What can I expect from the "Easy Video Downloader" extension?

This extension allows you to detect and download media and image sources from the current webpage and any iframes (child frames) on the page. Like FlashGot for Firefox, this extension can also connect to desktop download managers such as FlashGet and Internet Download Manager (IDM). The extension installs a single observer on the network to capture media (video and audio) and image sources. It displays the number of captured sources on the action button's badge. When you click the toolbar button, a download manager window opens with a list of all the captured sources. You can select the sources you want to download and then use either the default browser downloader or an external download manager to download files.

To download these resources using an external download manager, you will need to install a minimal native client by @AndyPortmen. This native client acts as a bridge between your browser and the operating system, allowing you to run OS-level commands. Instructions for installing the native client will be displayed the first time you use it.

How can I configure the extension to detect image sources in addition to media sources?

To extend the detection to include images, right-click the action button and check the "Track image resources" item. The extension updates the network observer to monitor image sources as well. If you refresh the current page, you will see that the number of detected resources now includes image sources. You can see stats for the number of resources of each type by hovering your mouse over the action button. Note that image detection may slow down your browser, as it stores too many resources for each tab. You may disable this feature when it is not needed. You can do so by using the right-click menu on the action button. When the image detection feature is enabled, the image links will not be selected in the download manager window by default. However, you can use the "Select all" button above each category to select all items in the category.

Will using this extension and its network observer impact the performance of my browser?

Installing an observer can affect your browser performance since all network requests (or selected ones) are passed through the observer. If you want to minimize the impact on your browsing experience, you can disable all observers from the right-click menu. When you need to detect a new type of media, you can enable the appropriate observer again. Keep in mind that installing the image observer may slow down your browser since normally there are many images on web pages. From a technical perspective, the following observers are installed for each resource type:

• Video: "media", "XMLHttpRequest", "other"
• Audio: "media", "XMLHttpRequest", "other"
• Image: "image", "XMLHttpRequest", "other"
• Download interrupts: "main_frame", "sub_frame", "other", "object", "XMLHttpRequest"

Note that this extension only installs a single observer that handles all of these resource types. When you enable or disable a resource, the old observer is uninstalled and replaced with a new one. If none of the resources are selected, there will be no observer!

What does the "Interrupt the built-in downloader" option in the right-click menu on the toolbar button do?

The "Interrupt the built-in downloader" option allows you to download a resource from a website that does not allow you to access the link directly. When this option is selected, the extension will prevent the browser's built-in download manager from starting and instead displays a download dialog similar to Firefox's download manager. You can either copy the link or download the file using the internal or an external download manager from this dialog. This feature is not yet supported on the manifest v3 version.

How can I use an external download manager that is not listed in the extension's download dialog?

At the moment, it is not possible to add a new download manager to the list. However, you can edit the path and arguments for a supported download manager to match those of your external download manager. For example, you can select GNU Wget and change the path and arguments to those of your desired download manager, then press the save button. Alternatively, you can use the "copy to clipboard" button and set your external download manager to monitor the clipboard for changes. Many external download managers support this feature.

What keywords are supported when sending a download job to an external download manager?

Basically all the keywords that are supported by Andy's External Application Button is supported in this extension as well. Here is the list:

• [HREF]: Full URL of the resource
• [HOSTNAME]: Extracted hostname from the resource (e.g. new URL([HREF]).hostname)
• [PATHNAME]: Extracted pathname from the resource (e.g. new URL([HREF]).pathname)
• [HASH]: Extracted hashs from the resource (e.g. new URL([HREF]).hash)
• [FILENAME]: Detected file-name. Filename detection is from either URL or the "Content-Disposition" header
• [REFERRER]: this is the top level URL or basically the page URL.
• [USERAGENT]: your browser's UserAgent string
• [PROMPT]: Using this keyword causes the browser to open a prompt window and ask for your input. You can use this for instance to define a name for the local file!

How does the extension determine the size of a file? Does it send an extra request to the server?

The extension uses the "Content-Length" header to determine the size of a file. The extension displays "--" in the field if this header is not present. You can use the "Calculate file-sizes" button to send a "HEAD" request and check for the "Content-Length" header. However, the extension does not send "GET" or "POST" requests, as these headers may invalidate the downloading link (some websites only allow a single "GET" or "POST" request before invalidating the current downloadable URL).

What do the color-coded boxes next to the track names indicate?

Use the color-coded boxes next to the track names to limit the selection to tracks with the same name. This is particularly useful for selecting segmented media files split into multiple segments to provide low latency when fetching the media source from the server (Live Streaming). To download segmented media files, read the FAQ below!

What does the "Renaming" button on the extension's interface do?

To use the renaming tool, select the items you want it to act on using the color-coded boxes. The renaming tool allows you to rename all of the selected items in a sequential manner. There are two keywords that you can use:

• "[#]" will be replaced with sequential numbers. You can use "[#=n]" to specify an offset, such that the first item will have the value n+1. The default offset is zero, so the numbering will start at 1.
• "[ext]" will be replaced with the file extension (the part after the final dot in the filename; if there is no dot, the entire filename is considered to be the extension).

Is it possible to use this extension to download segmented media files?

Yes, you can use this extension to download segmented media files. You need to allow the media to play through to the end so the observer can detect all the segments for you. Then, open the download manager window and scroll down. Select the color-coded box next to one segment of the track to select all of the segments. You can optionally use the renaming button to rename the selected items sequentially, as this can help you feed the files to a merging tool in the correct order. To merge the segments, use a tool such as "Media Converter and Muxer" by @InBasic. If the page contains many media files, you can use the "Clean" option in the right-click context menu to ask the extension to forget already detected media sources. This can help declutter the download manager window.

For M3U8 streams, try "Live Stream Downloader" extension by @chandler-stimson.