Downloading

Downbit's window has one field, for links and searches. Give it a link and it shows what the link is — its picture, title and the qualities it comes in — before anything downloads. Press Return to download it.

  • Paste it in the field, or drop it anywhere on the window.
  • Copy it anywhere else: when you come back to Downbit, the link waits in the field, marked From your clipboard.
  • Choose File → Download Copied Link (⌘⇧V) to download what you copied without looking first.
  • From the page you're on, with a bookmarklet.

What you type that isn't a link searches your downloads instead.

Quality and format

Under the link, the preview lists the qualities the video comes in, as 1080p or 720p, each with its size, and Audio for the sound alone. The one already chosen is the best your settings allow; choose another to change it.

Save as beside them chooses the file's format: MP4 or M4A as they come, or MKV, MP3 and others, converted. See Formats.

You don't have to wait for the preview: press Return as soon as the link is in, and Downbit downloads it with your settings.

Just a part

Choose Trim in the preview and give a start and an end, as 1:30 to 2:45. Downbit keeps that part alone, cut at the key frame just before the start, without encoding the video again.

It downloads only what the part needs, so a minute from a two-hour video is quick to get.

Playlists and channels

A playlist's or a channel's link shows how many items it has; Download All downloads each of them. To pick some, turn on Settings → Formats → Which items of a playlist: Downbit then asks, with every item listed and Select all at the top.

Its preview also has Subscribe, which downloads the videos it gets from now on. See Subscriptions.

When a link doesn’t work

If Downbit finds no media at a link, it says so and offers Open in Browser. Play the video there and Downbit picks up what the page plays: see The browser.