Support
Getting it working
Two things trip people up: the first launch, and a site that suddenly stops working. Both are below.
First launch on macOS
The app is signed with a Developer ID, but notarisation is still outstanding — so macOS holds back the first launch and says the developer cannot be verified. To get past it:
- 01Open the disk image and drag Mika+MediaFetch to Applications.
- 02Open the Applications folder in Finder.
- 03Right-click Mika+MediaFetch and choose Open.
- 04Confirm in the dialog. macOS remembers the choice — later launches are normal.
Adding a link
01
Hand over a link
Paste it into the field, drag it onto the window, share it from Safari or Chrome, or drop it on the Dock icon. Copy a link elsewhere and the app offers it in a banner when you come back.
02
Pick the format
The app reads what is on offer and shows it. Take one of the four recommendations, or go through the full table. Tick the box and you will not be asked again.
03
Let it run
The download joins the queue and shows progress, speed and time remaining. Video and audio are muxed together when they arrive separately. Add more links while it works.
The share extension appears under Share in Safari and Chrome. If it is missing, enable it in System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → Sharing.
When a download fails
The app names the failure rather than printing engine output. Two cases are worth knowing in advance:
“The extractor for this site is out of date”
By far the most common one, and the easiest to fix. Open About Mika+MediaFetch: it shows how old the bundled yt-dlp is and updates it in place. That resolves most extraction failures without waiting for an app release.
“This video is copy-protected”
The stream is DRM-protected, and the app circumvents no protection of any kind. There is no setting that changes this and no retry button, because retrying cannot help.
Keyboard
- ⇧⌘V
- Add the link on the clipboard
- ⇧⌘Y
- Open the history window
- ⌘,
- Settings — destination folder and parallel downloads
- ⌘W
- Close the window; downloads keep running
- ⌘Q
- Quit, stopping every running download cleanly
Questions
Which sites does it work with?
The download engine is yt-dlp, which maintains extractors for several thousand sites. Rather than publish a list that would be out of date within a week, the honest answer is: try the link. If there is no extractor for that site, the app says so in as many words instead of failing silently.
Does it work with Netflix, Disney+ or Prime Video?
No, and it is not intended to. Those services encrypt their streams with DRM, and this app circumvents no copy protection of any kind — no Widevine, no FairPlay, no PlayReady. When a site turns out to be protected, the download stops with “this video is copy-protected” and offers no retry, because there is nothing to retry.
Is the free version a trial?
No. It does not expire, it does not count downloads, it does not add waiting times and it does not nag. Single downloads up to 1080p work permanently. Pro adds higher resolutions, entire collections, parallel downloads and separate audio tracks — the base version is not a countdown to buying them.
How is the licence key checked?
On your Mac, against a public key compiled into the app, using an Ed25519 signature. There is no licence server, so there is nothing to contact — at launch or afterwards. The key is verified each time it is read, which means adding the key to a preferences file by hand unlocks nothing.
Do I need to install anything else — Homebrew, Python, FFmpeg?
No. yt-dlp and a purpose-built FFmpeg are inside the app bundle. Nothing is installed elsewhere on your system, and nothing is downloaded at first launch.
Why is the app 148 MB?
Almost all of it is the bundled engine. yt-dlp ships as an unpacked directory rather than a single file, which is what makes it start in a quarter of a second instead of twenty-two — a one-file build unpacks 23 MB into a temporary folder on every single call. The disk image you download is 64 MB.
Can it embed subtitles?
Not yet. Subtitles are on the list, but nothing in the app writes them into the file today, so they are not part of what Pro sells.
Where do the files go?
Wherever you point it. The destination folder is set once in Settings and used for everything after that; each finished download can be revealed in Finder from the list or the history.
Does it send anything about me anywhere?
No account, no telemetry, no analytics. The app talks to the site you are downloading from, to GitHub for its own update check, and to yt-dlp's release page when you ask it to update the engine. That is the complete list.
Why is it not on the Mac App Store?
Two reasons, either of which is enough. The app runs a child process to do the downloading, which App Store sandboxing does not allow in this form, and the App Store guidelines exclude downloader apps outright. It is distributed directly, signed with a Developer ID, and updates itself through Sparkle.
Does it run on Intel Macs?
Yes. The app and both bundled tools are universal binaries, so Apple silicon and Intel are covered by the same download. It needs macOS 15 Sequoia or later.
A site stopped working. What now?
Almost always the extractor, not the app. Open the About window: it shows how old the bundled yt-dlp is and updates it in place. That fixes most extraction failures without waiting for an app release.
Something else broken? Write to mediafetch@daumedia.lu with your macOS version, the app version from the About window, and what the app did.