Is it uncomfortable to use youtube-dl in the terminal?Use these GUI applications
If you have been following us, you may already know that GitHub temporarily cancelled the youtube-dl project to comply with the request.
Considering that it is now restored and fully accessible, it is safe to say that it is not an illegal tool there.
This is a very useful command line tool that allows you to download videos from YouTube and some other websites. Using youtube-dl is not that complicated, but I know that using commands to perform such tasks is not a way everyone likes.
The good news is that there are some applications that provide a GUI front end for the youtube-dl tool.
Prerequisites for using the youtube-dl GUI application
Before trying some of the options mentioned below, you may need to install youtube-dl and FFmpeg Install on your system to be able to download/choose other formats to download.
You can follow the complete guide on setting up with ffmpeg and learn more about it.
installation youtube-dl, You can enter the following command in the Linux terminal:
sudo curl -L https://yt-dl.org/downloads/latest/youtube-dl -o /usr/local/bin/youtube-dlAfter downloading the latest version, just enter the following to make it executable and usable:
sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/youtube-dlYou can also follow Official installation instructions If you need another method to install it.
Youtube-dl GUI application
Most download managers on Linux also allow you to download videos from YouTube and other websites. However, the youtube-dl GUI application may have other options, such as only extracting audio or downloading videos in a specific resolution and video format.
Please note that the following list does not have a specific ranking order. You can choose which suits your requirements.
1. AllTube download
main feature:
- Web GUI
- Open source
- Self-hosting options
AllTube is an open source Web GUI, you can access https://alltubedownload.net/
If you choose to take advantage of this feature, you do not need to install youtube-dl or ffmpeg on your system. It provides a simple user interface, you only need to paste the URL of the video, and then proceed to select the preferred file format to download. You can also choose to deploy it on the server.
Please note that you cannot use this tool to extract the MP3 files of a video, it only works for videos.You can learn more about it through their website GitHub page.
2. youtube-dl GUI
main feature:
- Cross-platform
- Show estimated download size
- Provide audio and video download options
Useful cross-platform GUI application made by electron and node.js. You can easily download audio and video, as well as options for selecting various available file formats.
If needed, you can also download some channels or playlists. The estimated download size will definitely come in handy, especially if you want to download high-quality video files.
As mentioned earlier, it is also available for Windows and macOS. And, you will get an AppImage file for Linux in its Linux. GitHub version.
3. Video quality
main feature:
- Cross-platform
- Convert audio/video format
- Support multiple URLs
- Suitable for users who also want to use FFmpeg
If you want to download video or audio from YouTube and convert it to your favorite format, video quality can be a good choice.
To make it work, you need to install both youtube-dl and ffmpeg on your system. You can easily add multiple URLs to download, or you can set the output directory as needed.
You will also get some advanced settings to disable youtube-dl, change file preferences, and more convenient options.
It provides PPA for Ubuntu users and AppImage file for any other Linux distribution.Explore further in it Jet Tigerb page.
Additional explanation: Spring name video player
main feature:
- Play/stream YouTube videos
Haruna video player was originally its front end MPV. Even if you cannot use it to download YouTube videos, you can also watch/stream YouTube videos via youtube-dl.
You can learn more about it in our original article about video players.
wrap up
Even if you may find more youtube-dl GUIs on GitHub and other platforms, most of them do not work properly, eventually show multiple errors, or are no longer actively developed.
Tower tube Is one such option you can try, but it may not work properly. I’m in Pop! It was tested on _OS and Ubuntu MATE 20.04 (fresh install). Every time I try to download content, no matter what I do, it fails (even if youtube-dl and ffmpeg are installed in the system).
Therefore, my personal favorite seems to be the Web GUI (AllTube download) (It does not depend on any content installed on the system, it can also be self-hosted).
Let me know in the comments what works best for you and if you missed your favorite option.