLE-AES or DRM), are slices of one big file (byte ranges) or come with a separate audio track. Other HLS videos download on an Android phone or tablet, an iPhone or an iPad. Most sources made by a plugin stream this way, and so does a video a cloud drive converts for streaming, as some drives do on a free account. A download that started and then turned out to be pieces stops with the same sentence in Downloads.
- “A live stream can’t be downloaded.”: a live channel has no end to save.
- “A file in a share can’t be downloaded yet.”: a file a plugin opens from a share on a cloud drive plays, but does not download.
Your own Jellyfin, Emby or Plex server and a WebDAV folder give the video as one file, and so does a cloud drive that sends the file as it is stored.
Downloads need Pro
Section titled “Downloads need Pro”On Free, touching Download asks for Pro: “Downloading to watch offline needs Pro. What you’ve already downloaded keeps playing.” Get Pro opens Settings, Yonto Pro. On an Android phone or tablet that has not had a trial, the dialog also offers Start 7-day free trial, which includes downloads.
What you downloaded keeps playing without Pro. When a trial or a licence ends, nothing downloaded is removed, and it plays as before. A download that has not finished does not carry on without Pro: it says “Downloading needs Yonto Pro.” in Downloads, and with Pro on again, Retry carries on.
Download a film
Section titled “Download a film”Open the title’s page and touch the round Download button beside Watch list, under Play. The first time, Android 13 and later, and iPhone and iPad, ask to allow notifications, so Yonto Player can tell you when a download is ready or has failed; the download starts whatever you answer.
The button shows the state the download is in:
| What you see | State | Touch it to |
|---|---|---|
| An arrow | Not downloaded | Start the download |
| An empty ring | “Waiting to download” | Pause it |
| A ring that fills | “Downloading” | Pause it |
| A grey pause mark | “Download paused” | Resume it |
| A tick | “Downloaded” | Open Play downloaded copy and Remove download |
| A red mark | “Download failed” | Try again |
A series with a single episode works like a film.
A film that comes in more than one version (4K and 1080p, or a source’s different lines) asks which first. The sheet Choose a version lists each version with its picture, as 4K or HDR10, and its size, chooses the one Play plays, and shows what the download will take on its button. A version that is already downloaded, or on its way, can’t be chosen again. A film with a single version starts at once.
Download episodes
Section titled “Download episodes”A longer series shows its downloads on its episodes, in the corner of each one: a ring while it downloads, a dashed ring while it waits, a tick when it is on the device and a mark when it failed.
- Hold an episode to open its menu: Mark as watched and what the download can do in the state it is in.
- Touch the round Download button beside Watch list, under Play, to choose which episodes to download. With more than one season, each season’s name has a Download button too, which opens the same sheet at that season. The sheet lists every episode of the line you are on, under its season, with a box each and, as far as it is known, its size and whether it is watched or already downloaded:
- It begins with the Next 3 unwatched ticked, counted from the episode Resume plays.
- Next 3 unwatched and All unwatched tick those episodes again, and Select all and Select none tick or clear a season (a title of one season has them at the top).
- An episode that already has a download, finished or not, can’t be ticked.
- The button at the bottom says what it will start, as “Download 3 episodes · 1.4 GB”, and the sheet says how much room the device has and, with Wi-Fi only on, that it waits for Wi-Fi.
The size of each episode is asked from the source when the sheet opens, so the total can say “at least” while some are not known, and shows only the count until the first answers. A video that streams in pieces shows no size before it starts, because the size of its playlist says nothing about the video. Leaving the page does not stop the rest from starting.
Where your downloads are
Section titled “Where your downloads are”- Home has a Downloaded shelf after Continue playing. Touch its heading, or See all, to open Downloads.
- In Settings, System, Downloads has the settings below, and Downloaded titles opens the same list.
The Downloads list shows what is not finished first, then what is on the device, newest first, with a series as one row. What is still coming sits under Downloading, and what is paused or failed under Stopped. A row says what is true of it: a bar and “1.1 GB of 1.8 GB” while it downloads, “Waiting for Wi-Fi” or “Waiting to download”, “Paused”, or the sentence for why it failed, with Retry. Hold a row, or touch its three dots, for what it can do. Under the title, “Downloads · 4.2 GB · 41 GB free” says how much the downloads use and how much room is left.
Wi-Fi only, and when downloads run
Section titled “Wi-Fi only, and when downloads run”- Download on Wi-Fi only is on by default: “Mobile data is never used while this is on”. Turn it off under Settings, Downloads to let a download use mobile data. Anything waiting for Wi-Fi then starts at once.
- Two downloads run at a time, and the rest wait their turn.
- A download that loses the network waits, and carries on from where it stopped. If the connection drops while the network is allowed, Yonto Player tries again up to three times before it fails.
- On Android, downloads run while Yonto Player is open or its notification shows. If the device restarts or Android stops the app, open Yonto Player again and they carry on.
- On iPhone and iPad, iOS fetches the file for Yonto Player in stretches of up to 32 MB, so a download carries on while Yonto Player is in the background. If Yonto Player is closed, open it again and the download carries on from what is already saved; a stretch that was still on its way may be fetched again. If the server is switched off, the download keeps its progress and carries on when the server is back, instead of failing; pause or cancel it if you do not want to wait.
- On iPhone and iPad, Wi-Fi only also holds a download on a personal hotspot, which iOS treats as mobile data.
- A download needs 64 MB more than the file’s size free on the device before it starts; a video that streams in pieces has no size to check, so it needs 64 MB free.
Watch it offline
Section titled “Watch it offline”Play a downloaded title from its page, from the Downloaded shelf or from Continue playing, as you would any title. With no connection, a title’s page shows what you downloaded of it, under “Can’t reach this source. This is what you’ve downloaded of it.” Home keeps Downloaded at the top, and Continue playing keeps only what is downloaded, since nothing else can play.
A downloaded title keeps its place, its resume point and its History, the same as a streamed one. If the server could not be told how far you got, Yonto Player sends it once the device is online again.
Remove downloads
Section titled “Remove downloads”- Remove a download: touch its tick, or hold its row, and choose Remove download. It asks first, and says how much room it gives back.
- Cancel a download that has not finished: Cancel download, with no question.
- Remove all downloads, under Settings, Downloads, asks first, stops what is still downloading and removes the rest. If some cannot be removed it says “Some downloads could not be removed. Try again.”
Yonto Player never removes a download by itself, not even a watched one. Deleting a source removes its downloads with it, and its question says how many go and how much room they take. Clear cache keeps them.
Where the files are kept
Section titled “Where the files are kept”The files are in Yonto Player’s own storage on the device, which Android removes when the app is uninstalled or its data is cleared, and iOS removes when the app is deleted. On iPhone and iPad they are kept out of iCloud and computer backups, and iOS never empties that storage when it is short of room: a download stays until you remove it. They are not backed up and not synced to another device: a phone and a tablet each keep their own, and nothing reaches us (Privacy policy).
Messages you may see
Section titled “Messages you may see”Troubleshooting lists every message a download shows, with what to do.
To set up a source first, see your media server and NAS on an Android phone or tablet and your Emby server on an Android phone or tablet.
Yonto Player provides no content. Jellyfin, Plex and Emby are trademarks of their owners, and Yonto Player is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.