The number of sites where one can watch videos on an infinite number of subjects is increasing. We all know YouTube, DailyMotion, Vimeo and other big players, but to this we must add several social networks: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram… and there are still small sites that also host interesting content. Content which, at some point we may need to download.
First of all, let’s remember that in the videos on the net you have to be very careful with copyright. Downloading videos is not synonymous with pirating, we may need to download a video we posted on YouTube, one of our own tweet, or just royalty free content hosted on platforms that make downloads difficult. It is only with these uses in mind that from Applesfera we analyze Downie 4, an application that allows us to download videos from the internet in the easiest way.
Interface? What interface?
Downie 4 for Mac is, on the surface, a very, very simple application. Its interface is reduced to a window in which you can drag URLs and from which we can see the process of downloading the videos that we have added. Starting a video download is as easy as dragging a URL directly onto the app icon. Alternatively, we can copy the URL and touch the + button at the bottom left of the app or use the Safari extension with which, with one touch, we will tell the app that we want to download the content.
By default the the download starts automatically and always choosing the best quality that the video offers. Interesting here is the setting that allows us to force the download only in mp4 format. With this option, we can ask the app to ignore any format other than mp4 and download only those.
Thousands of sites, 4K YouTube support and subtitle downloads
Beyond ease of use, which is very important in an application like this, another fundamental characteristic is knowing from which websites we can download videos with this tool. The list has over 1000 sites, growing gradually, and is run by platforms like YouTube, You, Bilibili, Vimeo, Twitch and more.
In the case of YouTube, the ability to download videos in 4K format, which few applications offer for the video platform owned by Google. Something that, by the way, doesn’t seem to offer an online video download service.
The application too allows you to download video subtitles, as long as they are available. This is something that we can configure in the app for each of the supported download sites, allowing us to speed up downloads and use whatever configuration works best for us.
Overall Downie 4 is set as a benchmark when it comes to downloading videos from the net. An extremely simple app in appearance that hides great complexity so that we can download videos from over 1000 sites with just the push of a button.
We can download the app from the website of the developer, Charlie Monroe, who also created the famous Permute. The license costs $ 18.99 and the app is also available on Setapp.
