What YouTube downloader are the kids using these days?
from muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works to selfhosted@lemmy.world on 14 Feb 03:33
https://sh.itjust.works/post/55304381

I had Pinchflat set up on my server and never got around to putting it back in after I nuked it. I remember organizing backed up videos in jellyfin was a mess I never quite got working as well as I’d like.

I see there’s a couple alternatives mentioned on the Pinchflat GitHub. What is everybody else using to accomplish this?

#selfhosted

threaded - newest

LadyMeow@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 14 Feb 03:40 next collapse

Yt-dlp is what I see mostly

PP_BOY_@lemmy.world on 14 Feb 03:42 next collapse

Yt-dlp is the way. J-Downloader is okay too if you need a good interface but dlp is just too damn powerful to not use

in_my_honest_opinion@piefed.social on 14 Feb 04:21 next collapse

Make sure you update often though. Youtube/Google/Alphabet are playing whackamole.

You can use yt-dlp -U to update if you are using the release binaries

If you installed with pip, simply re-run the same command that was used to install the program

https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp

FlexibleToast@lemmy.world on 14 Feb 05:02 next collapse

I put it in a container that has a build process every week.

SatyrSack@quokk.au on 14 Feb 05:39 next collapse

If you installed with pip, simply re-run the same command that was used to install the program

Simply running pip install yt-dlp doesn’t update though, right? You need to add an upgrade flag, so either:

  • pip install yt-dlp --upgrade
  • pip install yt-dlp -U

EDIT: Maybe I should actually read this documentation that I am commenting about. Their steps to initially install it with PIP mention to use the -U flag anyway. That flag is meant for updating, but it won’t make the package install wrong if used during initial installation of the package or anything, so no reason not to.

SexualPolytope@lemmy.sdf.org on 14 Feb 07:59 collapse

I just did uv tool install yt-dlp[default] --with mutagen. Updates are handled automatically.

ToTheGraveMyLove@sh.itjust.works on 14 Feb 06:13 collapse

Yup, don’t need anything else.

artyom@piefed.social on 14 Feb 03:53 next collapse

Parabolic

guynamedzero@piefed.zeromedia.vip on 14 Feb 04:15 next collapse

yt-dlp is great for cli, and if you want a web gui, you can run metube in docker

Korhaka@sopuli.xyz on 14 Feb 07:50 next collapse

If I wanted a web UI I would just make a script that ran yt-dlp $1 and then use php shell_exec(script URL);

markz@suppo.fi on 14 Feb 12:58 collapse

I don’t think docker is a good solution for people who need a gui

BigBolillo@mgtowlemmy.org on 14 Feb 04:19 next collapse

yt-dlp rules

SatyrSack@quokk.au on 14 Feb 04:22 next collapse

As others have already said, yt-dlp is absolutely the gold standard. It even works in Termux. As for a dedicated Android app, there are apps like Seal which are effectively just wrappers for yt-dlp. Then the open source YouTube clients like Tubular, which are primarily for browsing/watching videos, have a download button on every video.

shrek_is_love@lemmy.ml on 14 Feb 04:46 next collapse

Seal is my favorite app to demonstrate the power of installing apps outside of Google Play

SanctimoniousApe@lemmings.world on 14 Feb 14:29 collapse

Android users can use YTDLnis for a nice GUI FE. It’s also available for install from IzzyOnDroid.

roofuskit@lemmy.world on 14 Feb 04:39 next collapse

Metube is a nice UI with yt-dlp as a background that is updated regularly.

muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works on 14 Feb 04:51 next collapse

I’m not really looking to do this with apps since google is pretty close to the regime so anything good could be taken down at any time. I want something to copies it down and I pull in with my existing stack like Pinchflat did, but cleaner.

Part of this is I’m still on apple. I’m looking at fleeing, but certainly not to google. Until I finally get off my ass and get a Linux phone, let’s just assume this has to work from a webUI

SatyrSack@quokk.au on 14 Feb 05:56 next collapse

You’re painting yourself into a corner by avoiding degoogled Android operating systems. I guess my suggestion for you would probably have to be to install yt-dlp on your server, and then use an SSH app when you need to download a video. Maybe someone more familiar with Apple can offer a better suggestion.

muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works on 14 Feb 06:38 collapse

I was looking at a pixel running graphene this last upgrade cycle but google taking a swing a third party roms chased me back to apple for now.

artyom@piefed.social on 14 Feb 19:24 collapse

Ah yes, Apple is notorious for the freedom of app installations…

DarkSirrush@piefed.ca on 14 Feb 08:34 collapse

I have been using a docker container - ytdl-sub, which uses yt-dlp to download YouTube videos with metadata for jellyfin

pr3d@eviltoast.org on 14 Feb 09:02 collapse

thanks for mentioning ytdl-sub!

can it selectively download videos or does it auto download all videos of a subscription?

DarkSirrush@piefed.ca on 14 Feb 18:00 collapse

By default it auto downloads everything, but you can set rules and filters to avoid videos you don’t want.

You also have to explicitly download shorts, as they won’t download by default.

dan@upvote.au on 14 Feb 05:41 next collapse

On Android, I use ytdlnis, which is a wrapper around yt-dlp. You can “share” a video from to YouTube app to ytdlnis and it’ll add it to the download queue.

SatyrSack@quokk.au on 14 Feb 05:50 collapse

I always recommend Seal just because I can never remember the name of this app. Has anyone made use of both and has an opinion on which is better?

Vaggumon@lemmy.zip on 14 Feb 06:37 next collapse

Yt.dlp. I wrote a small pyrhon script to give me a gui. Works really well.

Buck@jlai.lu on 14 Feb 06:59 next collapse

I still use Pinchflat. It doesn’t exactly do as I like, but I’m mostly just downloading two channels, so it’s okay enough for me.

Gerald@discuss.tchncs.de on 14 Feb 07:09 next collapse

I use Tubular

wildcardology@lemmy.world on 14 Feb 07:33 next collapse

I use jdownloader2.

Paste a YouTube link and it will download the thumbnail, the video, a separate audio, and the transcript.

It will also download from a lot of video hosting sites if you know what I mean 😜

muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works on 14 Feb 16:35 collapse

Stacher already dines the one off things like that for me. I’m more looking at automated runs.

artyom@piefed.social on 14 Feb 19:22 collapse

I mean you can use Peertube for that. I use it that way.

Shimitar@downonthestreet.eu on 14 Feb 07:52 next collapse

TubeArchivist rules

herseycokguzelolacak@lemmy.ml on 14 Feb 08:37 next collapse

yt-dlp

RodgeGrabTheCat@sh.itjust.works on 14 Feb 09:44 next collapse

I’ve downloaded many videos with PipePipe on my Android.

helios@social.ggbox.fr on 14 Feb 10:32 next collapse

Most kids today don’t know how to use a computer, but old farts like me use yt-dlp.

TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.works on 14 Feb 10:33 next collapse

I use GUI wrappers for yt-dlp - Parabolic on Fedora GNOME and Seal on Android

404@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 14 Feb 11:51 next collapse

I use metube on the server and made mobile integration with Android using “HTTP Shortcuts” to easily submit links to metube via its API. Just a simple Android share click and it’s done.

bigb@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 14 Feb 13:53 next collapse

I use metube and Pinchflat.

Metube is great for one-off video downloads and works for many sites including social media. This comes in handy a lot when I want to send a short reel to friends without linking to Facebook, etc.

Pinchflat automatically downloads my favorites playlists and a couple other channels that I follow. These videos go into specific folders that are linked to Plex libraries.

Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyz on 14 Feb 14:01 next collapse

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters More Letters
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol, the Web
Plex Brand of media server package
SSH Secure Shell for remote terminal access

3 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 5 acronyms.

[Thread #93 for this comm, first seen 14th Feb 2026, 14:01] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

slaughterhouse@lemmy.zip on 14 Feb 20:13 collapse

Good bot.

AndrewZabar@lemmy.world on 14 Feb 17:42 next collapse

On Android I use Seal. Aside from an occasional hiccup it’s awesome and does a phenomenal job 99% of the time. If I ever can’t get one item to work and there’s no alternative, I use one of the ones on my Linux machine. I’ll post the name when I’m home and can check.

piwakawakas@lemmy.nz on 14 Feb 18:15 next collapse

Is there anything that works for Vimeo?

COASTER1921@lemmy.ml on 14 Feb 19:20 collapse

On Android Newpipe has the best UI in my opinion.