Observe Sources

How to setup Observe Sources in YTDLnis.

Observe Sources are a way of making the app periodically check for changes in a source like a playlist or channel and download newly uploaded videos from it.

How to create a source

1. Go to More -> Observe Sources
2. Tap New source

• You can configure a set schedule based on hours, days, days of week or monthly.
• How often to check
• Stop after a certain number of checks

The download configuration shares the same settings as your normal download. Learn more here.

Creating a source

1. Paste the link of the playlist, channel or any other page that lists videos.
2. Configure the download like you would in the Download Card: audio or video, container, format, folder, filename template and so on. Every new item will be downloaded with this configuration.
3. Set the schedule (see below).
4. Press Create.

Schedule

Option	Meaning
Every	Check every N hours, days, weeks or months.
Time	The time of the day for the check.
Days of the week	When checking weekly, choose which days of the week it runs.
Day of the month	When checking monthly, choose the day of the month.
Starts	The date it starts checking.
Ends	Never, on a specific date, or After a number of occurrences.

The next scheduled check is shown on the source card.

Settings

Get New Uploads Only

When activated, the first run won't download anything. It will record all the available items and store them as processed, so next time they will be ignored

Sync With Source

If the source has deleted an item from the playlist / channel, the app will delete it from your download history as well, along with the file

Retry Missing Downloads

This checks your download history. If you have had deleted an item from the history, the app will try to download it again so both your history and the source are synced.

Managing sources

Each source card shows the next scheduled run or that it is paused. Tap a source to open its details, where you see how many runs it has made and how many items it has processed and skipped (tap the chips to see the links). From there you can:

• Pause or resume it
• Check now to run it immediately instead of waiting for the next schedule
• Edit its configuration or schedule
• Delete it
• Open its settings for the options below

The settings have a few options for when you want to change what the source considers processed:

Action	What it does
Re-scan from scratch	Forgets the processed items and downloads everything that is not already saved.
Skip current backlog	Marks everything currently in the source as done. Only future uploads are downloaded.
Un-skip ignored uploads	Downloads the existing uploads that the first run skipped because of Get New Uploads Only.

You can delete all sources from the overflow menu.

Making it reliable

Observe sources run in the background. Android is aggressive about stopping background apps, so:

• Disable battery optimization for the app (More -> Settings -> General Ignore battery optimization).
• If runs are not happening at the exact time, enable Use AlarmManager instead of WorkManager for scheduling in More -> Settings -> Downloads and grant the exact alarm permission when asked.
• Sources are restored after a device reboot.

Observe sources are included in backups.