Discussion New user experience

[redbattlestation]

Hello,

I'm a new user but I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy AnyStream Plus.

Reasons I love it so far:

• Nice and simple interface with simple settings.
• Ability to download streams with AAC stereo audio. This is fantastic.
• Really easy to search and find movies. A lot of programs of this type have web browsers built into the program but these are always tedious.
• Download queue. This alone is worth buying the Plus version for.
• Downloaded movies have a decent quality and size ratio.
• Quota system is very fair and it stops users from being banned so it's great.
• As a trial user, I got 10 free downloads on the first day of installing it and that's quite generous.
• Fair price for lifetime licence.
• Season download options are fantastic.

I have a few queries and suggestions too.

Query:

• Some people say they thought they bought a lifetime licence but it turned out to be a one year licence. Is there any issue with lifetime licences or did these people buy the wrong licence?
• When I click the Hide Download Queue button, the main part of the window (everything below the title bar) resizes incorrectly. To fix it, I need to make the window smaller then maximise it again.
• The About Anystream window has a ? button in the title bar. When clicked, it does nothing but show an invalid symbol.
• I experienced one crash so far. I was downloading a few movies, I changed the profile in the program then changed it back and the program crashed.
• In the event of a program crash, it would be nice if the download queue wasn't lost. I don't mind starting the downloads again (it's expected) but the program should not forget the download queue.
• The program needs a minimise to tray setting. Download managers and game launchers typically have them and it would suit AnyStream very well.
  
• I downloaded a few movies on Disney+ and chose AAC audio. But when the movies were downloaded, they were EAC3 audio.
• The site tabs at the top of the window (Netflix, Disney+, etc) all have cross-boxes next to them which makes that area look cluttered. You can change the site tabs in the settings menu so the cross-boxes really aren't needed.
  
• Would it be difficult to add a download from URL button? It would allow me to browse a stream site in Chrome then copy and paste a URL into AnyStream.
• In the Download window, under subtitles, there should be a checkbox at the top of the list for None so I don't need to scroll through the list to make sure none are checked.

Many thanks for making AnyStream Plus. Love it so far.

Thank you.

 

[DeepSpace]

Some people say they thought they bought a lifetime licence but it turned out to be a one year licence. Is there any issue with lifetime licences or did these people buy the wrong licence?

I haven't seen any post about this recently, maybe it was in the past. When you buy your license, you can choose between lifetime, 1-year and so on. You can also choose to include AnyDVD or not, because in Bundle it is a bit cheaper.
Edit: Just take a look into the shop. There you have a drop-down for each program where you can choose between lifetime and the other options. I can see no issue at all.

When I click the Hide Download Queue button, the main part of the window (everything below the title bar) resizes incorrectly. To fix it, I need to make the window smaller then maximise it again.

I haven't noticed this issue on my PC, maybe it depens on the performance or resolution of your monitor.

The About Anystream window has a ? button in the title bar. When clicked, it does nothing but show an invalid symbol.

When you click this button, it should open a drop down menu with one entry: "About". Clicking this then gives you the same windows as if you would click onto the AnyStream Logo on the right: The little version and license window.

I experienced one crash so far.

If you got an astdmp-file, then you can upload it. Did AS just vanish or told you that something happend and then opened an explorer window containing the file? If so, upload it.

it would be nice if the download queue wasn't lost

To save the queue has been requested numerous of times, you can only wait if they include it or not.

The program needs a minimise to tray setting.

What do you mean with setting? You can minimize AS, or do you want to do it by itself?

I downloaded a few movies on Disney+ and chose AAC audio. But when the movies were downloaded, they were EAC3 audio.

Did you use the multi-audio feature? If yes, you have to set every track to your desired quality, not just one.
Otherwise, please describe it further.

You can change the site tabs in the settings menu so the cross-boxes really aren't needed.

I agree, but they done it so you don't have to open the settings first, by one easy click. However, I barely ever used it, so it be no issue to open the menu instead.

Would it be difficult to add a download from URL button? It would allow me to browse a stream site in Chrome then copy and paste a URL into AnyStream.

That would be useful if some things cannot be found by using the search. Maybe it is enough if you add the stuff to your list, the list should then also appear within AS.

In the Download window, under subtitles, there should be a checkbox at the top of the list for None so I don't need to scroll through the list to make sure none are checked.

Yes, I already suggested one or two enhancements for the subs selection, but they are not there yet. So for me it appears that they love their automatic a bit too much, because as of now I haven't heard anything if they are even thinking about it (or dismissed it).
But maybe something is planned for 1.5.0.0, so I will wait and see.

 

[redbattlestation]

Thank you for the useful reply.
So just to clarify.


The bug with the main portion of the window. I now see the problem. When clicking Show Download Queue, the window is made wider so the download queue fits on. If the window is maximised, it squashes the download queue into place as it should and all is good. But when clicking Hide Download Queue, the window is not made smaller again. If the window is maximised, the title bar remains on-screen but the main portion of the window is now off-screen. You can see this problem for yourself by hiding the download queue and resizing the program window so it's as small as it will go. Then toggle showing and hiding the download queue.

If AnyStream crashes again, I'll be sure to upload a crash dump file. It only crashed the once and it was when I was changing profiles in the program which I would normally never do (I was just testing the features during my trial). AnyStream did prompt about the crash and didn't just disappear so that was useful.

Minimise to tray - what this means is that when you close the program with the cross-box, the program minimises completely to the system tray so the program stays running but its window tab no longer appears on the task bar. This is how Steam works, also Battle.net App and other download managers. AnyStream seems to fit into the download manager for content category just like Steam or Battle.net. Downloads take a long time so it would be nice to be able to hide the program in the system tray until needed.

For the AAC issue, I don't know what the multi-audio feature is but there is a setting in the settings panel called 'Enable downloading surround sound (where available) instead of stereo'. After unchecking this, the same movie was downloaded with AAC so the problem is resolved. So if this box is checked, AnyStream can download a movie as EAC3 even if you have AAC selected in the download settings presumably because the EAC3 track is surround and the AAC one isn't. I'm guessing that when it does that, there is no surround AAC track so it downloads the EAC3 one instead.

 

[DeepSpace]

When clicking Show Download Queue, the window is made wider so the download queue fits on. If the window is maximised, it squashes the download queue into place as it should and all is good. But when clicking Hide Download Queue, the window is not made smaller again.

Exactly, although it hasn't caused issues for me till now. Maybe it is something with your system/graphic.

to hide the program in the system tray

Oh so you mean these symbols on the right. Well you are the first I see to mention this and I have never used these symbols, when a program is open I want to have it on the left. So I have absolutely no idea what the devs would think about this, if they would take it into consideration or not as I cannot say how many people use programs that way.

I don't know what the multi-audio feature is

That you can download multiple audio tracks into one file, with one download. Maybe this is not available for the trial or limited to AS Plus, I don't know.

So if this box is checked, AnyStream can download a movie as EAC3 even if you have AAC selected in the download settings

Tbh I have no idea what you mean. AS should only download the quality you select in the download configuration window. If you select AAC 128, AS should download AAC 128 even if there is a 5.1 EAC3 track available. I can neither confirm or deny this as I always use the highest option and usually don't check my files if they have the correct format. Only when there was an issue that AS hasn't downloaded the entire audio track.

 

[redbattlestation]

Amazingly, once I bought the software and registered my key, the problem with the Hide Download Queue button (and subsequent window resizing issue) is fixed. So this seems to be a problem with the trial version only. Strange. But it's working perfectly now I'm using a registered version. My theory is that perhaps the warning at the top-right of the trial version causes this because the warning is shown in the download queue section (the warning that says the download queue is a Plus feature only). Also with the trial version, I couldn't resize the download queue width smoothly (by dragging the width resize handle). It would resize very erratically but since I registered the program, I can resize it smoothly and perfectly. So again, I think this is caused by the download queue warning in the trial version because it's not an issue in the registered version.

My licence key does say it never expires so I don't know why people were making threads saying otherwise. They must have bought the wrong licence. Seems clear as crystal to me. The licence type is shown multiple times during the checkout process so I don't know how they bought the wrong one but that must be what happened.

Having a download manager minimise to the system tray is common. I think you are right that I am the first one to suggest it because I did a search before making my original post and I was surprised to find that nobody seems to have suggested it before. I did see some requests to have AnyDVD run in the system tray though. But right now I have Steam running in the system tray downloading some updates. I have Battle.net running in the system tray too. I have my game addon manager running in the system tray as well as Outlook. It seemed obvious to me that it would be a nice feature to have AnyStream run in the system tray too.

What I love about AnyStream is that I can start off some downloads and then just leave it to do its thing and I never need to touch it for hours. This is why it would be nice to hide the program in the system tray.

With the AAC issue, what happened is this. I didn't realise that you can choose the audio format for each audio language. So I had checked English but the selection bar was on another language (unchecked). So the audio format shown was for that other language, not for the one I had checked. So now I know that I need to make sure the audio language selection bar is on the language I want and then the audio format will be for that audio language only.

It's fine now I know how it works. I just didn't realise that you could choose the audio format for every language. I assumed it would be one audio format for the file. I guess this is a silly assumption to make because it's always been the case that different audio languages will be in different audio formats so that was my mistake. So it's not the 'Enable downloading surround sound' checkbox at all. It's just a user error (i.e., me).

Seeing such a simple and neat program download multiple streams with ease while I type this reply along with the download queue and the quota system is all quite wonderful. I'm pleased with my purchase and would recommend AnyStream over anything else.

 

[cartman0208]

The bug with the main portion of the window. I now see the problem. When clicking Show Download Queue, the window is made wider so the download queue fits on. If the window is maximised, it squashes the download queue into place as it should and all is good. But when clicking Hide Download Queue, the window is not made smaller again. If the window is maximised, the title bar remains on-screen but the main portion of the window is now off-screen. You can see this problem for yourself by hiding the download queue and resizing the program window so it's as small as it will go. Then toggle showing and hiding the download queue.

That only happens with VERY low display resolutions (What's your's?)... or if resizing the AS window to very small width.

My licence key does say it never expires so I don't know why people were making threads saying otherwise. They must have bought the wrong licence.

There was an issue with the license server some time ago, which was immediately fixed, but a few people still have issues with that ...
That might be the posts you saw

Having a download manager minimise to the system tray is common. I think you are right that I am the first one to suggest it because I did a search before making my original post and I was surprised to find that nobody seems to have suggested it before.

Most AnyStream "Powerusers" use a separate machine or VM to do their downloads, they do not care about the taskbar there

So it's not the 'Enable downloading surround sound' checkbox at all.

That checkbox only adds additional sound options

Seeing such a simple and neat program download multiple streams with ease while I type this reply along with the download queue and the quota system is all quite wonderful.

That is what the developers are after ... simple and functional

 

[redbattlestation]

Yes, I'm glad I bought this software. It's just what I needed. It just needed a bit of figuring out that's all to understand it better.