Downie - The best video downloader for macOS

I just recently switched to Mac and while I was looking for alternative apps that I used on Windows and was able to find all that I needed, there was one app that I couldn't find and that was, a download manager that is able to grab any streaming video you are watching and download it. No I am not talking about these so called YouTube video downloaders which require you to manually copy/paste the URL into the app to initiate the download which by the way can be done through many sites online. I am talking about an easy solution like Internet Download Manager for Windows which shows you a download button for any video you are streaming from ANY site.





I kept searching in vain, installing various download managers which were either clunky or didn't have any integration with my Safari.

I then accidentally stumbled upon Downie and thought of giving it a try and wow!! Simply install it and enable the extension in Safari and you're good to go. You will get a download button next to the address bar which if you click whilst watching any streaming video will automatically start downloading it in whatever quality you have selected in the web browser when you played that video!

Furthermore, it has a companion app called Permute which I highly recommend you gran as well while purchasing Downie. What that does is, let's say you download a video in a non-standard format, let's say .ts , Permute seamlessly integrates with Downie so the moment the video you downloaded is complete, Downie will send it to Permute to covert it into a more widely playable format (ie. MP4) so it's a one click download + conversion and you're ready to watch that video you just downloaded!

Finally comes the support element, I contacted the developer explaining that everything is working fine except this one site that I use to watch Arabic Serials, it was not supported. Within 2 days, he added support for that site and I was notified via the in-app updater that there is an update and I saw that site that wasn't working for me as it has been added to the list of supported sites. That is superb customer service and I think this is one of the MUST-HAVE apps for anyone using a Mac especially for people who watch a lot of streaming videos as it is usually better to have the file saved locally to avoid any buffering/stuttering issues and/or to view it in your favorite video player like I use SVP (Smooth Video Project) which enables me to watch any video @60 FPS even if it was recorded @ 29 FPS or so to give me a buttery smooth video.

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