DirectDown

Ripping content off the Internet has always been at the heart of the avid data hoarder, and despite the fact that there have been multiple changes regarding the techniques and characteristics of file downloading, the main requirements of Internet download managers still remain the same. A straightforward approach, a clear view of the download progress and status, as well as simple means of defining the output characteristics. DirectDown addresses all these requirements and more, by offering a minimalist solution for downloading content from URLs and saving it to your preferred local directories.

The design of DirectDown carries an inherent degree of simplicity, and its characteristics ensure straightforward, accessible handling, which can be advantageous if you’re either a novice or wants to avoid too complex solutions.

Having said that, we were happy to see that the URL input process is quite simple, but not so happy to see that the application lacks support for batch processing. We feel that this is an essential feature to have on an Internet download manager.

The app comes equipped with an option for automatically catching any URLs from the clipboard. This enhances one's download process and can be easily toggled on or off, from the app's settings section. However, users must be aware that this occurs only when initializing the application. Or when toggling the feature from the settings section. Otherwise, the URLs will not be refreshed in the corresponding download field.

Defining the preferred output directory for the downloaded data is simple enough, and there is an option for setting a particular folder as default, for future iterations, which we thought to be quite handy.

One aspect that offers a good degree of versatility in use, is the fact that the application offers several, post-download options, for the state of the PC, making long and tedious downloads more manageable.

This download manager offers a simple experience, and although lacks some features, still manages to provide simple, unhindered operation.