Downloading media

Direct download, cloud save, galleries, and mobile tips.

Two ways to save media

When an extraction finishes, you have two paths:

  • Direct download. Click Download on the status page and your browser pulls the file to your device. This is the default for anyone not signed in.
  • Cloud save. If you've set up a cloud destination and marked it as default, LiftMonkey routes the media there automatically as soon as the extraction completes.

Galleries: picking a specific item

Some posts contain multiple items — an Instagram carousel, a Twitter/X thread with several photos, a Facebook album. In those cases the status page shows a gallery picker. Each item has its own Download button, and the filename will reflect which item you chose.

Downloading a specific item doesn't re-run the extraction — LiftMonkey held onto the manifest from the first pass and streams the item you asked for.

YouTube: picking a quality

YouTube videos may be available at multiple resolutions. The status page shows a quality picker with the options that exist for that video — commonly 360p, 720p, 1080p, 1440p, and 4K (2160p).

360p and 720p usually deliver as a single progressive file (fast download, no extra wait). 1080p and above are muxed from separate video and audio streams, which adds 30 to 120 seconds of preparation time before the download starts — the page sits silent during that window, then the file lands.

Sharing a URL from another app (LlamaDrop)

LlamaDrop is the share-from-another-app entry point. Instead of copying a URL, switching to LiftMonkey, and pasting it, you can hand the URL off directly from the app you found it in.

The full setup walkthrough — one-tap install link, troubleshooting, and a build-it-yourself recipe — lives on the iOS Shortcut (LlamaDrop) page. The short version:

  1. Install the Send to LiftMonkey Shortcut once.
  2. In any app — Safari, Twitter/X, Photos, Messages — tap the system Share button.
  3. Pick Send to LiftMonkey from the share sheet.
  4. Safari opens to the status page and the download or cloud delivery runs as if you'd pasted the URL manually.

From any other app or automation:

Open https://liftmonkey.app/save?url=<url-encoded-link>. You need an active sign-in session in the same browser (or web view) for it to complete; if you aren't signed in, you'll be sent through sign-in and then back to the save page automatically.

On mobile: share sheet or Files app?

When you click Download on a phone, there are two delivery modes:

  • Share sheet. The browser opens the OS share menu so you can save to Photos, send to Messages, or pipe into another app. This is usually what you want for casual saves.
  • Direct file. The browser drops the file straight into Files / Downloads. Choose this if you want the raw file without going through a share menu.

Signed-in users: we remember your choice across devices. Signed-out users: the preference lives in your browser's local storage only.

Change the setting from the status page on any mobile download.

Why the download doesn't pop up immediately

LiftMonkey doesn't download the media inline with your paste — it queues a background job so the page stays responsive and we can retry on transient platform hiccups. The status page polls for updates and unlocks the Download button the moment the extraction completes. Most finish in under 10 seconds; a few can take up to a minute if a platform is slow.

File sizes, bandwidth, and where the bytes come from

When you click Download, the file is streamed directly from the platform's CDN to your device — it doesn't go through our servers. That keeps downloads fast and means even large videos aren't rate-limited by us.