TED Downloader Premium Announcement

4 years, 8 months and 1 day.

94,442 downloads.

That’s how long and useful this project has been. I have tried my level best to fulfil expectations, to make sure every demand is fulfilled. I have had my share of flowery praises and scathing attacks on my ability, depending on whether my app was working or not.

I still remember the first time I had been introduced to TED, I was amazed by the content and wanted to download the videos for later viewing. But there was no way to obtain the videos all in bulk and from that desire, rose the very first version of TED downloader. A simplistic, in the very sense of the word,  application which allowed you to just select a video quality and download everything… And I mean everything. I had shared that exe with the intention that maybe someone would find it useful.

The response was overwhelming, people responded back via comments, via email that they really liked the app and provided suggestions on features they would like to see. After that, TED downloader has never looked back. It has gone through multiple iterations, multiple UI changes, multiple functionality changes but it endured. The greatest challenge I faced was the ever changing data source provided by TED but the app still endured, albeit there were delays but still. When, the last iteration happened, the move to TED API, I had thought that the data problems were all but solved. However, that was not to be… TED decided to shut down their API and that necessitated a need for a new iteration.

The new Materialistic TED

Farewell to the TED Open API

I am afraid that I’m the bearer of some bad news. It has been conveyed to me that the TED API, which is the basis for the TED Downloader application, that you all use, is going to be shut down on July 15 2016. What this means is that the app will stop working, come 15 th July.

TED supports 3 kinds of  APIs : Basic (Free and very low calls to the API permitted), Premium (Probably not free and allowing more calls to the API) and Partner (for  businesses and media companies). What has been conveyed to me is that :

 On July 15, the public API will be turned off. Keys will stop working after this date.


As per the above notice, it can mean that the premium API will continue (as I see it). I have dropped them a mail to confirm if this is the case and what would be the charges for it (as I assume that they won’t allow free access to anyone).

But what this means is that, essentially, the free version of TED Downloader will stop working, come 15th July and there would be no way to access TED without the premium API (if the reply is positive), so unfortunately, Ted Downloader will no longer be able to remain a freeware as the charge for the premium key will need to be recovered.

But, still this is just a heads-up, as it might happen that the API is shutting down completely with no way to salvage anything and the app will be shut down for good. I’m waiting for their reply which will provide a conclusive answer.

 

Update :

Here is the reply, I got from TED :

Hey Obin,

My apologies for the delay! Partners will still have access to TED’s API, only public access will be retired.

If you’d like to discuss a partner license with someone at TED, please fill out the media license request form.

Please let me know if you have any other API questions!

So, apparently only the free public API is retired and the paid API is going to be available. So this means that the free version of the app shall work till July 15 2016.

I will be applying for a media license and as per the cost, the new application shall be priced (I tried and will try to keep the application free for as long as I can but still…). I have applied for the license and hopefully, within the next month, the application shall be up again.

 

Tedinator V3.8

As promised, I’m providing the updated version which fixes the errors that you have been facing and there are some good news and bad news. Read the change list below to understand them.

Ted Downloader V 3.7 Mid-Release

I have gotten various complaints from various users that they are having some issues with TED Downloader. These concerns are mainly regarding the downloader being unable to download videos properly in areas with low network connectivity. Also,they are not able to download subtitles. Now, I have got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I have decided to patch some of the issues and do a mid-release prior to the next V 4.0 that i have promised and in this release I address the problem of  the video downloads failing but the bad news is that i had to drop the Subtitle module.

Updates : Blog, TEDinator(100 video limit fix), etc…

Scenario : Its been sometime that there has been a post. Also TEDinator is not working properly as it should and the developer is not responding to us. What are we supposed to do in that case ??

Solution : First of all, let me begin by providing my apologies to all those people who took the time to either comment or mail me (via about page or direct mail) that i have not been able to reply to or for that matter update my blog or provide any update to TEDinator.

I am currently between changing jobs and the place i live at….these has sort of messed a lot of things and i have to had to cope with a lot of things so i could not come up with the time to do anything….and in fact it is still going to be another month before everything can become normal, methinks.

Now apart from this, the other reason i was not updating TEDinator was that i was planning and, have in fact, begun work on a new version which would automate everything and make the whole affair a lot smoother for the user, that is you, and i wanted to introduce the fix with that version but unfortunately, i have not been able to complete the version, So i am providing you with a fix for the “100 Videos” limit issue.

 

This is Version 3.5.

TED V3.0 : The TEDinator

Sometime back…..I gave you a sneak preview of the new version of TED Downloader (is, has and always shall be free :)) which i was working on. I am happy to say that i have completed my work on it and now i can introduce you to the finished product, that is “The TEDinator” (I can never get tired of that :)). 

I went through a lot (and i mean a lot!!!) of your suggestions(listed below) and implemented those that i could. Here is the changelog :

TED-inator : A Preview

OK…i know it has been some time since i have posted anything…but i recently switched jobs, had certain responsibilities, some projects and as always….TED Downloader to occupy me. But now i have sorted out a major part of my stuff and i can hope to post more frequently. Anyways, moving on with the post…

Ladies and Gentleman, i would like to introduce you to someone very special…..the TED-inator (pronounced TED-EEhn-na-TOR), the only inator which does not do Evil.(for all P&F fans out there).

Here is a sneak developer preview to the latest version of TED Downloader which has been christened ” The TED-inator’. Don’t worry, i have taken all your feedback’s, requests, reviews and demands into consideration.

Here are the screens :

Do let me know what you think, any additions and subtractions are welcome. I am currently working on downloading subtitles module but pretty soon, it will be finished and you will have the complete package that is “The TED-inator” *bum bum bum bum*

Download Videos from TED Version 2

Scenario contd. : You are a huge fan of TED and would like to download the inspirational videos. But the site allows you to download one video at a time, You want something which can download the videos in a more better way.

Solution contd. : I have already introduced you to TED Downloader Version 1 which allowed you to download all the videos at once. Finally as promised, based on your suggestions(Thank you for those 🙂 ), i have been able to release the next version of TED Downloader.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give to you the new, improved and highly customised Version : TED Downloader Version 2.

Download videos from TED

Scenario : You are a huge fan of TED and would like to download the inspirational videos. But the site allows you to download one video at a time, You want something which can download all the videos at once.

Solution : Here is the Reply to your Problem. I’m sure many of you know what TED is. For those of you who do not know what TED is, go here :  http://www.ted.com/.

TED is a wonderful site which contains riveting talks by remarkable people which is available free to the world. It really consists of Ideas worth Spreading.

Now if you want to download videos from their site, you have to download the videos one by one. There is no option to download all videos at once. If you Google for a TED Downloader, you will hardly find anything…so here is a way to finally download those videos.

I present to you…The TED Downloader.