14 posts tagged with "windows"

We're excited to release WhaleDown for Desktop 2025.05.0. This is an important release worth updating.

From now on, we will be releasing the desktop version and Android version simultaneously.

What's new​

This version brings the ability to decrypt/preview DRM protected videos in real time. You don't need to wait for the video download to finish to decrypt and preview DRM-protected videos. This feature is more friendly to users who haven't purchased a license.

If you see the following screen in your browser, the WhaleDown browser extension is working. At this point, you just go back to the Detector and click on the item you want to download.

Additionally, we've added a right-click menu to Detector. We've also added a “Download Later” menu item based on user suggestions. In this case, the video is added to the schedule queue instead of being downloaded immediately.

We've also fixed a number of bugs in version 2025.05.0. Please read Changelog for more details.

What's next​

WhaleDown's support for DRM technology is still in its early stages. In addition to addressing the issues mentioned in the previous blog, we're also preparing a user interface (UI) for the browser extension to help users download videos better.

We're excited to release WhaleDown for Desktop 2025.04.0. This release brings the long-awaited Digital rights management (DRM) support.

What's new​

To decrypt DRM-protected videos, we've introduced a brand new browser extension - Video Detector Helper. You won't feel it at all though, because WhaleDown automatically installs and enables it.

With the help of this extension, WhaleDown supports downloading videos from more websites.

Limitations​

1. When a video in a web page uses DRM (Windvine) technology, it may not play on the web page. The video player usually says “Video source error”.

2. Currently, WhaleDown only decrypts DRM-protected videos after the download is complete. You are unable to preview the video you are downloading in real time.

3. WhaleDown currently only supports decrypting DRM-protected videos on Windows and macOS. Also, currently only Google Chrome has good support for the WhaleDown browser extension.

4. There are a variety of DRM protection techniques on the market. For now, only Widevine is supported by WhaleDown.

What's next​

We're looking forward to introducing DRM-protected Video Preview feature in the next release. Additionally, we intend to add a simple user interface (UI) to the browser extension.

We're officially releasing the brand new WhaleDown for Desktop 2025.02.3. This is a completely rewritten version.

We've decided to push updates to all users starting today. Please refer to the changelog documentation for the changelog.

Compatibility​

Due to the new data structure of WhaleDown 2025, its data is not compatible with WhaleDown 2024 and earlier versions.

But that doesn't mean data loss. When you switch back to the old version, you'll still be able to see your data (especially the download module).

You can keep using your previous license as long as it hasn't expired.

Stability​

After months of testing, we believe WhaleDown 2025 is stable even better than WhaleDown 2024 and previous versions. Our development team thanks all users who contributed to the tests.

If you find new bugs during use, please give us feedback promptly. Our development team will fix it as soon as possible.

Conclusion​

We realized the development plans for Q1 and Q2 2025 in the roadmap ahead of schedule. We'll be working hard to develop new features for the rest of the year.

We're excited to release the brand new WhaleDown for Desktop 2025.02.1. This is a completely rewritten version.

It was previously mentioned in our The 2025 Roadmap that we are planning to launch a public beta in Q2 2025, but now we've decided to release it early.

Improvements​

This version has rewritten the entire user interface with Flutter. For now, we've unified the technology used on Android and desktop.

Although our goal is to be at the level of WhaleDown 2024 in terms of functionality, the new version brings a lot of improvements.

1. Supports playback of separate video and audio
2. Better DASH streams support
3. Universal (Intel & Apple Silicon) installation package available on macOS
4. Dramatically reduce the size of the installation package
5. Remove the built-in browser as planned

In addition, there are plenty of detailed improvements that can't be listed here.

Acknowledgments​

Some users helped us with testing in January 2025 and provided lots of suggestions and bugs feedback. These feedback includes, but is not limited to,

1. Show download speed
2. Report a bug with merging video/audio
3. Report a YouTube download bug
4. Report crash on some macOS Intel devices

Our development team appreciates the help from these users. It's because of you that we've made WhaleDown more powerful and stable.

Conclusion​

Our development team has completed the goals in the roadmap ahead of schedule, and is working hard to complete the remaining development tasks.

We recommend all users try WhaleDown for Desktop 2025.02.1. At the same time, we look forward to hearing from you.

We are happy to announce the release of WhaleDown Desktop version 2024.03.0.

WhaleBrowser​

In this release we've introduced a new program - WhaleBrowser. And for the first time, we used AI to design its logo. This is an important step for us to strip away the built-in browser. It will make the main program more stable.

Currently, WhaleBrowser is packaged and released with WhaleDown. Our future goal is to release WhaleBrowser separately. It can be independently downloaded and installed.

Additionally, we have fixed several bugs introduced since version 2024.2.0,

• [detector] Fix the bug where you can't click to download
• [detector] Fix a bug where videos cannot be detected based on web content (Windows)
• [downloader] Fix a critical m3u8 video download bug

Known Issues​

We've received some feedback that the new browser can't find previous bookmarks. We'll fix this in the next release.

We are happy to announce the release of WhaleDown Desktop version 2024.02.0.

First, we introduced a download function for m3u8 subtitle files. Just turn on Auto Save Subtitles in the downloader's settings options to enable this feature. When a subtitle file exists in m3u8, WhaleDown will try to download it.

Additionally, we have introduced an experimental switch Realtime Merging (m3u8). If you're having trouble that the audio and video don't match during the download process, turn of it and try downloading again.

Options such as Auto Open and Auto Close were removed from the Detector settings view. It was replaced by a new Popup Window.

We've also introduced a range of improvements for the Windows platform. This release mainly addresses the problem of missing progress in DASH stream downloads. You may also have noticed improvements to the title bar in dark mode, as well as fixes to issues such as where the Google Chrome window appears.

This is a very important release. There are also a number of bug fixes not mentioned here. We recommend you try the latest version now.

We're excited to release the new version 2023.12. This is likely to be the last release in 2023.

In this release, we've introduced support for the MediaDelivery CDN. Therefore, all video sharing websites using the MediaDelivery CDN are supported by WhaleDown.

Additionally, we've improved the optimal resolution selection algorithm, which provides a better experience for downloading videos from sites like YouTube.

At the same time, we've further improved support for Google Chrome and fixed a bug in DASH video stream detection. After a year of development, WhaleDown's support for Google Chrome is very mature. We highly recommend you give this feature a try.

For more details on this update, please refer to Changelog.

We're excited to release the new version 2023.10. This release brings a number of important bug fixes and bilibili support.

First and foremost is a graphical interface rendering bug on the macOS Sonoma (Intel) platform. Thanks to all users for their patience, we finally fixed this bug 20 days after macOS Sonoma was released.

Also, we've actually optimized it for multi-monitors use. In previous versions, when the user used two monitors, the length and width of the built-in browser were too large and required the user to manually adjust each time. Now this annoying bug is gone.

Due to some technical reasons, we've disabled the built-in media player on all platforms. This is a temporary decision. In the future, we will restore the built-in player as soon as the relevant bugs are fixed in the upstream development library.

We recommend all users upgrade to this version. And we would also like to thank the users who have reported bugs to us.

We are excited to release the new version 2023.3.0. In this version, we moved the built-in browser to a separate window.

It's an unprecedented attempt. This update unifies the interactive interface between WhaleDown and all browsers (The built-in browser, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Edge). It also provides a reference for future mobile interface design (especially the tablet version).

Future​

In the next small release, we'll be introducing more mobile-inspired interface designs.

We'll further strip the built-in browser. Eventually, we'll be releasing a standalone WhaleDown Browser app.

Introduction​

With the release of 2023.2.0, WhaleDown introduced external browser (Google Chrome) support. This exciting feature is available on both Windows and macOS.

We noticed that the built-in browser can not pass AntiBots check of some websites recently. That is the best scenario of using external browsers.

Usage​

Currently, there is no separate interface entry for launching an external browser. You need to click the Launch Google Chrome button on the blank page of the built-in browser.

If WhaleDown find that Google Chrome isn't installed on your computer, WhaleDown will prompt you to install it.

When a new video item is detected, there will be a floating mini-detector widget at the top-right corner of screen. When you click on it, WhaleDown return to the main window and show the detector view.

Then, you can use it as you did before.

Future​

This is an initial technical validation release. There are still a few missing features. This initial user interface design is a bit simple. It's clear that we'll refine it even more in the future.

The detector widget will be totally redesigned. We will provide a unified user experience for both the built-in browser and the external browser.

We are considering moving the built-in browser into a new window. The built-in web browser will be released as a standalone application eventually. This will reduce the installer/DMG size dramatically.

Acknowledgments​

Thanks to those who suggested to support Google Chrome / Extensions.