Version 9.3.5 is on its way.

[jcfrog]

Should improve the youtube situation. Still might get some detection issues, but:

• we introduce a "force reload" button. To use in last resort if videos are not detected (this will erase some cookies and cache).
  

• available right now for Firefox Beta.

• available for Edge

• in review for Chrome (~48 hours)

• in review for Firefox Stable (a few days)

[slchoong]

The Beta version 9.3.5 works for me. I am able to download YouTube videos in the 1080P format using Mozilla Firefox 136.0.2. I am login in YouTube. Thank you so much!

[widdi1977]

do you have a normal youtube without paid abo? since that problem with VDH I also have problem with advertising before video starts... it tries to start, but after 2sec the ad ends and I can watch the film, I wanted... I'm using the same FF version.... that's why I ask.

[anto]

I can confirm that this version 9.3.5 works on Firefox 128.8.0esr (64-bit) on Devuan GNU Linux for downloading videos from Youtube, with or without login into Youtube. But I have to always click on "force reload" button to detect the media on the tabs, otherwise the icon would still be greyed out.

[Zarelha]

This works for me BUT ... I lost my companion app! So it leaves a Watermark. I can do EITHER the regula version OR the Beta, but when I upload the Beta, it takes away my companion app. How do I get that back? Thanks.

[jcfrog]

you probably just need to revalidate your license key: https://github.com/aclap-dev/video-downloadhelper/wiki/V9-interface#validate-your-license-key

[PhyDog]

Working well for me now too! Thanks for your work and persistence!

[VDHelp]

I have this beta as well. It does seem to work well, and i can even get 1440p where I did not before.

One exception, though. In downloading one particular video, no matter the size or whatever, it plays in English on Youtube, but when I play the downloaded version, I get a French Dub that overlays the English audio track. I thought, perhaps, since this is a comedian that often uses "adult humor" and a lot of colorful language in his routines, that it might be that. But when I downloaded some of this comedians other videos in his History, they all came up with the correct English audio track. It's only this particular video... his most recent video of 11 hours ago. I haven't found this on any other download. Everything else works.

I'll send you the URL for this video privately, if you prefer. I'll also continue to download other videos and see if the problem re-occurs.

[jcfrog]

Sorry, this new language issue will be addressed but for the moment the efforts are on the detection and download issues.

[jay353535]

@VDHelp - Youtoube rolled out automated dubbing into other languages a couple months ago and it has created problems for download tools that can't recognize and split out the different audio streams to ensure you get the correct one.

jcfrog and team are working on creating a solution for it. I know it's possible as I've seen some download sites offer the different language options as part of the download process, so I'm confident they'll figure it out. In the meantime, this other issue cropped up that prevented downloading altogether, so they had to prioritize fixing this first.

I am looking forward to the audio fix too, as I have around a dozen videos bookmarked to download once it's fixed :)

[VDHelp]

As an update, I'm getting a lot of German Dubs, now. But I think it may have something to do with the source of the file. For example, the dubs seem to happen on videos that originate in the UK... (not all videos but some). I download videos from select UK channels daily. On some of the channels, I get the correct English (original) soundtrack. But on some, I get the German Dub. Sometimes, I'll get the correct original English from a channel where I'm getting primarily German Dubs, but that is rare. Anyway, hope this helps your analysis.

[GrampaWildWilly]

I do not work for VDH. I'm just another user.

This is not a new issue. You need to read #1707 carefully. That's not a recent thread. You can also predict when a given YouTube video will be likely to give you the wrong audio track. Read #1971 to learn how. I don't think the dev needs any further help analyzing this. He has acknowledged this is an issue. It's just not percolated to the top of the priority list yet. He is triaging other issues first. Eventually, we'll get a solution to this issue, we just don't know when. In the meantime, #1707 provides a workable way to get around the issue until it is solved.

When you are reading discussions in this GitHub forum (or any other GitHub forum, for that matter), be sure you click the indicators that say Show x previous replies & other links of that sort. GitHub thinks they're being kind by compressing discussions so they occupy less space on the page. They haven't thought it through that maybe they're hiding content that is most relevant to the discussion. Don't get caught out. Be sure you expand the entire discussion when you're reading it.

[Dogbert0]

This beta is working well. Thank you.

[douglyas]

Thank you. It is working now.

[radfaraf]

Working on Mac with firefox.

[nlkelly]

Thank you !

[maoriparliament]

Will this update fix the issues with users getting "Sadly we failed at downloading that specific media. We try to support as many websites as possible, so it would help a lot if you could report that error (it's anonymous!)" across websites other than YouTube?

[jcfrog]

no, sorry, the update is addressing specific youtube issues.

[maoriparliament]

When can we expect the issue I raised to be implemented in an update?

[philzulli]

Thank you!
Working well on Firefox except my License Key is gone and the watermark is displayed on the video.
I cannot access my License Key, can you help me retrieve my Keys for both Firefox and Chrome?

[philzulli]

I found mine but am leaving the comment here in case others are having the same issue.
Thanks again for such a great app and for always staying on top it!

[CatYoakum]

Beta version is working with YouTube in private and non-private, signed out and signed in. I'm able to select video quality too. :) Did there used to be an option to download only the video with no audio? I am only seeing the option to download video+audio or audio only in the selection menu, but I don't remember if previously we had the option of video only.
Thanks for all your hard work, @jcfrog 🥇

[azure440]

I just tried the new beta and it's working in all resolutions. Thanks so much to @jcfrog and the devs who stayed on the case and fixed this issue.

[jcfrog]

9.3.5.0 is available for Edge: https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/detail/video-downloadhelper/jmkaglaafmhbcpleggkmaliipiilhldn

[GrampaWildWilly]

I don't understand how YouTube works. I have noticed the &index= qualifier in URLs sometimes. Sometimes. I don't know why it appears sometimes & doesn't appear other times. When it appears, it seems to indicate that if you hit the play button in the player in the web page, it will begin playback at some offset into the video. I think the particular offset (minutes+seconds) depends on indexing the author of the video does when it's uploaded. I think. I'm guessing. Like I said, I don't understand YouTube. I'm just trying to fit an explanation to what I've observed. What I've observed is that when such a qualifier does appear in a URL, you can safely remove it & reload the page with the shortened URL. As a side effect, it seems that VDH doesn't generate an extraneous variant when you do remove &index= from the URL.

We have seen problems with other extraneous qualifiers in YouTube URLs. The basic format of YouTube URLs seems to be that the v= qualifier is all you need. If you see any qualifiers after the v= qualifier, try removing all of them. If the modified, shortened URL still loads the web page, then that means those other qualifiers were actually superfluous. But I'm not guaranteeing anything. You have to try it & see. Maybe it will work & maybe it won't. I suspect it's something you have to determine in each case.

[jay353535]

It's much simpler than that. Where a video starts is determined by the "&t=###" string in the URL or by the Youtube cookie in your browser that is designed to store where you last left off while watching a video in order to help you resume watching the video later.

Btw, if you hovered over the video on the homepage display of suggested videos, and it started playing it as a silent preview, and later you click to view the video, it will unfortunately start playing wherever you stopped previewing instead of starting right at the beginning.

That's the most likely reason, other than a URL with a "&t=###" string designed to start at a specific timestamp, that you're coming across videos you never viewed that aren't starting right at the beginning.

Hope that helps.

[Mattmjs]

That Billy English video is quite concerning in that it looks like either the video or audio has some DRM protection.
Yes I saw a discussion elsewhere on Github that they are testing rolling out DRM. Are they looking to go the nuclear option
where it's DRM site wide. This is bad news for everyone if this happens.

[jay353535]

If it is DRM, it's likely to remain specific to music videos. Still unfortunate.

[Mattmjs]

I hope that is the case, I don't want this to happen on user produced content.

[BrBorghi]

New beta 9.3.5.0 works well for me with youtube videos. No more limitation in the resolutions available. Videos easily detected
Firefox on macos, France without VPN

[jsmorada]

So far, it's working for me too in 1080p.

[victor1665]

beta works, but will not work for age restricted videos on youtube

[highlife66]

Beta WORKS! THX!

[trickmygeek]

Added beta to Firefox and it is working with youtube now.

[dirobesh]

Unfortunatly it still defaults to not english language

[OneRolf]

How are things for Firefox beta right now? For me it still does not work.
(Files recognized, but dl stays at 0%.)

Logged in to YT
W7 Professional, Service Pack 1
Firefox 115.22.0esr (up to date 3 apr 2025)
VDH 9.3.5.2 beta (no new updates found 3 apr 2025)
CoApp 2.0.20.0
Sweden
force detection used

Serveral links tried, with different dl choises.
Probably not any age restricteds.

I'm wondering if I have missed something...

[reddishlynx]

With the update to 9.3.5. it stopped detecting videos on the website which it could perfectly process in the previous version. Please advise how can I revert back to the previous version for Google Chrome?

[victor1665]

Still works for me, running windows 7 and firefox, just not on age restriction videos

…

On Thu, Apr 3, 2025, 6:37 AM OneRolf ***@***.***> wrote: How are things for Firefox beta right now? For me it still does not work. Logged in to YT W7 Professional, Service Pack 1 Firefox 115.22.0esr (up to date 3 apr 2025) VDH 9.3.5.2 beta (no new updates found 3 apr 2025) CoApp 2.0.20.0 Sweden force detection used Serveral links tried, with different dl choises. Probably not any age restricteds. I'm wondering if I have missed something... — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1872 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BRCPTKV5RPXH3SH5ZDPXHD32XU2TNAVCNFSM6AAAAABZW5GKZSVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTENZRGQYDGNQ> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: <aclap-dev/video-downloadhelper/repo-discussions/1872/comments/12714036@ github.com>

[OneRolf]

Hi. Does that mean that you are not logged in to yt?

[victor1665]

Most of the time I'm not logged in on yt, but only login on age restricted videos when I run into them, but videos that are not age restricted it will still detect, using beta version for firefox. But I also have not updated firefox esr, they want me too but I just updated firefox 2 weeks ago, and I get leery about this constant updates on firefox, like I never updated my windows for the same so called security updates. I myself saw no reason for it but also slowed down my computer.

…

On Thu, Apr 3, 2025, 6:50 AM OneRolf ***@***.***> wrote: Hi. Does that mean that you are not logged in to yt? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1872 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BRCPTKV6WPDOTKDJFW7M2S32XU4CDAVCNFSM6AAAAABZW5GKZSVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTENZRGQYTQOA> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: <aclap-dev/video-downloadhelper/repo-discussions/1872/comments/12714188@ github.com>

[OneRolf]

That gives me some hope that it's not whether I'm logged in or not.
I suppose I'd better go look myself in the mirror. If I can't see myself then I really have a problem... :-D

[GrampaWildWilly]

Well, I can't see you so that must mean you really have a terrible problem. 😉

[XaQute]

A follow-up on my experiences with Vdh beta:
Win 11 26100.3624
Firefox 137.0 (64-bit)
Vdh beta 9.3.5.2
VdhCoApp 2.0.19

Since my previous comments I followed the advice to try the Vdh beta.
After installing Vdh beta I actually had very little problems with videos to get detected/downloaded in the video quality I'm looking for. Vdh also offers other video qualities, by the way.
The videos I normally download are in English, so I'm not aware of audio language issues.

But now and again 'suddenly' after I wake up my computer. Video's aren't recognized on YT. None of them.
To resolve this sometimes it helps to refresh the page, shut down and restart Firefox and/or shut down and restart my computer. And then suddenly Vdh would work as expected again. This happened about twice in 3 weeks time.

But last Friday 4 april it was worse and all of the above did not help. I tried all kinds of combinations of logging into YT, not logging into YT, using/not using VPN, changing VPN international locations. A few times during these experiments Vdh beta recognized the video and offered a range of qualities/formats to download, but the downloads, which ever one I chose, would always fail with 'Error 1' straight after starting the download.

Also tried the 'force detection' button in the new interface (I normally use the legacy interface, and that doesn't have that button). Resulting in detecting a few formats. But download resulted in 'Error 1' too.

And then suddenly today 6 april I got it working again. But due to all the kind of different combinations in my experiments I'm not fully sure what actions made it happen.

Normally I do have a number of Firefox windows open at the same time, each with a number of tabs open.
One of my Firefox windows holds a tab with my calendar open. That is a google calendar, so for that I login with a google account. Yes, 'a' google account, since I have several.
In another window I'm playing YT music videos, For that I normally login with 'another' google account.
Now, I happened to stream some radio content in that window in another tab. As said I'm not sure, but when I closed the tabs that streamed and/or had been streaming radio. It seemed that after restarting Firefox the issues were gone and I could download again without issues.
Very odd, since I did stream audio before and did not render issues with it before. And still, I'm not sure this caused the issue.
I tried to reproduce all if it, but to no avail.

Some extra info, maybe it's relevant:
I put my computer to sleep and wake it up frequently, which entails I don't restart my computer for days or even a week.
The Vdh issues still have a feel of randomness to me: suddenly it doesn't work anymore, which could be caused by a YT change. But then suddenly, without updating Firefox and/or Vdh version it starts back working again, but unclear why. All my experimentation was cumbersome and it may have helped to resolve something. But absolutely not sure if that is the case.

[Dean-Dillon]

Just downloaded beta v9.3.5.2 on Firefox 137.0 64-bit on up-to-date Win 11. It worked on the one YouTube I tried it on, no-go on Amazon video from my Amazon account. Any suggestions?

[GrampaWildWilly]

I do not work for VDH. I'm just another user.

There are numerous discussions in this forum on the subject of DRM. You should read a few of them. Learn how to determine whether a particular video is protected by DRM. Here's proof Amazon Music uses DRM:

That means VDH will never work on Amazon Music. VDH has never, does not now, & will never download content protected by DRM. That would be illegal. Your only recourse would be to use a screen recorder. Do some web searches for those. That would be your only free recourse. I believe (I could be wrong but I don't care enough to find out) a higher tier of paid subscription to Amazon Music permits downloads.

[Dean-Dillon]

Thanx, @GrampaWildWilly - don't know why, but DRM never crossed my mind. I'm sure that's the case with the particular video I was trying to download for offline viewing (without downloading the whole Amazon app stuff).

I appreciate you stepping in to jog my brain back into gear. 🙏

[philzulli]

Thanks, no problems at this end, both my Firefox and Chrome Licenses are validated and it’s working great. Appreciated. From: jcfrog ***@***.***> Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2025 4:14 PM To: aclap-dev/video-downloadhelper ***@***.***> Cc: philzulli ***@***.***>; Comment ***@***.***> Subject: Re: [aclap-dev/video-downloadhelper] Version 9.3.5 is on its way. (Discussion #1872) you probably just need to revalidate your license key: https://github.com/aclap-dev/video-downloadhelper/wiki/V9-interface#validate-your-license-key — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1872 (reply in thread)> , or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BO3CIJLX3RRTLAL24OUDBWL2ZLAR3AVCNFSM6AAAAABZW5GKZSVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTEOBSGE4DOMI> . You are receiving this because you commented. <https://github.com/notifications/beacon/BO3CIJPVYLYEXLGAF2OVJLD2ZLAR3A5CNFSM6AAAAABZW5GKZSWGG33NNVSW45C7OR4XAZNRIRUXGY3VONZWS33OINXW23LFNZ2KUY3PNVWWK3TUL5UWJTQAYOSW6.gif> Message ID: ***@***.*** ***@***.***> >

[TEOL85]

Is there any new version that gets us Opus 48000 audio upgrades the detection itself has always been fine for me again since Beta anyway I just want the Opus sound at this point being the MKV version audio codec.

[GrampaWildWilly]

This sounds interesting. Can you provide some URLs of videos (or just audios) that have Opus 48000 audio tracks? How do you determine that something has an Opus 48000 audio track? Perhaps a couple of screenshots would clarify things a bit. But URLs would be nice. Not just screenshots of web pages but URLs so I wouldn't have to manually transcribe the URL out of the image. Something else that would be nice is punctuation. Like periods & question marks & such separating your sentences.

[walfaren]

youtube issue solved with me with new update without reload issue

[ntgarces]

when can we download the Firefox stable version?

[jcfrog]

Soon, still waiting for Mozilla

[jcfrog]

Good news! #1994

[philzulli]

Thanks! Appreciated.
Will it update automatically?

[GrampaWildWilly]

That depends on your browser settings, not anything to do with VDH. If your browser settings indicate automatic update for VDH -- or any other browser extension -- then the browser will update the extension. Browser. Note how many times I'm mentioning the browser. Updating browser extensions is a function of the browser, not the extension, VDH being just one example of a browser extension.

There is the issue of whether you are running a general availability version or a beta version. If you are running the most recent previous general availability version, the update will occur automatically to any new release of a general availability version. If you are running a beta version, automatic updates can occur only when there is an update to the beta version. Since this is an update to the general availability version, your beta version will not be updated, even if you tell your browser to update VDH.

You can switch channels between the general availability version & the beta version by simply installing the version from the other channel. You can do that at any time. That switches you from one channel to the other. Whichever channel you are in makes you eligible for automatic updates in that channel. That is subject, as I mention above, to your browser settings.

There were some reports a few years ago that VDH automatically updated while a download via VDH was in progress. This caused the download to immediately abort prematurely. The only recourse was to attempt the download again after the VDH update, which might be a problem for livestreams, for example. This has been true for both general availability & beta versions. As a result of this glitch, the standard advice has been to disable automatic updates, for both general availability & beta versions. We got an acknowledgement back when this issue was first reported that there might be something that can be done in VDH to prevent automatic updates during downloads. I have not seen any mention of this issue being dealt with. So I still run with automatic updates disabled no matter whether I'm running the general availability version or the beta. It would be nice to get an official update on this issue.