Want to knock the internet’s blocks off? Wayne Williams reveals how to beat unfair restrictions so you can download anything you want from the web and keep it forever
There’s so much great stuff available to download for free from the web that it’s very frustrating when you come across something you can’t actually save. This might be due to a geographical licensing barrier or because you’re not registered with the website, or there may simply be no download option available. Fortunately, there are ways to get around most (if not all) common download restrictions to grab anything you want from the web for free.
Over the following six pages, we explain how to download protected photos from websites for your own personal use, rip the audio from YouTube videos, save Snapchat images to keep after they disappear, download music from the free version of Spotify, capture Google maps to browse offline, and much more.
We also look at whether it’s worth paying for a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to get around certain download restrictions, including geographic and legal blocks.
MUSIC & VIDEO
Audio from YouTube videos
YouTube hosts millions of music videos, many of which are for songs you won’t find on other streaming services, such as Spotify and Deezer. If you’re more interested in the audio than the visuals, which is often the case when the latter consists solely of a static image, you can save the song in MP3 format to listen to anywhere, on any device. Copy the URL of the video from YouTube, and paste it in the box on YouTubemp3 (www.youtube-mp3.org). Click the Convert Video button, wait a few seconds, then click the Download link to save the music file to your hard drive to keep forever.
YouTube videos without the junk
You can also download videos from YouTube to watch offline in any media player or on your TV. In the past, we’ve recommended Freemake Video Downloader (www.freemake.com) for this task, but we’re annoyed with the amount of junk that’s now bundled with the software – some of which it’s hard to avoid installing. Instead, we’d suggest you use the brilliant 4K Video Downloader (bit.ly/4kvideo395), which is free to use, free of junk and packed with useful features. You can download videos in most popular formats, in HD and 4K quality, and not only from YouTube but also Facebook, Flickr and Vimeo. The program, which is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, also lets you grab embedded videos from web pages, include subtitles with your downloads and subscribe to YouTube channels and playlists. The developers ask you to donate towards the upkeep of 4K Video Downloader, but this is entirely optional.
Music to keep from Spotify
The Premium version of the popular music streaming service lets you save up to 3,330 songs to listen to offline on up to three different devices, which is pretty generous but still costs £9.99 per month. If you’re not a Premium subscriber but a budget-conscious free one, you can locate and save MP3 versions of songs using a clever online tool called Soundiiz (soundiiz.com). This converts your Spotify playlists to YouTube ones, so you can save the different songs to MP3 format using YouTubemp3 (see earlier tip in this section). You might not be able to grab every track, because the feature requires songs to be available on YouTube, but it’s a fairly simple process.
Alternatively, you can try a new program called Spotify Web Recorder (bit.ly/spotifyrecord395), which records songs from Spotify Web Player and saves them to your hard drive in MP3 format.
Save songs from SoundCloud
SoundCloud (soundcloud.com) has lots of great songs to stream, including tracks from well-known artists. Downloading music to listen to offline at your convenience is actually very easy, even if SoundClound doesn’t provide a dedicated Download button. All you need to do is click the Share button next to the song you want and copy its URL (making sure it’s set to play from the beginning). Next, go to SoundDrain (sounddrain.com), paste in the URL and click the Download button. Wait a few seconds, then right-click the Download button and save the song in MP3 format.
Download geo-restricted videos from YouTube
It’s easy to understand why certain videos aren’t available to watch in the UK – the rights holders probably have permission only for a certain territory, for example – but that doesn’t make it any less annoying. You can get around geographic restrictions by using a VPN, such as CyberGhost (www.cyberghostvpn.com), to fool the host website into thinking you’re based in another country, often the US. See 'SHOULD I PAY FOR A VPN?' for our views on whether it’s worth paying for a VPN.
Access banned download sites
The UK courts have banned access to a large number of websites that offer illegal access to copyrighted content. Blocked sites include The Pirate Bay, KickassTorrents and RapidMoviez. Getting around this ban is incredibly easy, however. In many cases, all you need to do is visit the secure HTTPS version of the site – yes, sticking an extra ‘S’ in the URL or using the browser extension HTTPS Everywhere (bit.ly/https395) might be enough to circumvent the ISP block (although it doesn’t seem to work with Sky broadband).
If that doesn’t do the trick, or you want a little extra anonymity when accessing such sites, use a VPN with your browser. TunnelBear (www.tunnelbear.com) is perfect for this. It’s very easy to use, and you can toggle its protection on and off as and when required. You get only 500MB of data for free each month, but paid-for plans offering unlimited data begin at a very reasonable $4.16 (£2.95) per month.
BBC iPlayer shows for more than 30 days
BBC iPlayer lets you download programmes to watch offline on your computer, phone or tablet, but limits how long you have to view them – usually up to 30 days, but sometimes less. This can be frustrating if you don’t get around to playing the download in time. Get iPlayer (bit.ly/iplayer395) has been available for years, but it still works well and remains the best way to download and save iPlayer content for watching whenever and wherever you like. You can use the software to download individual programmes or entire series, and the videos will never expire.
Save iPlayer videos using Get iPlayer
1 Download the Windows version of Get iPlayer from bit.ly/iplayer395, install it and launch the Web PRV Manager from the Start menu. This will open in a new browser window. Search for the name of the programme you want and a list of potential matches will appear, along with a description and channel.
2 To download an episode, select it and click the Record button. A new tab will open and the recording process will begin. Leave the page open and wait until a ‘Recording complete’ message appears at the bottom. This will take a while and you might see some error messages, but it’s safe to ignore them.
3 Switch back to the first tab and click on the Recordings tab. You should see your saved program here. To watch the downloaded file, either select the programme and click the Play button or open it directly in the iPlayer Recordings folder on your desktop. Files are recorded in DRM-free MP4 format.
Save your favourite Spotify songs using Soundiiz
1 To get started, go to the Soundiiz converter (soundiiz.com/converter) and click the button to ‘Connect to Spotify’. On the next page, click the button to ‘Log in to Spotify’ and enter your username and password when prompted. If you don’t have a Spotify account you can sign up for one from here.
2 Your playlists will appear in the Spotify tile. Now click the ‘Connect to YouTube’ button and log in or allow Soundiiz access to your account. Click the Share button next to a Spotify playlist and, in the window that opens, select YouTube as the destination platform. A new window will open. Click the Convert button.
3 The conversion may take several minutes as Soundiiz searches for matching tracks on YouTube. It will then show the result of the conversion, including details of any songs it couldn’t find. Click the playlist name in the YouTube tile to open it in YouTube. You’ll now be able to download each song using YouTubemp3.
PHOTOS
Protected photos from websites
Some websites disable the ability to save images, to prevent unauthorised reuse. Go to SmugMug (www.smugmug.com/browse), for example, and browse the popular photos on display. Right-click one you like, and instead of the usual menu allowing you to save the image, you might see a copyright message instead. You may be able to download a copy of the image by left-clicking it and, with the mouse button still held down, dragging and dropping the picture on your Desktop, but most sites, including SmugMug, now block this method too.
If you’re determined to save the image for your own personal use, you could take a screenshot of the picture, but if you’re using Chrome there’s another option. Right-click the page on which the photo appears and select Inspect. Click the Resources tab, then click the arrow to expand Frames and any sub-directories. Expand Images and find the largest version of the photo you want. Right-click it and choose ‘Open link in new tab’. You’ll then be able to right-click and save this version as usual, but don’t be tempted to reuse it for your own gain or you’ll be in breach of copyright and thrown to the lions.
Bing’s daily background images
Microsoft’s search engine displays an attractive full-screen image, which changes daily. If you want to use one as your Desktop wallpaper, you can usually do so by hovering your mouse over the Info button and clicking ‘Download today’s image’, but not every photo can be saved in this way. Although there are various downloaders you can use to grab these images, such as Bing Downloader (bing.codeplex.com), a much simpler solution is to go to the Bing Image Archive at bit.ly/bingimages395, select the region or regions you want (USA and UK, for example), then browse the calendar and download the photos you like.
Images from Snapchat
Snapchat photos are designed to display for only a matter of seconds, but you can save an image to keep by taking a screenshot. The process for doing this varies depending on your particular phone or tablet, but on an iOS device it just means pressing the power and Home buttons simultaneously, while in Android it’s the power and volume-down buttons. It’s worth noting, however, that sharing any screenshots could get you into trouble. According to Ed Vaizey, the UK culture minister, “Under UK copyright law, it would be unlawful for a Snapchat user to copy an image and make it available to the public without the consent of the image owner. The image owner would be able to sue anyone who does this for copyright infringement” (bit.ly/snapchatcopy395). Of course, many of the other download methods we’ve detailed in this article could potentially land you in hot water too, but use common sense and you’ll be fine.
Photos from Flickr
With rumours flying around that cash-strapped Yahoo might be about to sell off Flickr, now might be a good time to download any images you have stored on the image-sharing site. Apps such as Bulkr (clipyourphotos.com/bulkr) let you back up, browse and batch-download all your photos and videos on Flickr (as well as download photos and videos from other users, provided they are shared under a creative commons licence). You can also batch-download your images directly through Flickr by opening your Camera Roll (www.flickr.com/cameraroll) and selecting the photos you want. Click the Download arrow at the bottom, then click the ‘Download zip’ button.
Other people’s Facebook photos
If you can see someone’s photos in Facebook, you can download them. Open a photo, right-click it and you’ll be able to save it from the context menu. If you want to save multiple images in one go, you can save time by using the PhotoLive browser extension or bookmarklet (getphotolive.com). We’ve found that the tool can be a little hit and miss (sometimes only certain photos in an album appear), but it might work well for you.
BOOKS & MAPS
Websites as PDF ‘books’
It’s easy enough to save individual web pages as PDF files – there are plenty of tools you can use for this, including Save as PDF for Chrome (bit.ly/saveaspdf395), but you can also export an entire website to the popular format using PDFmyURL (pdfmyurl.com). You need to pay for a licence to use it (£19 a month) but a free trial is available. This works in the same way, but adds a watermark to PDFs.
In iOS 9, you can tap the Share button in Safari and choose to ‘Save PDF to iBooks’. Open iBooks and you’ll find the content waiting for you in the PDFs category.
Google Maps to your Desktop
You can save any Google Map to view offline on your phone or tablet. On Android or iOS, browse to the area you want to save, and type ok maps into the search box. Pan and zoom around to make sure the area you want is covered, and click the Save button.
On your Desktop, the process of downloading Google Maps is different but still straightforward. Load the map, right-click and select Print. Click the Print button and choose a PDF printer. You may need to install a PDF-printing program such as Bullzip PDF Printer (www.bullzip.com) if you don’t have one. Windows 10 users can select the native Microsoft Print to PDF option.
MOBILE APPS & CONTENT
Download YouTube videos
Google doesn’t like people being able to download videos from YouTube – and certainly not using an Android phone. However, you can download videos on your handset using TubeMate (tubemate.net). Naturally, you can’t get the app through Google Play so you’ll need to download the APK and sideload it using the steps below. There are lots of rogue versions of the app on the web, so it’s worth grabbing it from a more reputable source, such as Mobango (bit.ly/mobango395).
Apps that are ‘incompatible’ with your device
When you’re browsing for Android apps on Google Play, the store tells you which are compatible with your devices. If an app is deemed incompatible (because it’s only available to users in a certain country, or your device is running an unsupported version of Android, for example) you won’t be able to download it, even though it might work. If you can find the app elsewhere in APK format, you can sideload it. First, you’ll need to open Settings on your Android phone and look under Applications or Security for the Unknown Sources option, then tick it. Once you’ve done that, download the APK to your phone and follow the installation instructions.
Using a VPN such as TunnelBear (which has its own free Android app) may also allow you to bypass geographical restrictions on apps in the Play store.
Facebook videos on Android
There are various tricks for downloading Facebook videos to watch offline, but we’ve found that combining Advanced Download Manager (bit.ly/adman395) and Firefox (bit.ly/firefox395) works best for us. Install both apps, then access Facebook through Firefox (not the Facebook app). Tap a video to start it playing, then tap on the Android icon in the address bar. In the window that opens, select ADM Editor and tap OK. Give the video a name, and click Start (or Add) to save it.
SOFTWARE
Software that’s no longer available
If a program you like has been removed from the developer’s website or replaced with a newer version that’s simply not as good, you might be able to download an earlier copy from a software repository such as OldVersion (oldversion.com) or OldApps (oldapps .com). These sites have thousands of versions of hundreds of programs for Windows, Mac and Linux stretching right back in time, “because newer is not always better”. The software is helpfully organised into categories, such as Image Editing, Multimedia and Communication – just click the name of an application to see which versions are available, then pick the one you want.
Remember, though, that you could be putting your PC and personal info at risk if you use outdated security software, file-sharing tools, browsers and plug-ins such as Adobe Flash, so old releases of these (and anything else you’re not sure about) are best avoided.
Chrome extensions removed from the Web Store
Google closely monitors the Web Store, occasionally removing extensions it deems unacceptable for one reason or another – for example, because they break Google’s own restrictions, contain malware or pose a threat to Google’s business model. If you find a banned extension on another site, you can download and install this in Chrome by switching to Developer mode. To do this, first save the extension to your computer in CRX (Chrome extension) format, scan it with VirusTotal to make sure it’s safe, then open Chrome. Click the menu button in the top-right corner and select ‘More tools’, Extensions. Tick the ‘Developer mode’ option at the top and drag and drop the CRX file onto the extensions page. Confirm the installation and the extension will be ready to use.
SHOULD I PAY FOR A VPN?
While there are plenty of excellent VPNs and proxies available to use for free – including our personal favourites TunnelBear (www.tunnelbear.com) and CyberGhost (www.cyberghostvpn.com) – they often come with restrictions, such as download limits and reduced speeds, that can prove annoying and curb the benefits of the service. Paying for a VPN removes these limitations and delivers numerous benefits, including rapid download speeds (which should be on a par with those you enjoy outside the VPN), a greater choice of locations from which you can appear to be browsing and cross-platform support.
Whether or not you should pay for a VPN really depends on one thing – how much use you’ll get out of it. If you’re likely to use it only occasionally, the free edition will probably suffice. On the other hand, if you plan to do a lot of downloading (and streaming) over a VPN, paying to upgrade your service is a no brainer. You usually get offered a choice of plans – for example, CyberGhost offers Premium and Premium Plus accounts for £3.99 and £6.99 a month respectively, and allows you to use it on up to five devices simultaneously. If speed is an issue for you, check out VPNify (www.vpnify.me), which highlights the fastest VPNs in different regions.
One more factor to take into account is that certain services, including Hulu, Netflix and BBC iPlayer, have started to crack down on VPN use, so check whether the VPN you’re considering is likely to be affected by this.