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YouTube and Google video downloaders?

Some time ago, I had a script who got the Flash Video file from a specified YouTube video, which now is broken due to changes at their website.

Does YouTube have an API to download the Flash Video file? If so, where can I find it?

Are some scripts available? How do I built my own script? Are there any scripts in any other languages such as shell/Bash that works? :)

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Side Note: Youtube's ToS <i>explicitly</i> forbids downloading their videos unless you're the content uploader. – user23259 May 24 '10 at 22:05
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@Sukasa Then how will you ever watch them? – Arda Xi May 24 '10 at 22:59
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migrated from stackoverflow.com May 25 '10 at 13:06

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closed as exact duplicate by ChrisF, Gnoupi, quack quixote May 25 '10 at 17:33

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3 Answers

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Here is one:

Youtube Download Script 0.1

See this also

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I use Greasemonkey and the YouTube HD Suite script

This gives you download links for each of the formats available.

alt text

It also gives you the option to set a default format to watch all videos in (I use it to default to 720p when available as YouTube always gives me 480p)

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There are scripts and such out there, but YouTube supplies no such official API, and it is borderline illegal to download the videos using a third-party tool.

You may want to look at the open-source application youtube-dl, though.

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Is it illegal to break a TOS? – Nitrodist May 24 '10 at 22:06
@Nitrodist: Dunno, but piracy is illegal. – Mark May 24 '10 at 22:08
@Nitro @Mark that's why I said borderline. But at least techcrunch.com/get-youtube-movie has gotten shut down for providing such a service. Though youtube actually just broke it especially for them. but sent a Cease and Desist in 2006: techcrunch.com/2006/11/15/… – Earlz May 24 '10 at 22:20
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@Mark, but is it an act of piracy? The way YouTube's video is provided to users, it is downloaded to the browser's cache directory on the filesystem already. How is downloading it to a different directory an act of piracy, if downloading it to the cache directory is not? A stronger case can be made for sites that use DRM or real streaming, where the video file never resides on the client machine at all. – eyelidlessness May 24 '10 at 22:24
It is illegal to break a TOS, seeing as it's regarded as a signed agreement. This is however not in itself comparable to privacy. – Arda Xi May 24 '10 at 22:59
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