Building Universal Downloader: One Tool for Videos From Anywhere
By Anuj Ror · · 3 min read
Every platform has its own downloader website, and most of them are full of pop-ups and fake buttons. I kept jumping between different sites just to save a video.
So I decided to build one tool that does it all: Universal Downloader.
The idea
Paste any link, pick a quality, and grab your video. That is it. No hunting for the right site for each platform, and no confusing pages.
Features
- Paste any link to download instantly
- Supports hundreds of platforms
- Multiple quality options, from HD to audio-only
- Fast, batched parallel downloads
- Clean and simple interface
How it works
Behind the simple screen is a multi-platform parsing engine. It reads the link, works out which platform it comes from, and finds the available video and audio streams.
Many platforms use adaptive bitrate streaming, where the video is split into many small pieces at different qualities. The downloader picks the quality you asked for and puts the pieces back together into one file. For audio-only, it extracts just the sound track.
Keeping it simple
The hardest part is not the downloading, it is hiding all that complexity. Every platform works a little differently and changes over time, but the user should only ever see one input box and one button.
One link, one click, your video.
Where it is today
Universal Downloader is in development. I am adding support for more platforms and making downloads faster, and I will keep sharing updates here.
Topics: video downloader, universal video downloader, YouTube video downloader, Instagram video downloader, HD video downloader, download video by link, online video downloader, Anuj Rorvideo downloader, Anuj Ror
