v2.12.0
Changes
fixed the display of most interface elements at high scale factors
the program no longer exits when the system is put to sleep
added new queue menu options: When finished... -> Shutdown / Hibernate / Sleep
fixed a crash when removing a queue item while getting data for it
YouTube Music playlists are now recognized as playlists
added mkv video container preference (implemented using --remux-video mkv)
added a new command to the Download folder menu: Choose folder and file name
fixed the clipped text of some interface elements with certain system languages
This version fixes most scaling issues, making the interface look (mostly) normal at all scale factors. Also, the text of interface elements should no longer clip when using certain system languages with non-latin script.
v2.11.1
Changes
stopped using --compat-options manifest-filesize-approx when yt-dlp version is not recent enough
the filesize column is now properly hidden when no file size is available (formats list)
columns in the formats list now have minimum widths to prevent clipping the header text
fixed the buggy output view when completed queue items are automatically removed
fixed a potential crash when updating the program via Settings->Updater
Just a small patch version with a few fixes.
v2.11.0
Changes
the formats list now automatically adjusts the widths of columns to fit their content
added an option to automatically remove completed queue items (Settings->Queuing)
the JSON viewer now shows the size of arrays
exact byte value for file sizes in the formats window is now optional (Settings->Interface)
the settings window now opens at the previously selected page
added opus preferred container option
drastically improved the interface lag/unresponsiveness when downloading a playlist
added an option to automatically add the URL from clipboard when the main window is activated
some minor fixes and improvements
This update adds a bunch of quality of life improvements, some of them suggested by users. The new container option also carries with it the behavior requested in issue #129. When an audio-only format is selected from the formats list, with opus codec and non-opus extension, the -x command line option is automatically passed to yt-dlp, causing it to use ffmpeg to copy the audio stream into an .opus file.
v2.10.0
Changes
approximate filesize can now be displayed for non-YouTube videos
the formats window now displays total bitrate (added new "tbr" column)
replaced system message boxes with custom ones that are theme-compliant
the queue is now automatically saved whenever items are added or removed
removed the obsolete "write settings file" button from the settings window
fixed a bug that would put "panel widget" in the custom arguments (issue #125)
This version fixes a nasty bug introduced in v2.7, that could overwrite the custom arguments with the text "panel widget" in certain conditions.
v2.9.0
Changes
the combo box scrollbar now correctly follows the dark color theme
selecting two formats in the formats window now updates the queue column values
fixed a crash when adding URL of website tv.nrk.no (webpage_url_domain was null)
error status due to failed download no longer limits available queue menu commands
added the ability to specify a custom folder for the FFmpeg files
bug fix: file sizes above 4,294,967,295 bytes were displayed as a lower value
minor fixes and improvements
This version makes pretty heavy use of message boxes for communicating with the user when choosing a FFmpeg folder that's different from the yt-dlp folder. These message boxes are system dialogs, much like the "Open file/folder" dialogs for example. But unlike the "Open file/folder" dialogs, the message boxes don't follow the system color theme, so they will always have a "light" theme even when the system color theme is "dark". I have not found a way to change that, and I wasn't able to find a straight-forward third-party replacement either, so it looks like I'll have to write my own. This isn't a high priority, but the next version will probably have theme-compliant custom message boxes.
v2.8.0
Changes
added option to download format 616 when it exists, regardless of codec or container preference
added option to not enforce a minimum width for the main window (Settings->Interface)
fixed queue items with the "stopped" status not starting when the previous item completes
when a download fails due to connection issues, its queue status is now set to "error"
added option to save queue items with "error" status to the settings file (Settings->Queuing)
added option to also extract "ffplay.exe" when updating ffmpeg (Settings->Updater)
the program now accepts a URL as argument (the arg is added to the queue without validation)
some minor fixes and improvements
It's been very slow going, but I'm still working on this project, and enough changes have accumulated that I can finally release another glorious version for the enjoyment of the people (you're welcome). It contains some fixes and additions requested by users (not as many as I'd like, but I'll continue to go through the list of issues and address as many as I can in
v2.7.0
Changes
emoji characters in the media title are now displayed correctly
new settings: preferred video codec and preferred audio codec
new context menu item for YouTube channel tabs: Treat as playlist
improved the updater page and added a new option to extract ytdlp-interface.exe only
when downloading a playlist, overall progress is indicated
implemented a workaround for the yt-dlp error "Incomplete data received" for YT playlists
the content of the "custom arguments" textbox is now saved unconditionally
fixed window centering and snapping on multi-monitor setups
it's now possible to write the settings file at any time (from the settings window)
fixed a crash that could happen when starting multiple downloads at the same time
made the formats window resizable
While working on this version, I explored the possibility of making the application "per-monitor DPI aware", meaning the interface would automatically adjust itself if the window is moved to a monitor with a different DPI. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be possible without using functions that are unsupported on Windows 7, and I need the program to run on Windows 7. It's technically possible to use the functions conditionally, only when running on Windows 10 or higher, but that's too much of a headache, so I dropped the idea for now.
Instead, I set the DPI awareness to "system", which means the system will resize the window and its content automatically when moved to a monitor with a different DPI, but the application will always use the DPI it had at startup (it will not know when the DPI changes). That means it will look normal when you move it to a monitor with a different DPI, but the DPI and resolution reported to it will be incorrect, so window centering and snapping will not work correctly on that monitor.
v2.6.0
Changes
improved the YouTube link detection (www. is no longer expected)
enabled multiselect mode for the queue listbox (can select all with Ctrl+A)
added a new option to the output context menu: Limited buffer size (on by default)
formats window: when failing to download and display thumbnail, placeholder is shown
the queue now only displays the filesize when both v+a formats have filesize data
fixed regression introduced in v2.4.0 that caused the taskbar progress to stop working
sections bug fix: leaving the second timepoint blank or zero was producing a validation error
DPI awareness is now indicated in the application manifest, which should fix issue #89
Bandcamp dicographies now use the special Bandcamp playlist output template
fixed the updater page sometimes not being initialized when shown
fixed a crash that could occur while downloading playlists
In addition to the changes listed above, I've also done extensive code reorganizing and refactoring, which makes it easier to maintain in the future. This was long overdue, but better late than never.
v2.5.0
Changes
new setting: snap windows to screen edges
added the ability to drag a link from a web browser and drop it onto the app window
Bandcamp albums containing a single song are now treated as playlists
Bandcamp favicons are now properly extracted
selecting a single format in the formats window updates the column values in the queue
added input validation to the "media sections" window
minor improvements
Added some of the requested features, and addressed some of the issues.
v2.4.1
Changes
fixed UNICODE characters missing from the output text
fixed --force-keyframes-at-cuts being added twice to the command line
fixed the progress bar going back and forth when downloading YouTube DASH formats
the Format note column always displays the resolution when a video format is present
some minor improvements
Development has slowed down significantly due to personal circ*mstances, so it's probably going to be small updates for a while.
v2.4.0
Changes
organized the settings window content into multiple pages
added explicit SponsorBlock support
added explicit proxy support
listbox checkboxes now scale with the system scale factor
fixed a bug in the GUI library that could break submenu selection
added a restriction for running multiple instances (see notes below)
The program still allows multiple instances to run, but only if they are instances of different copies of the program (that reside at different locations in the file system). For example, an instance of c:\dir\ytdlp-interface.exe can run concurrently with an instance of c:\folder\ytdlp-interface.exe. But if a second instance of c:\dir\ytdlp-interface.exe is started, it will just activate the window of the first instance and exit.
v2.3.1
Changes
fixed a crash when right-clicking on the output window after removing all queue items
fixed a crash when starting a queue item with two or more concurrent downloads
fixed: clicking to view yt-dlp changelog would open multiple links after changing release channel
new windows can no longer intersect the edges of the screen when centered relative to the main window
Fixed three bugs introduced by v2.3.0, and improved the way new windows are centered.
v2.3.0
Changes
made the Website column customizable: can display icon, text, both, or neither (hidden)
removed the Adjust window width option (the Media title column is adjusted instead)
windows with auto-height (like the formats window) can no longer overlap with the taskbar
the queue now properly auto-scrolls when dragging an item to the top/bot boundaries
yt-dlp can now be updated from the nightly release channel
the format selection window now allows multiple audio formats to be selected
added a context menu with Paste to the custom arguments textbox
added Copy command only to the output window context menu
added a tooltip to the "preferred container" settings
The Media title column is now fully flexible, allowing the window to shrink to its minimum size without a horizontal scrollbar ever appearing in the queue. In other words, whenever a previously hidden column is enabled, the Media title column shrinks to make room for it, and when the window width changes, the Media title column also changes accordingly. I think this is probably the best way to avoid having to manually resize the columns. And with the new ability to display only an icon in the Website column, or to hide that column altogether, it's now possible to have all or almost all columns enabled, and still have a reasonably small window.
v2.2.2
Changes
fixed a bug introduced in 2.2.1 (multiple queue items were sometimes removed when removing a single item)
Version 2.2.1 introduced this bug, in an effort to fix the bug introduced by 2.2.0. Whoops!
v2.2.1
Changes
fixed a crash that happened when removing a single queue item via the menu
Version 2.2.0 introduced this bug, and I didn't catch it because I remove items with the Delete key. Whoops!
v2.2.0
Changes
manual selection of formats is now available for all URLs
added a viewer for the JSON data obtained from yt-dlp (access in the queue menu)
added the options none and 4320 to the Preferred resolution setting
the program no longer uses -S when -f is used
added an Info button to the settings window (which explains why -S is used)
pressing the Delete key when the output is shown no longer removes a queue item
the usual minor improvements
When formats are manually chosen from the format list, the program communicates those choices to yt-dlp using the -f argument. Until now, the program also used -S to sort the formats according to user preferences (preferred resolution, etc). This was done with the assumption that when downloading a playlist with specific formats chosen (for example -f 299+140), and a video in that playlist didn't have those formats available, yt-dlp would fall back to the default behavior of choosing the best format according to its list of priorities (which -S influences). That turns out to have been a mistaken assumption on my part, since yt-dlp actually just gives an error and doesn't download the video. So from now on, the -S argument is no longer used when formats are explicitly chosen with -f.
v2.1.0
Changes
fixed the Format note column not displaying the video resolution for non-YouTube videos
fixed a crash that happended when adding URLs for website ok.ru (and possibly some others)
lowered the minimum window size by 100 pixels
selected playlist videos are now remembered between sessions
manual selection of formats is now available for Bandcamp URLs
Bandcamp album URLs are treated as playlists
many minor improvements
yt-dlp treats Bandcamp albums (https://<bandname>.bandcamp.com/album/<albumname>) the same as YouTube playlists, so now the interface reflects that. You can select which songs to download from the album, and the setting Put playlists in their own folders also applies (songs are put in <output folder>\artist\album\). The difference from YT playlists is that the setting Playlist indexing isn't used, and instead a special output template takes care of any indexing. You can find and edit this output template in the settings, when a Bandcamp album is selected in the queue.
v2.0
Changes
the version check at program startup is now optional
fixed the checkbox graphics in the playlist video selection window
fixed a bug that resulted in a yt-dlp error when certain output templates were used
it's now possible to select formats for a playlist (from those of the first video)
the formats that yt-dlp chooses are now highlighted in the format list
added four extra columns to the queue (which can be toggled in the queue menu)
added a context menu to the output window (removed the click and righ-click actions)
various minor fixes and improvements
This version adds four new columns to the queue, which display various info about the media. Format displays the format ID, Format note displays the resolution and/or audio quality, and Ext and Filesize are self-explanatory. The info displayed is valid at the time the URL is added to the queue, and does not update if you subsequently change something that affects it (for example if you select a different format). Be advised that the filesize reported for certain YouTube formats may not always be accurate (for example, I found that the filesize reported for format 299 is often much lower than the actual filesize).
Also, I've added a context menu to the output window, to eliminate the awkward and non-standard "click to copy" and "right-click to toggle keyword highlighting" (those two actions are now accessible through the menu).
v1.9.2
Changes
made code changes to support an x86 (32-bit) build
added support for ytdl-patched (ytdl-patched-red.exe)
checkbox and radio button graphics now scale properly with the Windows scale factor
improved error handling when checking GitHub for a new version (at startup)
From this version forward, a 32-bit build will be available (ytdlp-interface_x86.7z) alongside the 64-bit build (ytdlp-interface.7z).
Also, I've added support for ytdl-patched (https://github.com/ytdl-patched/ytdl-patched). To use ytdl-patched, just go to settings and select ytdl-patched-red.exe as the path to yt-dlp. It's probably easiest to put ytdl-patched-red.exe in the program folder, then you can easily switch between it and yt-dlp.exe.
v1.9.1
Changes
improved error handling for the JSON parser (display error instead of crashing)
YouTube clip URLs (www.youtube.com/clip/...) are now properly recognized
added a new item to the window menu: "Reset size and position"
new windows are now centered relative to the main window, not the screen
the window size saved between sessions now respects a change in the scale factor
bug fix: when exiting the program with the window minimized, offscreen coordinates were saved to the settings file
Just a bunch of window-related fixes, and YT clip URLs are now recognized as YT videos, enabling manual format selection (I only recently became aware that YouTube clips existed).
v1.9
Changes
added support for YT channels and channel tabs
added support for downloading sections (access in queue menu)
getting YT playlist data is a little faster now (using -J instead of -j)
removed the Add link button, pasting and adding a link is now one action
some minor fixes
Hovering the mouse cursor over the URL box now previews the content of the clipboard, so there's no longer a need for the pasting and the adding to be two distinct actions.
v1.8.2
Changes
YouTube scheduled videos no longer have an error status in the queue
bug fix: getting metadata for YT videos would fail when Prefer a higher framerate was unchecked in the settings
A bug fix a day keeps the errors away.
v1.8.1
Changes
fixed a bug introduced in v1.8.0 that caused a crash when downloading certain videos
fixed the clipping text in the "release notes" combo box
Just a couple of bug fixes.
v1.8.0
Changes
added the ability to select which videos to download from a YT playlist (access in queue menu)
improved the playlist indexing with optional zero padding (checkbox in settings)
added the option to put playlist videos in their own folder
improved the filename detection for the Open file queue menu command
output folders with Unicode characters in the path should work properly now
clicking a second time on the URL box now adds the pasted link to the queue
the size and position of the main window is now remembered (Ctrl+Num0 resets to default)
The zero padding for the filenames of playlist videos automatically adds the appropriate amount of zeroes, according to the size of the playlist (if it has tens of videos, up to one zero; if it has hundreds of videos, up to two zeroes, etc). Adding leading zeroes to the index number is important for the filenames to appear in proper order when viewed in a file manager (which sorts the filenames lexicographically).
Clicking a second time on the URL box (with the same text in the clipboard) now adds the pasted text (presumably a URL) to the queue, but only if the text has a single line (to preempt the possibility of the clipboard containing random non-URL text due to user error).
v1.7.1
Changes
bug fix: downloading media with a percent sign in the title would cause a crash
bug fix: double-clicking the queue to show the output could stop the selected item
queue items with the error status are now allowed to be started
Another patch version with a couple of bug fixes, and a minor change that removes a needless restriction.
v1.7.0
Changes
bug fix: the system color theme wasn't being detected on Windows 10
added Open folder and Open file commands to the queue menu
the download options can be shown/hidden via an expander/collapser button
added automatic filename indexing for YT playlists
added tooltips to more UI elements
The Open file command isn't available 100% of the time, because it's not always possible to know the name of the file associated with a queue item (the program never really knows, it just makes an educated guess). Also, the dark title bar should work now on Windows 10.
v1.6.6
Changes
bug fix: double-clicking on an empty queue would cause a crash
bug fix: removing a YT playlist from the queue while getting metadata would cause a crash
bug fix: the text of interface elements would clip when using Chinese language in Windows
Fixed the two crashes reported in issue #28. Also, I noticed in the video from a Chinese language user that the text of interface elements clips for some reason. It seems that when the Windows display language is Chinese, the system renders the text a little larger (even though it's the same font with the same properties), so I just increased the width of interface elements to compensate. It's regrettable that this has been an issue for so long (I wasn't aware of it), but it's finally fixed now.
v1.6.5
Changes
bug fix: the Custom arguments checkbox would be ignored in certain circ*mstances
bug fix: removing items from the queue could result in an incorrect status for the remaining items
Just continuing to provide fixes for any bugs I find, as I find them.
v1.6.4
Changes
fixed a crash that happened when certain YouTube videos were added to the queue
I'll give a technical explanation for this crash, for any who may want it.
When a URL is added to the queue, the program uses yt-dlp.exe to get metadata for the media that the URL points to. The data produced by yt-dlp is in JSON format, so the program parses that data and gets useful info from it (like the media title). In the cases when this crash happens, the data contains an unexpected line at the end: yt_dlp\jsinterp.py:346: FutureWarning: Possible nested set at position 3, which is what causes the crash (I couldn't be bothered to catch exceptions from the JSON parser).
That line looks like the result of some kind of bug or issue with yt-dlp, and there's nothing I can do to prevent it from appearing as far as I know, so this version simply removes anything that may exist after the last } character in the JSON text, before giving the text to the JSON parser.
v1.6.3
Changes
bug fix: root folders can now be used as output folders
bug fix: mobile YouTube URLs (m.youtube.com) are now properly recognized
Just another bugfix version.
v1.6.2
Changes
bug fix: getting the title of YouTube playlists would take a long time
Asking yt-dlp to get the title of YouTube playlists was also causing it to get info about every video in the playlist. Now, the appropriate argument is passed to yt-dlp, to only get the playlist title (--flat-playlist).
v1.6.1
Changes
moving queue items now causes them to start/stop according to their new position
queue items with the "error" status are no longer saved between sessions
bug fix: some livestream queue items would sometimes restart after being stopped
added the option to automatically start processing the queue when the program starts
This version fixes a few issues, and adds the option to automatically start processing the queue when the program starts (this can be used with Windows Task Scheduler to schedule downloads).
v1.6
Changes
added a queuing system
added a history of output folders, for easy selection
custom arguments always override program-supplied arguments
the output template is changeable in the settings
tooltips follow the color scheme
the Escape key can be used to close windows
fixed a crash occurring with the latest yt-dlp when getting format list
many small fixes and improvements
This version finally introduces a queuing system, which brings with it a significant redesign of the interface. There are no more "wizard-style" pages to navigate, instead everything is on one page, making the interface easier to use. Protip: double-clicking on the queue shows the output for the selected item, and double-clicking on the output shows the queue.
v1.5.1
Changes
fixed: Ctrl+V wouldn't work after pressing the "Back" button on the dl page
some minor improvements
Just a quick bugfix version (pasting media link with Ctrl+V wouldn't work immediately after pressing the "Back" button on the download page). Among the minor improvements is a "changelog" view to the release notes window (Settings -> Updater -> Release notes).
KNOWN ISSUE: currently, the "YT list of formats" feature doesn't work with the latest yt-dlp version (2022.10.04). This will be corrected in the next version.
v1.5.0
Changes
yt-dlp output: text in square brackets is highlighted for improved readability
can paste media link by pressing Ctrl+V (follow up with Enter to go to next page)
config file now saved in program folder when possible (needs write permission)
10 sets of custom arguments are now remembered, selectable from a drop-down list
yt-dlp and ffmpeg are now updatable from the interface (Settings -> Updater)
various minor improvements under the hood
This is a pretty big release, please open an issue if you find any bugs. I've done a reasonable amount of testing, but I may have missed something.
v1.4.1
Changes
fixed a malformed completion message
This version fixes a very minor but annoying bug. When selecting a single format from the YouTube format list, the program would append (format ) to the completion message (which looks like 100% of [size] in [time]). That was a vestigial feature that is completely removed now.
v1.4.0
Changes
fixed incorrect format auto-selection (issue #2)
proper support for downloading live streams
ability to add custom arguments to the command line
ability to adjust the contrast for the color themes
the usual minor improvements
ffmpeg 2022-03-22 Auto-Build
I have chosen not to include the latest version of yt-dlp in this release (yt-dlp 2022.03.08.1), because it seems to break the download rate limiting. If you wish to update yt-dlp to the latest version anyway, run it with the command line argument -U, or manually download the latest version from https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases
v1.3
Changes
added a dark color theme
added a self-updater
minor fixes and improvements
yt-dlp 2022.02.04
ffmpeg 2022-02-15 Auto-Build
The program now automatically checks if there is a new version on GitHub, and lets you know in the title bar if one is available. The self-updater (Update button in the settings window) downloads the archive of the new version to a folder for temporary files, and then unpacks it to overwrite the current version (the program then automatically restarts if successful).
v1.2
Changes
YouTube storyboard formats (introduced in yt-dlp 2021.12.01) are no longer listed
stopped using curl.exe
now allowing all types of links (including YouTube playlist URLs)
added a settings window
minor fixes and improvements
yt-dlp 2021.12.27
From this version forward, the interface is no longer limited to YouTube videos (now it accepts whatever URL you give it). To see which sites are supported by yt-dlp, check out this list:
https://docs.yt-dlp.org/en/latest/supportedsites.html
v1.1.0
Changes
dl progress output from yt-dlp is now displayed in a progress bar
now using a more reliable method of ending the yt-dlp process
all dl options are now saved to the settings file
new dl options: embed chapters, embed subtitles, embed thumbnail, file modification time = time of writing
minor fixes and improvements
From this version forward, yt-dlp.exe will also be distributed with the rest of the binaries, for user convenience.
v1.0.0
Initial commit
