MediaLoader - YouTube & Instagram Downloader

Cross-platform desktop app written in Go with Fyne UI framework.

⬇️ Download

No installation, no Python, no setup. One file — download it and double-click.

_{The button always gives you the newest version · browse all releases}

How to install

1. Download MediaLoader.exe with the button above (about 350 MB — everything is inside the file).
2. Move it anywhere you like, for example to your Desktop or Documents folder.
3. Double-click it. That's it — there is nothing to install.

Note

"Windows protected your PC"? The app is not code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen warns about it. Click More info → Run anyway. The file is built from the source code in this repository.

The first launch takes a few extra seconds: MediaLoader unpacks its bundled yt-dlp, FFmpeg and Deno into your user cache folder. Later launches are instant.

macOS and Linux: no prebuilt package yet — see Build & Run to compile it yourself.

Features

• ✅ YouTube: videos, shorts, playlists, audio extraction
• ✅ Instagram: posts, reels (public only)
• ✅ 1000+ other sites via yt-dlp
• ✅ Quality selection: Best / 1080p / 720p / 480p / Audio MP3
• ✅ Download queue with status tracking
• ✅ Modern sidebar UI with dark and light themes
• ✅ Cross-platform: Windows, macOS, Linux

Previews

📸 Click to view screenshots — download, queue, history, settings, light theme

Download — automatic platform detection, quality segments, live progress	Queue — per-item progress, speed and ETA
History — last 50 downloads with a shortcut to their folder	Settings — theme, bundled runtime status, cookies
Technical log — collapsible raw yt-dlp output	Empty states — every list explains what goes in it
Light theme — switchable in Settings

Install the desktop release

End users should download the installer/package for their OS. The release must ship with its own yt-dlp, FFmpeg, and Deno runtimes; neither Python, pip, nor a system PATH configuration is required.

MediaLoader[.exe]
bin/
  yt-dlp[.exe]
  ffmpeg[.exe]
  ffprobe[.exe]
  deno[.exe]

At launch, MediaLoader verifies these components. If one is missing, it asks the user to reinstall instead of failing during a download.

Development prerequisites

1. Install Go

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install golang-go

# macOS
brew install go

# Windows: download from https://go.dev/dl/

2. Install Fyne dependencies (Linux only)

sudo apt-get install gcc libgl1-mesa-dev xorg-dev

3. Provide the bundled runtime for local development

Put current platform-specific yt-dlp, ffmpeg, ffprobe, and deno binaries in a directory, then point the app to it:

$env:MEDIA_LOADER_BIN_DIR = "C:\path\to\medialoader-runtime"
go run ./cmd

For release builds, copy this directory as bin/ next to the executable (or to MediaLoader.app/Contents/Resources/bin on macOS). Pin versions and verify SHA-256 checksums in CI before publishing an installer.

YouTube sign-in / "not a bot"

YouTube can temporarily block an IP address or ask for a browser sign-in. Each user must provide their own cookies; do not ship cookies with the app.

1. Open youtube.com in your own browser, sign in, and complete any CAPTCHA.
2. Export YouTube cookies in Netscape cookies.txt format. yt-dlp documents Get cookies.txt LOCALLY for Chrome and cookies.txt for Firefox as suitable export extensions.
3. In MediaLoader, open Settings → Select cookies.txt and choose the exported file. The selected path is saved in your local app settings and passed to yt-dlp for subsequent downloads.
4. Re-export the file after signing out, changing password, completing a new CAPTCHA, or when YouTube starts rejecting it.

cookies.txt grants access to your account session. Never commit, upload, or share it; do not send it to support, and do not place it in an installer. The repository ignores common cookie filenames. Advanced users may instead set MEDIA_LOADER_COOKIES to an absolute file path.

The release bundles Deno because modern YouTube extraction needs a JavaScript runtime. It also bundles a current FFmpeg because YouTube often supplies video and audio as separate streams.

Build & Run

# Clone / download the project
cd medialoader

# Download Go dependencies
go mod tidy

# Run directly
go run cmd/main.go

# Build executable
go build -o medialoader cmd/main.go

# Windows build
GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 go build -o medialoader.exe cmd/main.go

# Build with no console window (Windows release)
go build -ldflags="-H windowsgui" -o medialoader.exe cmd/main.go

Project Structure

medialoader/
├── cmd/
│   └── main.go                  # Entry point
├── internal/
│   ├── downloader/
│   │   └── downloader.go        # bundled yt-dlp/FFmpeg/Deno wrapper
│   ├── config/
│   │   └── config.go            # User preferences
│   └── ui/
│       ├── app.go               # Window shell, pages and actions
│       ├── theme.go             # Dark/light palettes, sizes, radii
│       └── widgets.go           # Cards, chips, sidebar nav, segments
├── images/                      # README screenshots
├── go.mod
└── README.md

Usage

1. Paste a YouTube or Instagram URL — the platform is detected automatically
2. Choose quality (Best / 1080p / 720p / 480p / MP3 for audio only)
3. Click Download for an immediate download
4. Or click Add to queue to batch multiple URLs
5. Output folder: ~/Downloads/MediaLoader/ (configurable)

Instagram Notes

• Public posts and reels work without login.
• Private or protected content requires the account owner's valid cookies; MediaLoader never collects or creates browser credentials automatically.

Extending

• Add more platforms: yt-dlp supports 1000+ sites natively
• Add thumbnail preview: use fyne.io/fyne/v2/canvas.Image
• Add history: store completed downloads in SQLite
• Add scheduler: use time.AfterFunc for scheduled downloads