Open Video Downloader

Open Video Downloader is an open-source desktop app that provides a graphical interface for downloading media from various websites. It acts as a wrapper for yt-dlp, allowing users to acquire videos, audio, subtitles, and metadata without using a command line interface. This tool is designed for users who want to archive content from hundreds of supported platforms beyond just YouTube.

The application is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Users install the software via platform specific installers or archives, such as .exe, .dmg, .AppImage, .deb, or .rpm files, depending on their operating system and hardware architecture. The installation process is straightforward and does not require any manual command-line setup or configuration of external dependencies to begin downloading media.

Key features

• Support for audio and video downloads with audio extraction options
• Automatic saving of available captions and video metadata
• Selection of resolution, frame rate, and output formats like MP4 or MKV
• Bulk downloading of entire playlists in one go
• Custom output locations and filename templates for organized storage
• Automatic queue management to balance multiple downloads
• Authentication support via browser cookies, basic auth, and passwords
• Automatic updates for both the application and the yt-dlp backend

The software is built with a Vue 3 frontend and a Rust backend powered by Tauri. This architecture enables the app to communicate with yt-dlp to fetch media information, process specific user options, and initiate the download process. It includes a theme system with light and dark modes that adapt to the system settings and provides system notifications to track download progress and error handling. The use of Tauri ensures the application remains lightweight while maintaining native performance across different desktop environments.

It is a utility for users who need the extensive scraping and downloading functionality of yt-dlp but prefer a dedicated desktop interface over a terminal.