Reply 3 | 31 March

tl;dr: Thank you and I have good news ... ALL your issues should be solved in the latest version (7.0) if you also update yt-dlp and install curl_cffi with this command: py -m pip install -U --pre "yt-dlp[default,curl-cffi]"

Fuller answer:

1. MP4 is now available! (Well, it's been available since the day after your review but now subtitles and SponsorBlock segments are also embedded in MP4 files.)

2. Please install curl_cffi and retest. It's likely to work magic. As I've said, I can't reproduce your problems with logins and CAPTCHAS but, reading the yt-dlp documentation, I really think that installing curl_cffi may solve your problems. If you look in the "Impersonation" section here https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp?tab=readme-ov-file#dependencies, you'll see why I think so.

Python’s default HTTP libraries have fingerprints that differ from real browsers. curl_cffi mimics browser TLS fingerprints (curl_cffi now supports Firefox impersonation in v0.10.0+), making requests appear more browser-like. It's recommended by the yt-dlp devs to be installed but is not installed as a default dependency when you run py -m pip install -U --pre "yt-dlp[default]"

I really hope this solves all your issues and I'm very grateful that you took the time to report it because I'm sure I wouldn't have introduced these things if you hadn't.

Reply 2 | 23 March

Thanks very much for reporting this. I've now added a checkbox to the popup.

"Use MP4 instead of MKV" should also give you what you want regarding MP4 files.

Reply 1 | 22 March

I'm really sorry to hear this. I had no idea about this and I can't reproduce it.

This add-on is certainly not anything malicious. I will now get onto it and try and come up with a solution to the Recaptcha/log-in and MP4 issues and hopefully come up with a fix.

14 March: You want HDR, you say. Well HDR is what you get. Updated. You're welcome.

13 March: Thanks for the kind review. You've made my day.

I've changed the simple.py file to remove the 1080p restriction.

Overwrite your exisiting simple.py and restart the server (download link should appear in a new tab when you update the extension but it's https://github.com/FarmLox/Simple/raw/main/simple.py). You can test it on a small video if you search for "4K ULtra HD | SAMSUNG UHD Demo׃ LED TV". It certainly works for me.

When I can find time, I'll add an option to select the maximum resolution. I only restricted it to 1080p because I didn't want people to get a nasty shock. But I'm very happy to change my mind seeing as that's what you want and you've taken the time to let me know.

Let me know if you have any more suggestions or requests (you could use the Issues part of that Github page, if it's more convenient). (I also plan to add the ability to download a timestamped section of the video.)

Thanks again. Hopefully I can get the elusive fifth star?!

Firstly, I want to thank you very much for the review because you going to the trouble helps me a lot - and other people too.

Everything you've said is true really but your issue comes down, I hope, simply to you already using port 8080. It was remiss of me not to consider that - and I've made a new version to address that scenario - but all your other comments are a little bit strong in my opinion.

"Kitchen sink" is clearly a figurative and subjective term. I've changed the description to make it clearer that you need to install the other programs (but I had already mentioned that; I wasn't hiding it). The point is that, once you have done the one-time install of the necessary background programs, the extension is *extremely* simple to use.

The whole tone of your review is very scathing, when all that's happened is I made an oversight with regard to the already-used port number.

On the other hand, I've spent an enormous amount of time and effort to make this free extension (and the "mile long" Python script) and I'm offering it here for free out of the kindness of my heart. I made it because it fills a gap for me (Stacher won't download most Reddit videos for me - and my extension does some other things like embedding synchronised lyrics/transcript in mp3 files) and it was a real labour of love. I thought it would only be reasonable to make it available to other people too.

So as I say, I really appreciate your input (genuinely) but please go easy on me! It's all been done in good faith. The extension works perfectly for me and others - and I hope, with this update, for you now too. The other programs that are required (but never need to be called manually; they just get called silently by the extension in the background when required) are all open-source. And I've made this update less than two days after your review, which isn't too bad, I feel, compared to many other programs where one submits issues and may have to wait a long time for a fix. (I actually would have got straight onto it as soon as I read your review a couple of hours after you posted it, but I was a bit crook, as they say in Australia.)

So thanks again and I hope this update will now work for you and everyone else that might be using port 8080 or whatever port already.

I suspect that you've given up on my extension (and its necessary programs) but I'd be enormously grateful if you could revisit it just long enough to test if this update works. Please do that and let me know, if you can spare the time. And who knows, maybe you might even find yourself using it if it works now.

All the best 🙏

Reply 4 | 21 March

Hey, thanks for the 5 stars and the updated review! I'm glad it's working for you now.

With the latest version, no-one should ever have to change the port manually; it will silently find an available one with some in-built wizardry.

Reply 3 | 28 Feb:

I really want to help you but I've just done a fresh install on a new machine and it works perfectly there too (just like on my machine).

It's a shame that my new little extension is sitting here with a lone 1-star review when it's working fine for me and I replied to your first comment within an hour – but anyway, the main thing is that I'd very much like to get it working for you too. However, without being able to reproduce your error, I can't think of what might be causing it.

So please keep updating your reply or, much better still, leave a message at github.com/FarmLox/Simple/issues.

I'm happy to make a temporary version with more verbose logging which would probably show what's happening. But you'll have to go over to that Github page so we can get it done. I'd really appreciate it if you can spare the time; you might be helping more people out - and helping me make sure the thing is robust.

Reply 2 | 27 Feb:
Thanks again for the update. Could you please create an 'issue' at github.com/FarmLox/Simple/issues because I can't reproduce what's happening. It would be easier to talk over there.

That video (if that's a YT ID) downloads fine for me:

🌍 URL: [YT]?v=uRrRR-96fp0
🎧 Audio only?: False
🔎 Getting filename/playlist info ...
🗃️ Downloading (filename may be temporarily sanitised):
　 You Can’t Build a Better $69 Gaming PC
🚀 Done 💥 2025-02-27 20:49:37,502
📺 You Can’t Build a Better $69 Gaming PC.mkv (183.70 MB)

Reply 1 | 27 Feb:
Thanks very much for reporting this. I hadn't checked the download links because I already have that file and it works fine for me. I've fixed the links now.