🎬 ytMax v1.0.0 Release

We are excited to announce the first official release of ytMax, a 100% standalone, serverless, privacy-first Android media workstation.

Built with Kotlin 2.0, Jetpack Compose, AndroidX Media3 (ExoPlayer), and an embedded CPython 3.11 + FFmpeg 8.0 runtime, ytMax downloads and losslessly merges YouTube video and audio up to 8K Ultra HD entirely on-device with ₹0 server cost.

🌟 What's New in v1.0.0

📥 1. On-Device 8K Downloader Engine

• Pure Standalone: No remote servers, no VPS, no paid third-party APIs, no Termux, and no root needed.
• Full Resolution Spectrum: Download in 8K (4320p), 4K (2160p), 2K (1440p), 1080p Full HD, 720p, 480p, 360p, 240p, or 144p.
• Lossless Muxing: Bundles native ARM64 FFmpeg 8.0.1 to losslessly merge separate high-bitrate video (DASH) and audio streams (Opus/AAC/M4A) without re-encoding quality loss.
• QuickJS Signature Decryption: Bundles native libqjs.so to solve YouTube's client challenges on the fly.
• Scoped Storage Publishing: Automatically registers completed downloads with Android's MediaStore (visible immediately in your system gallery, VLC, and MX Player).
• Foreground Service: Reliable background downloads with a persistent notification progress bar showing live speed (MB/s) and ETA.
• Share Intent: Paste links directly or share videos from the official YouTube app to ytMax.

🎥 2. Built-in Native Video Player (Media3 ExoPlayer)

• MX Player-Style Aspect Ratio Modes: Cycle through 4 distinct display modes with bold center HUD feedback:
  • FIT TO SCREEN: Standard letterbox/pillarbox maintaining aspect ratio.
  • STRETCH: Expands video edge-to-edge without cropping.
  • CROP: Zooms to fill screen while maintaining aspect ratio (crops edges).
  • 100%: 1:1 unscaled native resolution centered with black borders on all sides.
• Precision Gesture Controls:
  • Left Vertical Swipe: Screen brightness control ($0%$ to $100%$).
  • Right Vertical Swipe: System volume control.
  • Horizontal Swipe: Timeline scrub/seek with live +Xs / -Xs (MM:SS) HUD.
  • 2-Finger Pinch Zoom: Smooth hardware zoom ($1.0\times$ to $4.0\times$) with floating quick-reset badge.
  • Touch & Hold (2 Seconds): 2X speed playback boost with top indicator pill; restores normal speed on release.
  • Double-Tap: $\pm$10s skip.
• Orientation Toggle: Instant switch between portrait and sensor landscape.

🎵 3. Dedicated Audio Player & Persistent Speed

• Audio Player UI: Displays high-resolution album artwork, song metadata, channel badges, and audio format chips (MP3, M4A, OPUS).
• Auto-Advancing Playlists: Automatically starts the next video/audio track when the current one finishes.
• Universal Playback Speed Engine: Choose from 0.25x, 0.5x, 0.75x, 1.0x (Normal), 1.25x, 1.5x, 1.75x, or 2.0x. Selected speed persists across all videos and audios and survives app restarts.

🗂️ 4. Downloads Manager & Gallery

• Grid / List View: One-tap toggle between single rows and modern 2-column card grids.
• Live Search: Instant filtering by video title or channel name.
• 6-Way Sorting: Sort by Newest, Oldest, A-Z, Z-A, or File Size.
• Multi-Select Queue: Select multiple media files to play as a custom playlist.
• Protected Image Viewer: View full-size thumbnails with pinch-to-zoom and pan. Deleting a thumbnail never deletes the audio or video file.

📲 Installation

1. Download ytMax-v1.0.apk from the Assets section below.
2. Open the file on your Android device (Android 8.0+ supported).
3. If prompted, allow "Install from Unknown Sources".
4. Open ytMax—on the first launch, the app initializes the embedded Python and FFmpeg engines in ~3 seconds.

🔒 Privacy & Independence

• ₹0 Lifetime Cost: No server subscriptions, no VPS hosting, no paid third-party proxies.
• 100% Local & Private: Direct connection between your phone and the media source. No telemetry, tracking, or proxy data collection.