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Preamble
Before I didn't download videos that much but this changed mainly due to the severe YouTube censorship- Google deletes not just videos but user accounts and it often happens that I reference to videos that are no longer available. In such cases I sometimes re-upload deleted videos with permission from the original uploaders. There is an overabundance of video downloaders and most of them use youtube-dl as back-end. I prefer to use a GUI than the mighty command-line tool directly so I have tested a variety of front-ends- some are abandoned, other do not work very well and many are not portable and as a result I once chose to use a commercial program (not portable) which in most cases works fine. Since I prefer free, open source and portable software I often test the new video downloaders I come upon. Some time ago I discovered another youtube-dl GUI- YDL-UI, which turned out to be a capable program but unfortunately it was not portable. However someone else had requested portable version (GitHub issue here) and 3 days ago (on 2018-11-27) the developer of YDL-UI published a new release (2.0.0) which came out with installer and portable versions. My way to thank the developer for releasing portable version of YDL-UI is to post a short review of the program here. I like YDL-UI- during my brief tests I did not encounter any problems- the program ran smoothly and it was able to download all the videos I added. I suppose that some users may enjoy this video downloader too.

Synopsis

A UI for the command-line video downloader "youtube-dl"

YDL-UI provides a simplified way to download videos using "youtube-dl", without the hassle of using the command-line. This is achieved by dynamically generating youtube-dl argument queries that can be run with a click of a button. YDL-UI is packaged with a release of youtube-dl and ffmpeg.

Features

• Basic and advanced mode;
• Drag & Drop video links;
• Download playlists;
• Choose video quality;
• Post processing (audio only);
• Download limit;
• Use proxy;
• Authentication;
• Logging;

Links

• Project
• Download
• License
• Wiki
• Supported Sites
• Issues
• Publisher
• Softpedia
• VideoHelp

Downloads
Direct download links for YDL-UI version 2.0.0 (released on 2018-11-27):

• Portable
• Installer

Images

YDL-UI version 2.0.0 - program window & menu bar (animated image):



YDL-UI version 2.0.0 - preferences (static image):



YDL-UI version 2.0.0 - add download - basic mode (static image):



YDL-UI version 2.0.0 - add download - advanced mode (animated image):



YDL-UI version 2.0.0 - program in action (animated image):



YDL-UI version 2.0.0 - context menu (static image):



YDL-UI version 2.0.0 - download log (static image):



Portability
Since version 2.0.0 there is a portable release of YDL-UI which saves the configuration files in program folder, in previous versions the configuration files were saved in AppData.

Instructions

• Download the portable archive (YDL-UI_vX.X.X_Portable.zip);
• Extract the archive to a folder of your choice;
• Run the executable (YDL-UI.exe);
• The download list (download-list.json) and program settings (ydl-ui.json) will be saved in program folder);

Requirements
YDL-UI requires .NET Framework 4.5 or higher and it should work under Windows 7 or higher (source).

License
YDL-UI is licensed under MIT License.

Note

• YDL-UI (as of version 2.0.0) is huge- 47.8 MB compressed, 105 MB uncompressed.
• YDL-UI comes bundled with youtube-dl and ffmpeg.
• YDL-UI is light- it uses about 13 MB of RAM (under Windows 8 x64).
• I do not know whether this is a bug but 'Check for Updates?' cannot be disabled from 'Preferences'- to disable update check on program start open ydl-ui.json file and change this line:
  

  Code: Select all

    "CheckForUpdates": true,

  to
  

  Code: Select all

    "CheckForUpdates": false,

• When I have time I may suggest some tiny enhancements.

Alternatives
A couple of programs with similar functionality:

• 3D Youtube Downloader
  • Website
  • The Portable Freeware - database
  • The Portable Freeware - forum
  • Softpedia
  • AlternativeTo
• Youtube Downloader HD
  • Website
  • The Portable Freeware - database
  • The Portable Freeware - forum
  • Softpedia - installer
  • Softpedia - portable
  • AlternativeTo

Details
File details for YDL-UI version 2.0.0 (released on 2018-11-27):

==

Portable version:
Name: YDL-UI_v2.0.0_Portable.zip
File Size: 50211841 Byte(s) (47.89 MB)
Modified Date: 2018-11-27 15:14
MD5: 79cd66d328f81d122d3c23d5f122c334
SHA1: 902bcd2dbbbccf9efe28d4e0abb20eb7111487eb
SHA256: 17efc86d5ce1c79ebba0567b855819e1cc61c2ce0442976db07fa76f9bae6fb8
SHA384: bf9853e8c00d68e983ca24df2f9e1c3bcda84f2986c6260105f2d0bbe10d27ba7ef76deae38275c6f7164c98b3b724d1
SHA512: cabea6b3fca7bc5baeb9cceb427b5cfddb363f7173aa5d221ae89aa38311aa88e0825f3736d0699ea965f8577bcd2bf5d43ca9bdf091fbb6e85a813d5deabcce

==

Installer version:
Name: YDL-UI_v2.0.0.zip
File Size: 25381083 Byte(s) (24.21 MB)
Modified Date: 2018-11-27 15:14
MD5: 8c60e9400cf66bcc7630db4f89cedf9d
SHA1: 0d59f47f15b2863acf29b568d7fb338e71057064
SHA256: 96f481e640adb35c4865d9a017aaca9f3de495d6a22e39dba85b55fc6d5eac28
SHA384: 7671f68096544f04498917bf85cc6df05de8f83b9e0c195b2565612ddef14289e33481ef21500244683c5f3357e000e0
SHA512: 2b63a65aec5d56100d5b9383d03aa8c182ba87d8a5cd5a2fdcab084d45f21f2a968af8262aaaad8f84f790413d530b1968b101ad0a8657941ebcfa0847f93cce

==

I use 4k Video Downloader almost exclusively. It meets all my needs and I thoroughly recommend it. Over the past week, I have had a problem with one particular file download. My favourite failed - so did every other Youtube downloader I tried including some commercial programs. So smaragdus contribution was opportune. The download I was trying worked perfectly. So YDL-UI becomes a useful backup for me.
I haven't given it a comprehensive test but in a quick trial it failed to pickup a playlist even though the feature list indicates otherwise. Perhaps it's just not that intuitive.
Thanks again!

YDL-UI at version 2.1.0, changes:

• Added "Check for Updates".
• Added tooltips. (#5)
• Added playlist range item editor.
• Removed border around download list.
• Reduced portable build filesize by removing embedded resources (youtube-dl & ffmpeg).
• Portable build now has "Portable" in the title.
• Fixed text contrast of selected downloads in the download list. (#6)
• Fixed "Add Download" dialog resizing. (#4)
• Fixed disabled option in preferences.

Screen:

YDL-UI version 2.1.0 - main window & context menu (static image):



In my brief test of version 2.1.0 I did not experience any problem.

@JohnW
You are always welcome. Currently I do not have much time for rather thorough tests. If you encounter problems you may report them (at GitHub issues page). In my opinion it is always better to have alternatives, especially in the department of video download managers- video sites change fast and what worked yesterday may not work today. I have had problems downloading certain videos similar to yours- there were cases when all the programs I tested failed. About 4k Video Downloader- I remember to have tested it long ago. I discarded it because of 2 reasons- the free version was adware and the program was not portable (as far as I can remember data and settings were saved in AppData)- if it was portable I would not mind to shed some money upon it especially back then when I didn't have so many alternatives.

YDL-UI at version 2.2.0, changes:

• Added download interface presets.
• Added "Processing" download status (when ffmpeg is running).
• Added filename template keyword library.
• Added more suggestions for filename template textbox.
• Improved settings interface.
• Bug fixes.

Screen:

YDL-UI version 2.2.0 - settings (animated image):



After update from version 2.1.0 to version 2.2.0 some settings were lost. Withing less than 2 weeks YDL-UI has improved a lot.

YDL-UI at version 2.3.0, changes:

• Added stop download option.
• Added setting to resume downloads on startup.
• Fixed add download window position when changing modes.
• Updated packaged youtube-dl version from 2018.11.23 to 2018.12.17

I had problems with post processing which resulted in this issue. The developer thinks that it is normal ffmpeg to use almost all CPU resources but I disagree. On my machine post processing does not work as well as I expect it to work. I do not recommend using post processing.

YDL-UI v2.6.3 released (changelog and download at https://github.com/Maxstupo/ydl-ui/releases).

YDL-UI v2.6.12 released (nov. 13, 2020)
- GitHub project page: https://github.com/Maxstupo/ydl-ui
- direct download portable: https://github.com/Maxstupo/ydl-ui/rele ... rtable.zip

Changelog:

• Added language: Polish
• Updated packaged youtube-dl to 2020.11.12
• Use youtube-dl instead of fetching directly from GitHub Releases when using Settings > Binaries > Update