Interface Overview

Let's take a quick tour of Fetchii's interface. The app is designed to be straightforward — most things work exactly as you'd expect. Here's what you'll find when you open the app.

The Main Window

The main window is where you'll spend most of your time. At the top is the link field. Below it, the Active section holds everything in progress, and your History follows, grouped by day. Before your first download, the window simply shows a sky with a few clouds.

The Toolbar

The toolbar keeps things short. From left to right:

• The sidebar button shows or hides the sidebar, with filters (All, Downloading, Recording, Completed, Paused, Failed, Converted) and your Sites. While the sidebar is hidden, the filter menu next to the button switches filters instead.
• The Search field (Cmd + F) searches your downloads. In a narrow window it shrinks to a magnifier icon.
• The inspector button shows details for the selected item (see below).
• The gear icon opens Settings.

The Link Field

To start a download, paste or drop a video link into the field at the top of the window — it reads "Paste or drop a video link, then press Enter" — and press Return. Fetchii starts right away with your default settings. You can also drag a link anywhere onto the window and let go when you see "Drop to download".

The options button at the right end of the field (New Download with Options) opens the New Download sheet, where you choose the quality, Video + Audio or Audio only, where to save, and Advanced Options. File → New Download… (Cmd + N) opens the same sheet.

Understanding Download Rows

Each download is a row with everything you need at a glance: the thumbnail (when available), the title with a line of details below it (site, resolution, format and size), the current status, and buttons for common actions.

Everything in progress — downloads, recordings and conversions — sits in the Active tray at the top. Its header shows a summary such as "2 downloading" with the current speed, plus Pause All and Resume All. Finished items move down to History, grouped into Today, Yesterday and earlier days. Clear Completed, on the right of the History header, takes finished items off the list; your files stay where they are.

Buttons such as Generate subtitles, Show in Finder, Open and … (More actions) appear when you hover over a row. Rows that need your attention are coloured and keep their fix-it button visible — Retry, Resolve… or Move. Files you convert appear under the video they came from.

Status at a Glance

Downloads move through different states as they progress. Here's what each status means:

If a download fails, click Retry on its row. Most failures are temporary network issues that resolve on a second attempt.

If a livestream's connection drops, Fetchii can try to reconnect, depending on the Reconnection options in Settings → Recording. If the stream doesn't come back, the row shows Stopped early with the time it stopped, and everything recorded up to then is saved.

Right-Click Options

Right-clicking any row (or clicking its … button) opens a menu with useful actions. You can copy the URL or title, pause, resume or cancel, open the file or show it in Finder, and convert it. On Apple Silicon you can also generate subtitles or use Smart Rename. Failed downloads add Retry, Copy Error, Report Issue… and View Error Log.

The menu ends with two ways to tidy up: Remove from List takes the item out of Fetchii and keeps the file, while Move to Trash… also moves the file to the Trash, so you can still get it back from there.

To work with several items at once, ⌘-click or ⇧-click them, or press Cmd + A. A selection bar appears at the bottom of the window; press Escape to cancel the selection.

The Inspector

For more detail, turn on the inspector with View → Show Inspector (Cmd + I) or the inspector button in the toolbar. It's off by default and opens on the right of the window. It shows the selected item's preview, its summary (if there is one), its Files — the original, any converted files and subtitles — and Details. While a download runs you see its progress and where it's being saved. For a failed download you get an explanation of the error with Retry Download, Copy Error, Report Issue… and View Error Log. Select several items and it offers actions for all of them. In a narrow window, the inspector hides automatically.

Searching Your Downloads

Press Cmd + F (or choose Edit → Search Downloads) and start typing. Results come in two groups: Titles, and Said in videos — lines from the subtitles of your videos, with the matching words highlighted. Click the timecode on a result, such as ▶ 12:34, to open the video at that moment. On Apple Silicon, with Search by meaning turned on in Settings → Intelligence, Fetchii also finds lines that don't contain your exact words and labels them "Matched by meaning". Clear Search takes you back to the full list.

Notices

Messages from Fetchii — the first-time engine setup, app and engine updates, a license that needs attention, or a video link on your clipboard (if you turn that offer on in Settings → General → Clipboard) — appear in one bar under the toolbar instead of pop-up windows. Fetchii shows one notice at a time, and a "+" count tells you more are waiting.

Settings

Open Settings with the gear icon or Cmd + ,. Its pages are listed in the sidebar: General, Downloads, Intelligence, Recording, Browser Extension, Network, Privacy, Advanced and License. Not sure where an option lives? Type in the Search field at the top of the sidebar — matching settings are listed by page and group, with your words highlighted.

Menu Bar Quick Access

For even faster access, Fetchii lives in your Mac's menu bar. This lets you check on downloads without bringing up the main window.

The icon, a Shiba head, shows what's happening: it fills up as downloads progress, changes while a livestream is recording (and dims while the stream reconnects), dozes while downloads are paused, smiles for a moment when they finish, and shows a "!" when a download fails, until you open it. Click it to see what's in progress, with Pause All or Resume All, your recent downloads (including failed ones and recordings that stopped early), and a one-click download when your clipboard holds a video link. Open Fetchii brings up the main window.

The icon is on by default. To hide it, turn off Settings → General → App Behavior → Show menu bar icon.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Speed up your workflow with these shortcuts:

You'll also find a list of shortcuts in the app under Help → Fetchii Help → Shortcuts.