Untouched
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Ways to keep full-quality videos (and photos) on an iPhone, compared

Updated September 30, 2026

Short answer

If you have room for your whole library, Download and Keep Originals is the simplest way to keep every video playable on your iPhone. If you don’t (say a 150 GB library on a 256 GB phone), keep the few videos that matter outside the Photos library: export them to Files by hand for free, or use Untouched to keep them with every file included and a checksum to verify. For protection against losing the phone, add a copy on a computer or drive.

Side by side

Download and Keep OriginalsExport Unmodified Original to FilesCopy to a computer or driveUntouched
Originals on the iPhoneAll of themThe ones you exportNo, they’re on the other deviceThe ones you pick
Space on the iPhoneYour whole libraryThose itemsNoneThose items
Rest of the libraryNot optimizedStays optimizedStays optimizedStays optimized
Live Photo video, unedited originalYes, it’s your librarySplits into separate files; loses Live Photo touch-to-playDepends on the methodEvery file Photos holds for the item
Browsing & playback experienceNative Photos timelineCryptic filenames (IMG_4712.MOV); no continuous gallery swipe-to-playComputer playerInstant gallery playback with thumbnail scrub
Large batch export reliabilityNative background syncShareSheet easily freezes or cancels with no progress barCabled transferLive streaming transfer meter with speed & byte counts
Verify the copy later—NoOnly if you do it yourselfSHA-256, per item or all at once
Survives losing the phoneYes, via iCloudNoYesNo, copy the folder elsewhere too
EffortOne settingManual, each timeManual, each timePick in the photo picker
CostFreeFreeA drive or computerOne item free; $3.99/mo, $14.99/yr or $24.99 once

Download and Keep Originals

A built-in setting in Settings › [your name] › iCloud › Photos (in iOS 27, under iPhone Storage). Every original stays on the iPhone. It’s the right answer whenever your iPhone has room for your entire library, and it can’t be limited to certain items. More on the two settings.

Export Unmodified Original to Files

Select items in Photos, tap Share, then Export Unmodified Original, and save to a folder in On My iPhone. While free and built in, this manual workaround quickly falls apart in real-world use:

  • Silent freezes on multi-video downloads: Exporting several large 4K videos forces the system ShareSheet to download gigabytes with zero progress feedback. If iOS runs out of memory or a connection dips, the export silently cancels or freezes Photos entirely.
  • Cryptic filenames with no gallery browsing: Videos land in Files as raw files like IMG_4712.MOV. You lose the visual timeline: no large thumbnail scrubbing, no continuous swipe-to-play, and you have to tap blindly to guess which clip is which.
  • Live Photos lose interactive playback: Exporting splits Live Photos into separate HEIC and MOV files; they can no longer be played with a long press inside the Files app.
  • Hidden album lockout: Items in a Face ID-locked Hidden album fail to export until you globally disable the lock in Settings.

Copy to a computer or drive

The only option here that protects you against losing or breaking the phone. Use a method that keeps the original file: AirDrop with All Photos Data, a USB import, or Export Unmodified Original to a drive. Which methods keep the original.

Workarounds people use: Dropbox and video player apps

Ask this question on Reddit and the answers are general-purpose tools pressed into service, because Photos has no per-video option. (The iOS 18 “Keep Downloaded” option people sometimes point to is for iCloud Drive files in the Files app, not for Photos.)

  • Dropbox offline files. Upload the video to Dropbox, then mark it available offline on your iPhone. It works, but the video now lives in a second cloud as well, the free plan has 2 GB, and making whole folders available offline needs a paid plan.
  • Video player apps like Infuse or Plex. Import the file into the player’s own library and play it from there. They’re built for movies and TV shows: fine for a film you want on a flight, clumsy for the dozen family videos you picked out of your library, and Plex needs a media server running on a computer.
  • Moving the video to Files and deleting it from Photos. Frees the space, but the video is then no longer in iCloud Photos, so the only copy is on the phone.

All of these are the same idea: keep a copy outside the Photos library. Untouched is that idea built for this one job.

Untouched

Untouched is the workaround above done in one step. It keeps byte-for-byte copies of the videos and photos you choose, in its own folder on your iPhone, so they play instantly while the rest of your library stays optimized. You pick items in the familiar photo picker; nothing is removed from Photos, so your iCloud copy stays where it is. It copies every file Photos holds for an item (a Live Photo’s video, an edited item’s unedited original and edit data, both halves of RAW + JPEG), stores one readable folder per item in Files › On My iPhone › Untouched, records a SHA-256 checksum for every file, and never modifies your library. It also shows you, per item, whether the original in Photos is still on the device.

What it doesn’t do: free up space, back up to the cloud, or copy new photos automatically. Deleting the app deletes its folder.

A sensible setup

  1. Leave Optimize iPhone Storage on if your library doesn’t fit.
  2. Keep the handful of photos and videos you can’t afford to see reduced outside the library, with Export to Files or Untouched.
  3. Every so often, copy that folder to a computer or drive.

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