Unsurprisingly, iPads and iPhones have become the perfect travel companions. They are lightweight, portable, and have large, beautiful screens that make it easy to access all your important information while you’re on the go. Since you’re always on the move, you’d probably want to load up your device with videos and movies for some on-the-go entertainment.

Many people have a variety of videos on their PCs that they would love to view on their iPhones. Unfortunately, transferring media between the two devices is not as simple as you might think. In contrast to Android, the iPhone does not allow users to simply connect their phone to their PC’s USB port and drag and drop data files into its storage. In this blog, we will share with you the most efficient ways of adding videos to your iPhone.

1. Using iTunes

apple-itunes vector logo

The easiest way to get videos onto your iPhone is through iTunes. You can sync the video files directly from your computer to your iPhone or copy them to the device manually. Apple’s iTunes is a popular way to transfer photos, music, and videos to your iPhone. After all, it is an Apple product.

  1. Connect your iPhone to your PC using a lightning USB cable.
  2. Launch iTunes on your PC.
  3. Go to File > Add to Library or File > Add folder to the library. 
  4. Find the video you want and then tick Open. Your videos are not part of your iTunes library.
  5. Tick on iPhone > movies.
  6. Click the Sync Movies checkbox.
  7. Choose the video you just imported to your iTunes library and press Apply/Sync. Your videos are on your iPhone.

Why I am not a supporter of the iTunes method?

Apple specifically designed iTunes to be your all-in-one media library across all devices, but this can lead to some restrictions.

  • First, it forces you to import videos to your iTunes library; you can only transfer your favorite videos to your iPhone. It is a two-step process. 
  • iTunes on Windows is not good, and there are much better media library alternatives out there. 
  • Many video formats are unsupported by iTunes. 
  • iTunes also has potential syncing problems, like deleting media on one device affects other devices. 

2. Using Third-Party Software

EaseUS MobiMover

For Windows users, using a third-party iPhone file transfer application is the easiest and fastest method. This is one of the best methods for Mac users, even though the Airdrop method is also worth considering. There are many iPhone file transfer apps, but we recommend EaseUS MobiMover. When compared to other third-party apps, EaseUS MobiMover is easy. You simply need to drag and drop video files onto your iPhone like this:

As you can see, using a third-party application like EaseUS MobiMover is a bit easier than using iTunes. Here are the simple steps to take once you have downloaded and installed the application on your PC.

  1. Connect your iPhone to your PC, and under the Data Transfer menu, select Functions.
  2. Find and select the files you want to transfer to your iPhone.
  3. Confirm the data you want to copy over and tick the Start button.

The free version of EaseUS MobiMover is limited to 20 files per day. But, if you need unlimited transfers and the ability to have the software installed on up to 3 computers, you will need to use the pro version of EaseUS MobiMover.

However, WALTR Pro is also a good alternative. And the best thing about WALTR Pro is that it does many things behind the scenes. If the video is in an unsupported format, it converts the files on the fly. WALTR Pro also adds artwork to keep things organized.

3. Using Airdrop

airdrop

Most Mac users have the option to put their favorite videos on their iPhones using the excellent Airdrop feature. Here are the steps to do it:

  1. Open your Finder on your Mac.
  2. Locate Airdrop on the left sidebar. Alternatively, Select Go > Airdrop from the menu bar in the Finder. 
  3. Turn on Bluetooth if it is not already on.
  4. You should see your iPhone device as one of the nearby devices. Make sure your iPhone has Bluetooth and Wifi turned on. 
  5. Drag and drop your favorite videos to your iPhone.

Note:

Airdropped data files are automatically handled by an application on your iPhone that can open the file. If your video has a format that any of your iPhone applications cannot handle, you cannot transfer the video. Therefore, we recommend you download VLC for Mobile on your iPhone, which can basically all types of video formats. 

4. Using the Cloud

cloud

This useful method is to use a cloud service. There are many popular cloud services, such as Google Drive, Microsoft OneCloud, Dropbox, and Apple iCloud. However, this method is heavily limited by space and transfer speed constraints.

Regardless of which cloud service you select, the process is the same:

  1. Upload the video to the cloud by downloading the cloud service’s client on your PC. This may take a while.
  2. Use the corresponding Cloud service application to download the video you uploaded on your iPhone.

We would recommend Google Drive because it has an ample amount of storage space on the free tier. We would not suggest using Apple iCloud to host your favorite videos as its limited space, and its compatibility with Android and Windows are poor.

5. Capture Video Using your iPhone’s Camera

iphone camera

This is possibly the simplest but most important method. The result would not be good, but it will be fast if the video clip is reasonably short.

  1. Place the iPhone on a tripod or rest it carefully against a solid surface. 
  2. Cue up the video you need to capture on the computer screen. 
  3. Navigate to your camera application and swipe into the video section on the iPhone. 
  4. Adjust the exposure and focus of the image by clicking the screen, and then shortly afterward, hold your finger down on the screen of the iPhone until the yellow box pops up and a label says “AE/AF LOCK.”
  5. Hold your finger on the sun icon if the picture is too bright and drag it downwards until the image dims. 
  6. Press the “Record” button on your iPhone device and press the play on whatever device you are playing the video.
  7. Try to do this in a silent room without background noise to ensure decent sound quality.

Conclusion

iPhones are portable and have incredible screens, which makes them perfect for watching your favorite videos. Hopefully, our blog has helped you know how to put your favorite videos on your iPhone. Now, you can watch a movie from your iTunes collection while on vacation or binge through the latest TV show on your daily commute without worrying about carrying extra data over your cellular plan.