wtf is ghost-downloader-3?

Ghost Downloader 3 is a desktop download manager built with Python and Qt that runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android. It aims to speed up and simplify downloading files from many different kinds of sources through one program with a modern, fluent style interface. The app splits large downloads into chunks the same way IDM style download managers do, without needing a separate step to merge the pieces back together afterward, and it uses AI to help decide how to accelerate downloads further. It supports a wide range of protocols and sources: plain HTTP links, Magnet links and BitTorrent, FTP, HLS style M3U8 streaming video, MPEG DASH, and the older eD2k network. It can also parse and download videos directly from YouTube and Bilibili, including playlists, resolutions up to 4K with HDR, and subtitles. To avoid being blocked by anti bot protections, the app mimics the network fingerprint of a real web browser. It has dedicated handling for downloading releases from GitHub and models from HuggingFace, with mirror servers to speed those up. Live streams in M3U8 format can be recorded with decryption applied in real time, and this feature also works on the Android version of the app. A companion browser extension can detect media playing on a web page, take over the browser's own downloads, and control download tasks without switching windows. The app also exposes an aria2 compatible interface so other tools can send it download tasks directly, and any task can be paused, edited to change its URL, headers, or proxy, and resumed without losing progress. The project started as the author's first Python project, originally built to help a video creator manage resources, and it now has an official Android app alongside the desktop versions. It is released under the GPL v3.0 license and is actively translated into multiple languages by community contributors.