Getting around in Downie
Downie is a powerful application for downloading videos from all over the Internet, including YouTube. You can view sites with explicit support in Preferences.
Main Window
After opening Downie, you are presented with this main window. The main window in its initial state is empty and contains 2 major sections that are described below. Additionally, you are offered a menu bar icon which can be turned off in Preferences > General.
Drop Zone
The most obvious part is the drop zone (the part with the Downie icon) which allows you to drop links onto the main window. Using drag&drop to add downloads to Downie can be quite tedious, however. There are several ways that you can add downloads to Downie:
- Drag&drop a link from a browser (or any other app for that matter) onto Downie's main window or Dock icon.
- Use one of the browser extensions that are bundled with Downie. For more information on how to install them and how to use them, see help on Browser Extensions.
- In Downie, select File > Open URLs…. You can paste link (or multiple links) into the text area and let Downie work its magic.
- While the main window is active, press Command-V to load links that are in your clipboard.
After sending the link to Downie, it will start processing the link(s). See Processing Help for more information.
Status Bar
The lower part is a status bar, which can optionally be hidden from the View menu in the menu bar. In the middle, Downie displays statistics about downloads and on the right, it displays several buttons:
- Search and Top Downloads - Search for video on YouTube, Vimeo and others right from within the app. You can also view downloads that others are downloading.
- Clear Finished Downloads - Remove finished downloads with a single click.
- History - View content that you have previously downloaded.
- Support - You can always contact us, report an issue with downloading a video or request support for a new site. For more information see Reporting Issues.
Menu Bar Item
Downie 3 introduced a menu bar item that's displayed along with other utilities in the right part of your menu bar. You can optionally turn this off in Preferences > General. The menu bar item allows you to quickly interact with your downloads from any application you are currently using. You can also drag and drop links directly onto the menu bar icon.