You still get your videos downloaded, you don't spam people who is discussing in the same thread, and Reddit "gods" can't do anything to block you.
If you don't want to download a python script to your machine (why?), then use any of the million youtube-dl-wrapping websites online or one of the hundred browser extensions. I'm 99% sure "SaveVideo" is just wrapping youtube-dl anyway.
> If you don't want to download a python script to your machine (why?)
Man, classic HN short-sightedness. Not everyone is comfortable with these tools. Not everyone has a Python interpreter installed by default. Not everyone is in a device/platform that can even run Python.
These bots are just damn more convenient. Assuming you are accessing old.reddit.com in mobile (the One True Way), to download a video you need to:
1. Find the URL. With mobile browser's penchant to autohide UI chrome, there's an additional cognitive load in doing it.
2. Open a new browser tab.
3. Fumble on your mobile keyboard to type the address of your preferred save video service. (Alternatively, you Google search the name, scroll past the first "result" because it's an ad, then click.)
4. Paste the URL from Reddit.
5. Wait and download video.
In contrast with bots:
1. Fumble on your mobile keyboard to type "!SaveVideo" (or whatever command it is).
2. Wait for the notif and download video.
> you don't spam people who is discussing in the same thread
Is that honestly spammy? I rarely see more than one subthread for the bot call, it gets upvoted so people can see it easily, sometimes people do search for it first. The worst I can say is that it quickly devolves into a stream of "good bot" comments but at that point, it's just another conversation to collapse.
WRT presenting information, there are more problems with Reddit's design decisions than these bots.
I have literally _a toolbar button_ in my Android web browser that downloads the video of any page that I'm viewing right now. How can there be anything more convenient than that?
But your comparison is extremely flawed anyway. E.g. "Fumble on your mobile keyboard to type the address of your preferred save video service." Even if you claim not to know how to use bookmarks, you still have history. Basically, the "unconvenient" method you are describing is literally fewer taps away than the "convenient" method of messaging SaveVideo, which has no autocomplete at all, and _requires me to login to Reddit_. And with SaveVideo you still spam and even reveal to everyone you are downloading the video in the process.
I'm even more convinced the only reason SaveVideo is popular is because their viral spamming strategy actually works, and bazillions of people learn about it because every user of it actively spams everyone else while using it. If on every thread of Reddit I was posting a message about my magnificent browser extension/bookmarklet/website for downloading videos, how popular do you think it would get, convenient or not?
> And with SaveVideo you still spam and even reveal to everyone you are downloading the video in the process.
Unless the SaveVideo link is already there, in which case it's one click. Just because your workflow works for you, that doesn't mean others are morally compromised for doing things differently.
So, add "search for the existing link first" to the list of steps of the supposed "convenient" method. These arguments that "oh its more convenient for me anyway" do not got very far, specially when i claim its the virical advertising that makes people think it is convenient.
> I have literally _a toolbar button_ in my Android web browser that downloads the video of any page that I'm viewing right now
Well, that's you. It might surprise you to know, not everyone is you.
> Basically, the "unconvenient" method you are describing is literally fewer taps away than the "convenient" method of messaging SaveVideo, which has no autocomplete at all, and _requires me to login to Reddit_
Of course I made the assumption that you are already logged in to Reddit, because that's the type of person the usage of this bot is for anyway. If you browse without an account, this is not the bot (or service) you are looking for.
But I'm gonna humor you and count taps, tell me where I'm wrong. I'll go for the shortest actions possible. Unconvenient method:
1. Find the URL (+1 swipe to reveal address bar), copy and paste URL (+1 long tap and +1 short tap).
2. Tap on bookmarks (+1). Search for your DL service ((+1) swipe, depending how much bookmarks you use), tap on actual bookmark entry (+1).
3. Paste URL from Reddit (+1 tap minimum. If it did not autofocus to textbox, that's another (+1)). Tap action button to DL video (+1).
4. Download video finally (+1).
Total: 8 definite taps + 2 possible swipes + 1 possible additional tap if DL website does not autofocus on textbox) + the cognitive load of opening a new browser tab.
Convenient method:
1. Type command. Let's make things equal and assume autocomplete (this is a string you type frequently), score it +2 taps. Hit comment button (+1).
2. Open notifications (+1), open comment (+1), click link to download (+1).
Total: 6 definite taps.
I'll humor you further, if you had to login (and let's assume OAuth, Google login to make it equal to having a bookmark on hand) you tap on the login link (+1) and tap on the Google option (+1).
Total: 8 definite taps without the inconvenience of going out of Reddit.
Where's the "extreme flaw" in my reasoning, please?
> the only reason SaveVideo is popular is because their viral spamming strategy actually works
I really find it disingenuous of you to keep harping about a "viral spamming strategy" without mentioning that video download sites are guilty of excessive ads and dark patterns more often than not. "Use adblock!" of course, but even that is not 100% foolproof or they would annoy you by making you wait before your DL link is available. You were supposed to be seeing an ad while the wait countdown is on by the way.
I did not even count the cognitive load of these dark patterns in my accounting above (is the download link the green "GET VIDEOS" button or the blue "Save" button?) because it's too varied to settle a proper score.
SaveVideo might be a viral ad strategy but yet another difference with the ad strategy of these DL sites it is that SaveVideo is a useful trick to know for Reddit users; i.e., that ad is far more relevant. The people who learn about it might actually find use for it one day.
That's not the only reason they are popular too. It's also because...
> If on every thread of Reddit I was posting a message about my magnificent browser extension/bookmarklet/website for downloading videos, how popular do you think it would get, convenient or not?
Another aspect of these bots is that one person invokes it, the rest of the community can benefit from it. Plus, though my opinion is unchanged on the subsequent thread of "good bot" comments, the community finds that kind of behavior charming. This behavior you describe is just shameless self promotion, I'd wager you'd get more detractors than users before your account is moderated out of existence.
> Where's the "extreme flaw" in my reasoning, please?
"Extreme flaw" is your words, not mine.
In any case, we are already down to the same number of taps for both methods, and this while still assuming:
* That I'm either already logged in or that I can login in "2 taps" (very dubious, specially for old.reddit.com)
* That I can search whether there is an existing link with no effort or taps (easier with old.reddit.com, at the cost of swiping, unlikely with the new one), or that I don't otherwise care about telling everyone that I have downloaded the video.
* That autocomplete is going to work with strings such as "u/SaveVideo" or the like (it does not: most symbols and punctuation are enough to throw Android autocomplete away, the only symbols that usually work are @ and dots).
* That the bot is going to reply immediately and not make me wait an indefinite amount of time, and that I will not need to manually tap refresh N times to see when it is finished (which is the case in old.reddit.com).
And so on and so forth.
> Another aspect of these bots is that one person invokes it, the rest of the community can benefit from it.
So I would also link to the download video URL in my video downloader spam. Does that really change the argument? Would that make it "useful" instead of "shameless self promotion"?
Of course not. The difference here is that these "bots" have engineered their advertising so that they force their users to initiate it.
This is Pinterest all over again. "Pinterest" is also useful amongst their users, how do you think they made all their "collections" so large? It's just that their spammy advertising practices make it annoying for their non-users.
I would have let this slide but I really don't like it when people put words in my mouth. Check your previous post, read carefully, you are the first person to use those words :).
No it is not. You're telling us to use car tires when we are on bikes. Car tires are nice but it's useless for me when I am riding a bike.
> That I'm either already logged in or that I can login in "2 taps" (very dubious, specially for old.reddit.com)
This is a reasonable assumption because, I quote myself:
> Of course I made the assumption that you are already logged in to Reddit, because that's the type of person the usage of this bot is for anyway. If you browse without an account, this is not the bot (or service) you are looking for.
I grant you I did overlook old.reddit.com does not have OAuth. But browsers do save your login credentials, which is even faster.
> That I can search whether there is an existing link with no effort or taps (easier with old.reddit.com, at the cost of swiping, unlikely with the new one), or that I don't otherwise care about telling everyone that I have downloaded the video.
I'll grant searching for an existing link isn't the easiest thing in the world but the upvote system kinda compensates for this.
You can delete comments if you don't mind announcing to everyone you DLed a video. Or use an alt. Or if you do it rarely enough, yeah why not a downloader site.
Again, this bot is for people invested in Reddit's ecosystem.
> * That the bot is going to reply immediately and not make me wait an indefinite amount of time, and that I will not need to manually tap refresh N times to see when it is finished (which is the case in old.reddit.com).
That's why you have notifs. I mean if you need to download this video right now then, maybe this bot isn't for you. But most people don't need right now.
> Does that really change the argument? Would that make it "useful" instead of "shameless self promotion"?
>
> Of course not.
Except it does. If you add the DL link to each of your comment that also happens to link your product, you become _that guy_ who's always provides a link to the video download without being asked to. It's useful precisely because you anticipated what the user would need your services for. I'm baffled I need to spell that out.
If I stuff every bulletin board with a flyer for my computer repair services, I'm just another voice in that messy pile. But if I repair people's computers and then give them my calling card/flyer, they are likely to not find that annoying because I had a good pretext for advertising my services.
This is precisely what I am complaining about when I said that the SaveVideo spam means every other service that does not spam in the same way gets relegated to obscurity. Practically every downloader program/extension/service works with these videos...
Use a 3rd party client. On android, "Reddit is fun" and "RedReader" support downloading videos. Possibly others exist, but those are the only ones I've tried. I suspect iOS has some options as well.
