Usage Guide

FlowPick provides two usage methods: Browser Extension and Online Tool. This document covers the complete workflow for both.

Quick Start (30 Seconds)

1. Open any webpage containing video (e.g., Bilibili) and play for a few seconds
2. Click the FlowPick icon in the browser toolbar
3. Click the download button next to the resource you want to download in the popup
4. Wait for the download to complete

Extension Usage

Detecting Media

FlowPick detects media resources on pages by monitoring browser network requests. Detection results are automatically categorized by type:

Detection Tips:

• Play video/audio for a few seconds first to ensure media requests have been sent
• If nothing is detected, refresh the page and play again
• Some websites use dynamic loading; drag the progress bar to trigger more fragment requests
• Encrypted HLS streams (with EXT-X-KEY tags) can also be detected—FlowPick will auto-decrypt them

Previewing Media

Preview content before downloading to confirm it's the resource you want to save:

• Click the Play icon → Built-in player preview for video/audio
• Click the Eye icon → Preview images
• Preview supports real-time playback of HLS and DASH streams

Downloading a Single Resource

1. Find the target file in the resource list
2. Click the Download icon on the right
3. For regular files (MP4, MP3, etc.), the browser downloads directly
4. For streams (M3U8, MPD), FlowPick automatically downloads all fragments and merges them into a single file

Batch Download

1. Check the checkboxes to the left of multiple resources
2. Click the Download Selected button at the top
3. All selected resources will be added to the download queue in sequence
4. View progress for each task in the download management panel

Filtering Resources

When there are many resources on a page, use filters to quickly locate targets:

Quality Selection

For adaptive streams (HLS/DASH), FlowPick lists all available qualities:

After selecting quality, FlowPick downloads only fragments of the corresponding resolution, saving time and storage space.

Online Tool Usage

Online tools require no extension installation, suitable for temporary use or scenarios where extensions cannot be installed.

M3U8 Downloader

For HLS streams (.m3u8 URLs):

1. Open M3U8 Downloader
2. Paste the M3U8 URL in the input box
3. Click the Parse button—the tool will analyze stream information
4. Select quality and output format
5. Click Start Download

How to Get M3U8 URL:

• Open browser Developer Tools (F12) → Network tab → Filter m3u8
• After playing the video, find .m3u8 files in the request list
• Right-click and copy the link address

DASH Downloader

For DASH streams (.mpd URLs):

1. Open DASH Downloader
2. Paste the MPD URL in the input box
3. Click the Parse button
4. Select video and audio tracks separately
5. Click Start Download—the tool will auto-merge audio and video

Download Management

Download Queue

All download tasks are managed in a unified queue:

• Concurrency Control: Number of simultaneous download tasks is limited by the concurrent thread count in settings
• Queue Ordering: Tasks added earlier execute first
• Pause/Resume: Can pause individual tasks or all tasks
• Cancel: Cancelled tasks clean up downloaded temporary files

Progress Monitoring

Each download task displays real-time progress information:

Download Completion

After download completes:

• Browser shows a download completion notification (can be disabled in settings)
• File is saved in the browser's default download directory or your specified directory
• For streams, the merged file is saved in your chosen format (MP4/TS)

Format Conversion

FlowPick includes built-in format conversion based on FFmpeg WASM, completed in the browser without uploading files.

Supported Conversions

Settings

Click the gear icon in the popup to access settings. Common settings:

Keyboard Shortcuts

You can customize shortcuts in the browser's extensions management page (chrome://extensions): Click the menu in the upper left → Keyboard Shortcuts → Find FlowPick and modify.

Usage Tips

Video Sites

• Wait 3-5 seconds for video to start playing before opening FlowPick
• If not detected, drag the progress bar to different positions to trigger more fragment requests
• Encrypted videos (such as some paid courses) require the extension's webRequest permission to obtain keys
• Higher quality streams have more fragments and take longer to merge

Audio/Podcasts

• Play audio first to trigger network requests
• Podcasts usually have multiple audio formats available—prioritize AAC or MP3
• Downloaded audio files retain original metadata (ID3 tags)

Images

• Use size filtering to exclude icons and thumbnails (recommend minimum 50KB)
• Batch download works well for gallery sites
• Supports modern image formats like WebP, AVIF

Large File Downloads

FlowPick's browser extension fully supports large file downloads, automatically selecting the optimal approach through smart write strategies, easily handling GB-level streaming media files.

Core Capabilities:

• No File Size Limit: Streaming writes via File System Access API, theoretically supports files of any size
• Constant Memory Footprint: In streaming write mode, memory usage is unaffected by file size—won't cause browser crashes due to large files
• Smart Strategy Fallback: Automatically detects browser capabilities and switches between FSA → StreamSaver → Blob write strategies

Recommended Browsers:

Precautions During Download:

• Do not close the tab during download, otherwise it will be interrupted
• Keep screen on to avoid system sleep interrupting network connection
• For very large files (>5GB), use wired network for more stable download speed
• Ensure sufficient remaining disk space