YouTubeDownloader (GUI)

YouTubeDownloader is a modern, cross-platform desktop app for downloading YouTube videos in the best available quality (video + audio merged).
It features a clean user interface, queue management, activity logs, and retry handling.
Executables for Windows, Linux, and macOS are published automatically via GitHub Releases.

Features

• Modern GUI with dark theme, queue view, activity log, and progress bar.
• Download best possible resolution (bestvideo+bestaudio merged with ffmpeg).
• Retries failed downloads up to 3 times with visible countdown logs.
• Queue displays video titles instead of raw URLs.
• Remove or clear queue items at any time.
• Animated progress bar with per-item status updates.
• Saves files into a downloads/ folder with video title and ID in the filename.
• Prebuilt executables for Windows, Linux, and macOS.
• Custom app logo (assets/logo.png) used in UI and as application icon.
• Open source, licensed under MIT.

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Quick Start

Windows / Linux / macOS (prebuilt binaries)

1. Download the latest release for your platform from the Releases page.
2. Extract (if .tar.gz) or place the executable in any folder.
3. Run the app:
   • Windows: Double-click YouTubeDownloader.exe
   • Linux/macOS:

     chmod +x YouTubeDownloader
     ./YouTubeDownloader

4. Paste one or more YouTube links into the input box.
5. Press Add, then choose Download All or Download Selected.
6. Downloads are saved into the downloads/ folder.

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For Developers

Requirements

• Python 3.9+ (tested with Python 3.11)
• yt-dlp
• PySide6
• ffmpeg (installed or bundled)

Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

Running from source

python main.py

Building executables (local)

1. Place ffmpeg (and optionally ffprobe) into an ffmpeg/ folder.
2. Run:

   pyinstaller --onefile --name "YouTubeDownloader.exe" --add-data "ffmpeg;ffmpeg" main.py

3. The executable will be in dist/.

Automated builds (GitHub Actions)

This repo includes a workflow that:

• Builds Windows, Linux, and macOS executables on tagged releases (v1.0.0, etc.).
• Downloads a fresh portable ffmpeg build for each OS at build time.
• Uploads all executables to the GitHub Release page.

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Notes & Limitations

• This tool is for personal use only. Make sure your usage complies with YouTube’s Terms of Service.
• Executables are unsigned; on Windows/macOS you may see a SmartScreen or Gatekeeper warning.
• Antivirus software may flag PyInstaller-built executables — this is a common false positive.
• Large playlists are not currently supported (single videos only).

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

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Credits

• yt-dlp — YouTube downloader library
• ffmpeg — video and audio processing
• PySide6 — Qt bindings for Python
• PyInstaller — packaging into standalone executables