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Explain why and why not to specify --hls-prefer-native

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This has been asked at http://stackoverflow.com/questions/39357037/what-does-youtube-dl-option-hls-prefer-native-do-any-downside-adding-to-youtu
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Philipp Hagemeister 2016-09-07 10:38:59 +02:00
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@ -851,6 +851,16 @@ will download the complete `PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re` playlist and cre
youtube-dl --download-archive archive.txt "https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiyx1dc3P2JR9N8gQaQN_BCvlSlap7re"
### Should I add `--hls-prefer-native` into my config?
When youtube-dl detects an HLS video, it can download it either with the built-in downloader or ffmpeg. Since many HLS streams are slightly invalid and ffmpeg/youtube-dl each handle some invalid cases better than the other, there is an option to switch the downloader if needed.
When youtube-dl knows that one particular downloader works better for a given website, that downloader will be picked. Otherwise, youtube-dl will pick the best downloader for general compatibility, which at the moment happens to be ffmpeg. This choice may change in future versions of youtube-dl, with improvements of the built-in downloader and/or ffmpeg.
In particular, the generic extractor (used when your website is not in the [list of supported sites by youtube-dl](http://rg3.github.io/youtube-dl/supportedsites.html) cannot mandate one specific downloader.
If you put either `--hls-prefer-native` or `--hls-prefer-ffmpeg` into your configuration, a different subset of videos will fail to download correctly. Instead, it is much better to [file an issue](https://yt-dl.org/bug) or a pull request which details why the native or the ffmpeg HLS downloader is a better choice for your use case.
### Can you add support for this anime video site, or site which shows current movies for free?
As a matter of policy (as well as legality), youtube-dl does not include support for services that specialize in infringing copyright. As a rule of thumb, if you cannot easily find a video that the service is quite obviously allowed to distribute (i.e. that has been uploaded by the creator, the creator's distributor, or is published under a free license), the service is probably unfit for inclusion to youtube-dl.