Reviews for HLS Downloader
HLS Downloader by puemos
Review by Sesarma
Rated 3 out of 5
by Sesarma, a year ago4.1.0 is working neither as well as the old version I was running (I am wondering if I was running version 3-something since 4.0.2 is having the same problems), nor doing the things indicated in the snapshot images on the main Mozilla page. I am no longer seeing the trash icons on the download and "sniffer" tabs. At least on the sniffer tab there's a "clear all" button (still no trash icons on the individual items the way there used to be), but it only clears items from the sniffer tab. I had downloads freeze multiple times on a site (I don't think I am allowed to post links to it here according to the terms) that normally has no issues. I had to disable the extension entirely and start it again. In a few cases the download would reach 100% but even after waiting 5 minutes no save window would appear. I ended up having to download a single video at a time (I used to do two at the same time with no problem), ideally doing nothing else with my browser while downloading, then keeping my fingers crossed the save window would appear. 4.1.0 is nice in that it saves as .mp4 . I downgraded to 4.0.2 to see if that improved things some but it didn't and then I also lost the direct to .mp4 capability.
Otherwise this is a great add-on and I have really been appreciating it and the developer's effort for the past couple of months. I was so glad to find it! Other add-ons will do similar but they require you to install additional software, sometimes at a charge.
Using Firefox 115.10.0esr. Maybe some of the lack of features appearing and the rough interface is because I am using an older FF version (I have an old computer). I would have given it a 5 on the benefit of a doubt about that, but the new version is really making me consider downgrading to version 3, so I am docking a star for that.
Edit since the developer specifically requested this: www3.nhk.or.jp Any of the shows.
April 2025 Update. Been trying to use the latest 4-something version. While many new features are nice such as direct to MP4 and file names that make sense, it is an incredible RAM hog! When I was actually downloading a video it was taking about 3-4 GB RAM alone as part of the web extensions. My computer was redlining memory usage and slowed to a crawl for 5-10 minutes. I would have to quit the extension and restart it to get things back to normal. In the end I reverted again to version 3 and while I lose some of the nice features of 4, version 3 barely makes a bump in memory usage. Maybe it is the converting to 4 inside Firefox that is doing this? Just as a note, more sites are moving to yet another kind of streaming and this extension only work on one that I still use. It is great for that but being left behind with technology.
Otherwise this is a great add-on and I have really been appreciating it and the developer's effort for the past couple of months. I was so glad to find it! Other add-ons will do similar but they require you to install additional software, sometimes at a charge.
Using Firefox 115.10.0esr. Maybe some of the lack of features appearing and the rough interface is because I am using an older FF version (I have an old computer). I would have given it a 5 on the benefit of a doubt about that, but the new version is really making me consider downgrading to version 3, so I am docking a star for that.
Edit since the developer specifically requested this: www3.nhk.or.jp Any of the shows.
April 2025 Update. Been trying to use the latest 4-something version. While many new features are nice such as direct to MP4 and file names that make sense, it is an incredible RAM hog! When I was actually downloading a video it was taking about 3-4 GB RAM alone as part of the web extensions. My computer was redlining memory usage and slowed to a crawl for 5-10 minutes. I would have to quit the extension and restart it to get things back to normal. In the end I reverted again to version 3 and while I lose some of the nice features of 4, version 3 barely makes a bump in memory usage. Maybe it is the converting to 4 inside Firefox that is doing this? Just as a note, more sites are moving to yet another kind of streaming and this extension only work on one that I still use. It is great for that but being left behind with technology.
Developer response
posted a year agoWow, thanks so much for this detailed review. I'll try to see what's wrong with new version (might be the ffmpeg conversion).
Would you be able to share one of the website you had issues with?
Would you be able to share one of the website you had issues with?