User Guided Extraction

The User Guided Extraction (UGE) is one of the most powerful Downie features. It allows you to download videos that Downie would otherwise be unable to detect on its own. For example, it is capable to detect videos that require a lot of calculations for retrieving the link, or it's capable of detecting embedded videos on various sites.

Usually, when Downie is unable to extract the video on its own, it offers you to load the link in UGE. If it doesn't, you can always enter UGE by selecting Window > User-Guided Extraction… in the menu bar.

How to use it?

Enter the web page address into the address bar and press Return. Downie will load the page in its browser and will display potential downloads in the right column. To add a download into the download queue, press the + button on the right.

Tips

Sometimes, even UGE doesn't detect the media content automatically or you get a lot of results and you don't know which to choose. Here are several tips:

I've tried using the user-guided extraction, but I'm getting an error about a missing or blocked plugin. What's up with that?

If you are using Chrome as your primary browser, you are likely getting this message - Chrome uses an embedded version of Flash Player, so the Flash Player either isn't installed on your system at all, or an older version of it is installed - and the older versions get blocked remotely by Apple. To get Flash working in Downie, make sure the Flash Player plugin is installed system-wide and is up-to-date. To do so, open System Preferences and look for Flash Player preference pane. If it's not present, you need to go to Adobe's website and download and install Flash Player. If it is present, open it, go to the Updates tab and press the Check for Updates button. You will need to relaunch Downie after the installation or update.