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Media Downloader

A complete desktop app for your entire media workflow download and queue files, convert media, remove backgrounds, capture screenshots, and record your screen all in one place.

Free · MIT licensed · No account · No ads · Offline-first

Download latest release  |  Landing page

Screenshot

Image

Overview

Media Downloader combines core media tools and a desktop assistant into one workspace:

  • Media download from supported public URLs (video/audio)
  • Direct file download queue with resume/history
  • Video conversion (FFmpeg-based)
  • AI background removal
  • Screenshot capture
  • Screen recording
  • Anika — optional desktop assistant (break reminders, spell book, timer, personality & effects)

It is built for Windows and Linux, with one shared UI hub, tray actions, and keyboard shortcuts.

Main Features

  • One launcher window for all tools
  • Download List — IDM-style queue (add, pause, resume, replace broken links, history) with a compact icon toolbar
  • Shared managed FFmpeg workflow (auto-install/update)
  • Background remover: classic u2net by default; premium models (BiRefNet, BRIA) download only with your consent and show live progress
  • Screenshot and recording overlays with quick controls
  • Anika desktop assistant from Tools → Anika (separate process; no duplicate tray icon when launched from the hub)
  • Packaged apps auto-update from GitHub Releases (Windows installer); releases ship compiled binaries only (no source zip)
  • Configurable behavior via app_flags.json

Included Tools

Tool Purpose
Media Downloader Download video/audio from supported public sources
Download List Queue and manage direct file downloads
Video Converter Convert/remux with quality and size controls
BG Remover Remove image backgrounds and export PNG
YScreenshot Capture selected or full screen image
YScreenRecorder Record screen with pause/finish controls
Anika Desktop assistant — break reminders, to-do spell book, chaa timer, assistant settings

Anika (desktop assistant)

Open from Tools → Anika or Ctrl+Shift+U. Anika runs in a separate process. If she is already running, another click brings her window to the front.

Highlights:

  • Break reminders (interval + how long she stays on screen)
  • Drag to a screen edge to hide her for a configurable time (default 5 minutes)
  • Right-click menu and Settings → Actions for spell book, timer, force actions, and quit
  • Assistant size, opacity, language, personality, and visual effects
  • Settings stored in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Media Downloader\ (Anika: anika\, BG remover models: rembg_models\, ffmpeg, updates). Legacy folders .yamos_witch_mate and .u2net are migrated automatically and removed on uninstall.

Install

Windows

  1. Download MediaDownloader_Setup.exe from Releases
  2. Run installer
  3. Launch Media Downloader

Linux

  1. Download Media-Downloader-x86_64.AppImage from Releases
  2. Make executable and run:
chmod +x Media-Downloader-x86_64.AppImage
./Media-Downloader-x86_64.AppImage

For best capture support on Linux, install: ffmpeg ffprobe python3-tk xclip wl-clipboard grim gnome-screenshot scrot imagemagick

Run from Source

git clone https://github.com/needyamin/media-downloader.git
cd media-downloader
pip install -r src/desktop_tools/app/requirements.txt
python run.py

Set PYTHONPATH=src when running modules directly (checks, builds):

# Windows PowerShell
$env:PYTHONPATH="src"

# Linux / macOS
export PYTHONPATH=src

Keyboard Shortcuts (Windows)

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+Shift+V Open Video Converter
Ctrl+Shift+B Open BG Remover
Ctrl+Shift+Y Open YScreenshot
Ctrl+Shift+R Open YScreenRecorder
Ctrl+Shift+U Open Anika

While recording:

  • Ctrl+Shift+P pause/resume
  • Ctrl+Shift+S finish and save

Hotkeys are configurable under hotkeys in app_flags.json.

Development Checks

With PYTHONPATH=src:

python -m desktop_tools.tools.smoke_checks
python -m desktop_tools.tools.script_checks
python -m desktop_tools.tools.anika_checks
python -m desktop_tools.tools.bg_remover_checks
python -m desktop_tools.tools.uninstall_cleanup_checks

Optional (import-boundary lint for contributors):

python -m desktop_tools.tools.architecture_guard

Bundle manifest:

python -m desktop_tools.app.build_tools.manifest

Build & Packaging

Platform Output
Windows release/windows/MediaDownloader_Setup.exe
Linux release/linux/Media-Downloader-x86_64.AppImage

Windows (Nuitka + Inno Setup)

From the repo root in PowerShell:

cd C:\Users\needy\Desktop\media-downloader
$env:PYTHONPATH = "src"
pip install -r src\desktop_tools\app\requirements.txt nuitka ordered-set zstandard
python -m desktop_tools.app.build_tools.nuitka

Requirements

  • Windows only (the script exits on Linux/macOS)
  • Inno Setup 6 installed (ISCC.exe on PATH or default install location)
  • Python 3.12 or 3.13 recommended for Nuitka (on 3.14+, the script tries py -3.13 when available)

Legacy script paths (still work from repo root; they forward to the same build):

python src\desktop_tools\app\nutika_build.py
python src\desktop_tools\app\nuitka_build.py

The old file src\desktop_tools\app\nutika_build.py was moved to src\desktop_tools\app\build_tools\nuitka_build.py; the shims above avoid “file not found” errors.

Linux (AppImage)

export PYTHONPATH=src
pip install -r src/desktop_tools/app/requirements.txt
python -m desktop_tools.app.build_tools.linux_appimage

GitHub releases (auto-update + protected binaries)

Pushing a version tag builds compiled Windows and Linux artifacts only — no Python source is attached to the release.

  1. Tag and push: git tag v2.0.1 then git push origin v2.0.1
  2. GitHub Actions (.github/workflows/release.yml) runs Nuitka + Inno Setup (Windows) and PyInstaller + AppImage (Linux), then publishes a GitHub Release with MediaDownloader_Setup.exe, Media-Downloader-x86_64.AppImage, and SHA256SUMS.txt.
  3. Installed apps compare their bundled version (app_flags.json) to releases/latest and silently install a newer MediaDownloader_Setup.exe when available (updates.packaged_auto_update in app_flags.json).

Manual CI run: Actions → Release (Nuitka + AppImage) → Run workflow and enter a version like 2.0.1.

Local Windows build tip: use Python 3.12 or 3.13 for Nuitka. On Python 3.14+, the build script tries py -3.13 / py -3.12 automatically; if that is unavailable it continues with --jobs=1 (slower but avoids Scons __constants.h races on Anika).

If the hub exe already built and only Anika/Inno failed, re-run the full build command — it reuses the standalone dist when possible.

WSL Linux build from Windows:

wsl.exe -d Ubuntu -- sh -lc "cd /mnt/c/Users/<you>/Desktop/media-downloader && python3 -m desktop_tools.app.build_tools.linux_appimage"

Packaged builds bundle src/desktop_tools/anika/ (sprites, Python sources, settings GUI). Windows installers also build Anika.exe beside Media-Downloader.exe so Tools → Anika works in the frozen app.

Configuration

Global runtime behavior is controlled from root app_flags.json.

Common keys:

  • debug_logging
  • disabled_domains
  • clipboard_poll_ms_*
  • max_log_lines
  • hotkeys.* (including anika: Ctrl+Shift+U)
  • versions.*
  • paths.*
  • themes.*
  • updates.packaged_auto_update, updates.github_repo

Anika-specific settings (break timing, edge hide, assistant size, etc.) live under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Media Downloader\anika\, not in app_flags.json. Uninstalling via the Windows installer removes that folder, downloaded AI models, ffmpeg cache, and legacy .u2net / .yamos_witch_mate data (not your Downloads folder).

Project Structure

media-downloader/
├── README.md
├── index.html
├── app_flags.json
├── run.py
└── src/desktop_tools/
    ├── app/           # Hub UI, tool windows, build tools, services
    ├── anika/         # Desktop assistant (Anika process, assets, settings GUI)
    ├── shared/        # Reusable services (ffmpeg, capture, downloads)
    ├── tools/         # Entrypoints, smoke/script/anika checks, architecture guard
    └── README.md      # Desktop architecture notes

See src/desktop_tools/README.md for launcher conventions and import boundaries.

Tech Stack

  • Python 3.12+
  • yt-dlp, Pillow, pystray, customtkinter
  • rembg, onnxruntime
  • Anika: Tkinter + CustomTkinter desktop assistant
  • Packaging: Nuitka + Inno Setup (Windows), PyInstaller + AppImage flow (Linux)

Legal

Educational and personal use only.
Users are responsible for compliance with copyright law, platform terms, and local regulations.

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About

A complete desktop app for your entire media workflow download and queue files, convert media, remove backgrounds, capture screenshots, and record your screen all in one place.

download.ansnew.com

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media-downloader-guipythontkinter-gui

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