Brave Playlist on iOS: How to Save Videos and What Happened to Offline Downloads
Brave Playlist on iOS is the built-in feature in Brave for iPhone and iPad that saves audio and video from web pages into a queue you can play later, in the background, from the lock screen or in picture-in-picture. It used to be the way to download videos in Brave on iOS for offline viewing, but Brave removed the "save for offline" option in 2026 after Apple required the change. Playlist now caches added media automatically instead.
This guide covers how to add media to Brave Playlist, how to play and manage it, which settings matter, and what the offline change means if you want to download videos in Brave on iOS.
What is Brave Playlist?
Brave Playlist is a free media queue inside the Brave browser for iOS that collects video and audio from websites in one place, so you can watch or listen without returning to each page. Brave launched it on iOS in May 2021 with Brave 1.25. According to Brave's Playlist page, it works on iPhone and iPad running iOS 15 or later.
Key traits of Brave Playlist:
- Media is added anonymously: Brave says cookies are not sent with the Playlist request.
- Playback continues in the background when you switch tabs, leave the page or minimize Brave.
- Playback can be controlled from the iOS lock screen and in picture-in-picture.
- Items are only accessible inside Brave; they cannot be exported or moved to another device.
- DRM-protected content and services such as Spotify are not supported.
Playlist is an iOS feature. Brave's Playlist help article lists desktop availability in the Nightly channel only, which is why a playlist saved on an iPhone does not sync to Brave on a computer.
How to add videos to Brave Playlist on iPhone and iPad
You add a video to Brave Playlist by tapping the Playlist icon in the address bar on a supported page, or by long-pressing the media and choosing "Add to Brave Playlist". YouTube is the main example Brave names, and many pages with embedded video or audio work too. Streaming services with DRM do not.
- Open Brave on your iPhone or iPad and go to a page with the video or audio you want to save, for example a YouTube video.
- Tap the Playlist icon that appears in the address bar, or tap the prompt Brave shows to add the media.
- Alternatively, press and hold the video or audio element and select "Add to Brave Playlist".
- To move the item to another playlist or remove it, long-press the Playlist icon in the address bar and pick "Change Playlist" or "Remove".
If a YouTube video does not add or will not play later, Brave suggested in 2026 using "Request Desktop Site" on the video page before adding it, and letting the video page load fully instead of adding from the home feed or search results.
How to open and play your Brave Playlist
You open Brave Playlist from the main menu: tap the menu button, then select Playlist. If Playlist is not listed under My Actions, tap "Show All..." to find it. Tap any item to start playback.
The Playlist player offers these controls:
- Play and pause, plus skip 15 seconds back or forward.
- Playback speed changes.
- A timer that stops playback after a set time.
- Picture-in-picture and full screen.
Background playback is the main reason many people use Playlist: audio keeps going when you lock the phone or open another app, and the lock screen shows the media controls.
Picture-in-picture keeps the video in a small floating window while you use other apps or the home screen.
Can you still download videos in Brave on iOS?
No, Brave on iOS no longer has a user-controlled option to download Playlist videos for offline viewing. In June 2026 Brave staff announced on the Brave Community forum that offline playback and saving videos for offline viewing were removed from Playlist on iOS, and that "this change was required by Apple in order for Brave to remain available on the App Store." Brave said it is appealing the decision.
What changed in practice:
- The offline checkmark and the buttons for removing offline data disappeared from Playlist in a mid-2026 update, according to forum users.
- Brave says Playlist "now aggressively caches added media" to stay compliant. Some users report that cached items still play in airplane mode, but Brave does not promise offline playback.
- Brave staff told European users that alternative app stores do not change this, because Apple controls the rule regardless of distribution.
Brave's own Playlist marketing page still describes offline playback, so treat that reference as outdated until Brave announces that the feature is back. If you need guaranteed offline video on an iPhone, use the download option offered by the service itself, for example the offline downloads included with a YouTube Premium subscription.
Brave Playlist settings worth changing
Brave Playlist settings live under Menu, Settings, Playlist. They control how media is added and played, and they are the first place to look when Playlist behaves differently from what you expect.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Add to Playlist prompt | Shows or hides the automatic prompt on pages with media |
| Autoplay | Plays the next item in the playlist automatically |
| Add to device or stream | Chooses whether added content is cached on the device or streamed; after the 2026 offline change it no longer guarantees offline playback |
| Resume where you left off | Continues an item from the last position |
| Sidebar position | Changes which side the playlist list appears on |
| Web compatibility (iPad) | Toggles the WebKit MediaSource API on iPad |
| Reset Playlist | Restores defaults and clears all added content |
Inside the player, open the side panel to manage items: long-press an entry and drag it to reorder, or tap Edit and select items to delete them. Use Reset Playlist only if you want to wipe everything, since it also clears cached media.
FAQ
Is Brave Playlist available on Android or desktop?
Brave Playlist is an iOS feature. Brave's help article lists desktop support in the Nightly channel only, and Brave's marketing page still says Android and desktop are coming.
Does Brave Playlist sync between iPhone and computer?
No. Playlist items stay inside Brave on the device where you added them and cannot be moved to another device.
Why does Brave Playlist not work with Netflix or Spotify?
Brave Playlist does not support DRM-protected content, and Brave names media delivery services such as Spotify as unsupported.
Does Brave Playlist cost anything?
No. Brave describes Playlist as a free feature of the Brave browser for iOS.
Related: turn on Brave's night mode for every website, open articles in Brave's reader mode automatically, uBlock Origin Lite for Safari on iPhone and iPad
Anti-Brave Trolls vs. Brave Trolls, get the popcorn!
>You can also control the playback from the iOS lockscreen, this is very useful for background playback.
Does this also jumps to next playlist entry automatically? Would be useful for Youtube, especially if you could easily copy/convert entire YT playlists into Brave playlist.
Looks like a nice feature but I’ll still have to stick with Safari because of content blockers. Last time I tried Brave on iOS it’s adblocking capabilities were pretty lackluster.
Funny how an advertising company pretending to be a browser is doing a better job than Firefox. At least Brave has a way to generate money and does not rely on a certain company.
Why do you care about what browser people are using? At least they are adding features and improving their browser unlike a certain company.
I will never trust Brave, an advertising company pretending to be a browser, and funded by VCs. Just look at the shit move to hijacking typed urls
https://aspenuwu.me/blog/dont-use-brave/
https://www.kevinmuldoon.com/do-not-use-brave-browser/
https://www.coinsnews.com/if-you-care-about-privacy-dont-use-brave
https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/8/21283769/brave-browser-affiliate-links-crypto-privacy-ceo-apology
https://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/news/brave-browser-allows-facebook-twitter-trackers-despite-promising-privacy-1991663
https://ramble.pw/f/privacy/2387/brave-browser-leaks-your-tor-onion-service-requests-through
No, it only shows you don’t even know what the “issue” was about, if you say “hijacking typed URLs”…. that shows your complete lack of information or judgement or intelligence since you are pretty much saying something that is not true.
Most people like you who hate Brave because they are Brave and they are trying to fix advertising and using tokens/Crypto, You are the kind of people who fill the gaps of an issue with lies and misinformation or just write opinions that don’t even matter in the real world like those links you sent.
I mean, you don’t have to trust Brave, you don’t even need to pay attention to Brave, why don’t you ignore them? why people like you always have to bring the “oh typed URLs” that happened almost a year ago and was fixed in 2 days, issues that happen all the time… I mean, are you going to tell me all the software you use never had an issue or a decision they had to revert? This typed URLs stuff wasn’t even a real issue, it was only haters having an excuse to hate more on Brave wile giving lies to gullible people to hate on Brave too, people who read headlines or opinions and forget about common sense and logic and what is one of the functions of the brain for.
But congratulations, you can keep nitpicking issues of Brave has had in the past to justify your comment. The real question should be:
Are you going to do the same with every other browser?
Because if you do, then I don’t know who you are going to trust, because then you will find out how Brave is not the most terrible company ever compared to the others, especially Mozilla.
But it is kind of funny how you think Brave is so evil, and you call them “advertising company” (just like other people) and I have never seen a Brave ad in my life, so they must be a terrible advertising company if they let me choose to see or not ads. I know people can get some money while seeing Brave ads, last time someone said $200 in a year, but I really don’t want to open that can of worms and bend my arm because of some money and do all it has to be done to use that money… sounds nice but nah, but I know some people don’t think like I do, and obsess over Brave ads and BATs, but it is their choice, I am not forced to, unlike google ads that are always shown in your face unless you use an adblocker, but then people will start screaming “adblockers evil” “stealing from people” but I never agreed to see ads, company like google only abuse them because they can.
Just look what Amazon is doing with twitch, they even got to the point of blocking people who have adblockers turned on to watch streams, they are trying to force them or “be forced to buy the twitch prime” and while people and streamers get couple peanuts Bits for watching ads, Amazon is getting tons of money from them in the name of “support”, I mean, people could just send them a check on the mail to support the streamer directly without anyone getting a “cut”, but oh well.
The point is, are you going to tell me Amazon and Google and other ad business are better compared to what Brave is trying to do? Brave ads don’t even grab your information and send it to Brave company for the ads to be generated and relevant to you. So it is weird when people say lame excuses how and why Brave is a terrible company to trust, of course, I expect people like you to bring stuff about Brendan Eich and whatever reason you can dislike him to justify your dislike for Brave, I have heard it all and most stuff people say it is dumb and makes no sense.
@Anti-Brave Troll
> https://aspenuwu.me/blog/dont-use-brave/
> https://www.kevinmuldoon.com/do-not-use-brave-browser/
> https://www.coinsnews.com/if-you-care-about-privacy-dont-use-brave
Scare crow opinion pieces, I won’t even bother at this point.
> https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/8/21283769/brave-browser-affiliate-links-crypto-privacy-ceo-apology
You are very creative, that literally never came up before:
https://www.ghacks.net/2020/12/25/how-to-hide-the-tips-icons-that-brave-places-on-some-sites-automatically-as-part-of-its-rewards-system/#comment-4481424
I guess you also screech in pain when literally every browser adds its own referral whenever you perform a web search, or is that kind of criticism hypocritically only limited to Brave? Also, completely unrelated to privacy.
> https://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/news/brave-browser-allows-facebook-twitter-trackers-despite-promising-privacy-1991663
Same old fake news never dies, they didn’t whitelist any trackers:
https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2019/02/12/privacy-browser-braves-user-concern-over-facebook-whitelist/
> https://ramble.pw/f/privacy/2387/brave-browser-leaks-your-tor-onion-service-requests-through
This got fixed already:
https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/13527
In summary:
– 3 x scare crow opinion pieces without substance
– 1 x case of common business practice that is 100% unrelated to user privacy
– 1 x fake news
– 1 x actual privacy issue that was an unintentional bug and got resolved very quickly
Very convincing indeed. Any other white nights of Deplatformingfox wishing to contribute?