Sownloader

Blog

  • Introducing converting to Sownloader Web (BETA)

    I am pleased to announce that Sownloader Web is now able to download your songs as MP3 file as well. This feature was requested by many people and I finally found a solution to add it.

    Please keep in mind, downloading a song as MP3 takes much longer than usual. Depending on the filesize it can take up to a few minutes until the converting process has finished. Perhaps downloading as MP3 might not work for every performance. If you are facing any difficulties then feel free to send me an email with the performance link to support@sownloader.com

    Marvin Klein

    MarvinKleinMusic

  • Small website update

    Hey everyone,

    Today we have made several minor improvements to the website.

    What has been changed?

    • Data is now displayed in the correct country format.
    • The last 5 downloads are now displayed instead of the last 3 downloads.
    • The missing favicon icon was added
    • Missing graphics in the area MarvinKleinMusic Favourites have been added.
    • A possible XSS vulnerability has been closed.
    • The donation box was redesigned

    Best,

    Marvin Klein

    MarvinKleinMusic

  • Introducing Sownloader Web 3.0

    Hey everyone,

    today I want to introduce the new Sownloader Web version 3.0.

    Sownloader Web has been introduced back on the 16th October 2015. Since then many things have been changed within the last three years. There were many changes to the Smule website which needed to become adapted in all Sownloader services. With Sownloader 8 we successfully adapted those changes for all Windows users but we have not taken care of the Web version yet – until now!

    I am pleased to announce that Sownloader Web has been updated to the latest URL detection algorithms from Sownloader 8.

    What does this mean to Sownloader?

    With the updated algorithms we can react to changes on the official Smule Website much faster. The old algorithms have used something called regular expressions to detect any detail we need from the Smule website. Those were specific to the audio url, video url, title, cover art and message from the performance. If Smule has changed something in their code, we had to update all of those information in order to keep our service running.

    Now we are using regular expressions to detect the entire performance data at once. This data is stored as a JSON file which allows us to easily get all information we want.

    Keep in mind that Sownloader can only detect the download link if the performance has been heard at least once on either the Smule website or any Smule App.

    If you encounter any problems with Sownloader Web, conact us and add the performance URL to the message.

    support@sownloader.com

    Best,

    Marvin

    MarvinKleinMusic

  • Announcement about Sownloader development

    Hey everyone,

    since the introduction of Sownloader back in 2014, people have continuesly asked about Sownloader for macOS and iOS. Over the time, I have added the Sownloader Web service to reach out people on macOS, iOS, and Android.

    With Sownloader Web you were able to download all your songs from Smule with every device that has access to the internet. Although Sownloader Web has been a complete success since it’s launch, it’s functionality was limited, e.g. you are not able to convert your files with Sownloader Web yet.

    Today, I am pleased to announce that the original Sownloader experience is coming to macOS and iOS soon. Because of all of your amazing support within the past four years, I was able to get a cheap Mac to develop for iOS and macOS. Moreover, the Sownloader Web service will get an update this weekend with the new URL-Detection engine from Sownloader 8.

    The development for iOS starts at the end of this week. The macOS version will follow once the iOS version has been published. Both versions of Sownloader will be written in Swift.

    Stay tuned for more information!

    Best,

    Marvin Klein

    MarvinKleinMusic

  • Introducing Sownloader 8

    Hey everyone,

    finally it is time to share the latest news about Sownloader with all of you. Since my last blog post I got an answer from Smule according to the issues with Internet Explorer (IE).

    Here is what they said:

    Thanks for contacting us! We suggest trying other web browsers, such as Firefox or Google Chrome. […] We’ll bring it all up with the appropriate team. We can’t promise anything will come of it, however it will certainly be considered.

    So it is not impossible that this issue will get fixed in the future but it is definitely not on high priority. They suggested to use another browser instead of IE. That is exactly what I do in Sownloader 8! Honestly, who wants to use the IE? From now on Sownloader uses the great GeckoFX engine from Firefox!

    Introducing Sownloader DarkTheme

    In addition to the GeckoFX engine, Sownloader comes in an all new stunning dark theme. Here is what it looks like:

     

    The dark theme looks just stunning. It is perfect to browse through your media at either day or night time. Moreover Sownloader is now completely resizeable!

     

    Get rid of old stuff

    I decided to remove some stuff of Sownloader for a good reason.

    1. It was not used by many users
    2. It caused many problems with several different aspects
    3. The code was out-dated

    Which features were removed?

    • Setting to delete temporary files -> Sownloader will do this automatically now.
    • Setting to set the current year as default ID3Tag -> Sownloader will do this automatically now.
    • The button to open appdata in settings -> config.ini is now saved in the applications default path
    • Switch for ID3Tag settings -> the ID3Tag popup will now be default -> can be turned off in the settings
    • Options for network access -> Sownloader uses the default connection of your system
    • Supdater

    Instead of the old Supdater, Sownloader will now use an all new update mechanism which is much easier to handle. In addtion to this I am able to add more security for update files in the future much easier.

    Important information

    Sownloader has been completely rewritten in C#. This means that there might be some bugs at some places. I will fix them as fast as possible if you inform me about the bug via email.

    support@sownloader.com

    Download

    You can download the latest version of Sownloader for free right here.

    Changelog:

    [General]
    + Added GeckoFX 45 Core to Sownloader -> Sownloader is not longer based on Internet Explorer, now it uses Firefox.
    + Sownloader has been completely rewritten in C# instead of VB.NET
    + Sownloader URL search engine 3.0
    + Added ALT related shortcuts to buttons and menus
    + Added FFMpeg 3.4
    + Added Mozilla Public License
    + Added new MarvinKleinMusic favourites
    + Added new update mechanism
    + Added history suggestions back to the address bar
    + Added “Send feedback…” to Help Menu
    + Added “About Sownloader 8” to help menu
    ~ Renamed “?” to “Help”
    ~ Adjustments to the config class
    # Fixed an issue with finding video urls
    # Fixed an issue with video files which are too big
    # Fixed an issue with converting when the file path contains a white space
    # Fixed an issue which caused Sownloader to detect the wrong performance URL
    # Fixed that Sownloader was not able to download on computers, where the webclient is blocked by default
    # Fixed “ding” sound by pressing enter in the address bar
    # Fixed wrong animation for reloading a webpage
    # Fixed blank Smule website
    # Fixed an issue with invalid album cover art URLs
    – Removed setting to delete temporary files -> Sownloader will do this automatically now.
    – Removed setting to set the current year as default ID3Tag -> Sownloader will do this automatically now.
    – Removed the button to open appdata in settings -> config.ini is now saved in the applications default path
    – Removed switch for ID3Tag settings -> the ID3Tag popup will now be default -> can be turned off in the settings
    – Removed options for network access -> Sownloader uses the default connection of your system
    – Removed Supdater

    [Design]
    + Introducing Sownloader DarkTheme
    + Sownloader is now 100% resizeable
    + Tag Editor is now resizeable
    + Added new icons which fit into the new DarkTheme
    + Added color for disabled buttons

     

    MarvinKleinMusic

  • Important information about Sownloader

    Hey everyone,

    today I want to share some important information about the Sownloader service with all of you. According to a bug on the official Smule website, Sownloader is no longer able to find any performance URLs. Right now their page is not compatible with any version of the Internet Explorer. All versions of Sownloader – except for the very first one – use the Internet Explorer as browser engine because it was built in Visual Studio (the development environment).

    The main problem on Smule’s website is some incompatible JavaScript, which works fine in other browsers, but Internet Explorer cannot handle it.

    I spent the last week on working for a patch to fix this issue. In the future Sownloader will no longer use the default Internet Explorer. Instead Sownloader will work with a built in Firefox engine (GeckoFX). This big update will be available within the next week. There are only three major things that are not finished yet.

    Furthermore the update takes the Sownloader desktop environment to a whole new level. It will feature a brand new design, tons of bugfixes, and many more improvements. Most important is the switch of the coding language from VB.NET to C#. You will not believe how fast this version is!

    Meanwhile you can download all your media with the Sownloader Web service. If you need your performances as mp3, you can convert them afterwards with the built in converter in Sownloader. You can find the converter in Sownloader right here: Menu->Extras->Converter.

    Bye,

    Marvin

    MarvinKleinMusic

  • Sownloader design sneak peak

    In this post I’d like to give you a small sneak peak of the upcoming Sownloader 8 release.

    The original Sownloader was released on 13th October 14 and it has changed many times in functionality in the past but not really in design – except for some small graphic and icon updates. Since the first release I have been using just the default components of Microsoft’s Visual Studio to create the entire software. Luckily I started my apprenticeship just one month ago. Since then I have learnt many new things about the usage and customization of these controls in Visual Studio. I decided to deepen what I’ve learnt so far, so I started working on a code revision of Sownloader and a personal customized theme for it.

    All versions of Sownloader, except the Web version, are coded in VB.NET. I am working on a revision of the code in Visual C# because it grants the user more speed in performance , and because the syntax of C# is much easier to understand. Take a look at the first screenshot of this development with the new dark theme for Sownloader.

     

    Moreover I’m working on a new update for the official Sownloader website and this blog. More information about this is coming soon! I can’t wait to show you more!

    -Marvin Klein

    MarvinKleinMusic

  • Sownloader 7.2 is now available!

    Hey everyone,

    another large update is now available for Sownloader. This major update improves many details in the code. Also it includes a new version of Supdater which is now able to get information from the Sownloader website. Moreover, the “MarvinKleinMusic favourite” was improved and we are now able to add new songs to it without any kind of software update. The new section is now hosted on http://sownloader.com/marvinkleinmusic-favourites and is also accessable for Sownloader Web now.

    Also, we added support for another karaoke app, called Yokee Karaoke. Go ahead and keep all your media files safe.

    Best,

    Marvin

    Full changelog:

    [General]
    + Added support for Yokee Karaoke
    + Added converting support for Yokee Karaoke
    + Added Taglib# support for Yokee Karaoke
    + Added new “MarvinKleinMusic favourites” section
    ~ Updated Sownloader width for new MarvinKleinMusic favourites section
    # Fixed wrong animation for reload button

    [Supdater]
    + Added Supdater 1.3 to Sownloader
    + Added Sownloader User-Agent to Supdater
    + Added server connection to Sownloader.com for statistic purposes
    + Added version search to Supdater
    + Added control for Sownloader BETA (coming soon!)
    ~ Server URLs to SSL

    MarvinKleinMusic

  • Sownloader 7.1 is now available!

    Hey everyone,

    Sownloader 7.1 is now available for everyone. This is another major update for Sownloader 7 which has been released just a month ago. It brings back another Sownloader feature from the past, ID3Tag customization. We removed this feature earlier because of regular changes on the Smule website.  This version of Sownloader makes it even easier to customize all your media files, it adds another form which will pop-up if you are saving a file. Actually we support the following ID3Tags:

    • Title
    • Year
    • Album/App
    • Performer

    Keep in mind that each ID3Tag is limited to 32 Chars. In addition, we give you the option to turn off this pop-up and to generate the year automatically. The next big release will contain better support for default ID3Tags and for automatic ID3Tag detection.

    Full Changelog:

    [General]
    + Added ID3Tag form
    + Added new option to turn off the automatically add of the current year
    + Added sownloader certificate
    ~ Updated User-Agent to Mozilla/5.0
    # Fixed wrong save path initialization for new users
    # Fixed positioning of forms
    # Fixed a grammar mistake in program description

    [Sownloader.log]
    + Added elapsed time for update search

    [Layout]
    + Added background gradient to licenses
    ~ Groupbox labels to Calibri 9pt, bold
    ~ Changed button fonts to Calibri 10-12pt
    ~ Sharper text for menus and buttons
    ~ Changed all types of fonts to “Calibri”

    MarvinKleinMusic

  • Sownloader 7 is now available!

    Hey everyone,

    The first big update of 2017 is now available for Sownloader. This update adds multi-thread support and improves many small details in the software. In addtion to this, I have added many more performances to “MarvinKleinMusic favourites” which can be found in the menu at “Extras”. The biggest new feature in this update is definitely the multi-thread support, it allows Sownloader to use different threads on your computer to handle more tasks at the same time.

    Another new feature is the converter which can be found in menu “Extras”. This is just a small tool which allows you to convert media files from your computer to either .mp3 or .m4a.

    Converter form.
    Sownloader 7 – Converter

    The converter supports the following converting methods:

    • .mp4 to .mp3/.m4a
    • .m4a to .mp3
    • More options will be included in future releases

    Sownloader 7
    Sownloader 7 logo

    Changelog:

    [General]
    + Added new setting to config.ini
    + Added update search to menu
    + Added MarvinKleinMusic favourites to “Extras”
    + Added converter to Sownloader
    + Added social media buttons to about
    + Added shortcuts for Update search, Settings, Help, News, MarvinKleinMusic favourites & Tag Editor
    + Added licenses form
    ~ Updated copyright information
    ~ Changed donation currency from Euro(€) to USD($)
    # Fixed the skipVersion command in Sownloader main form
    # Fixed error while starting Sownloader
    # Fixed security issues
    # Fixed an issue with the config.ini
    # Fixed progressbar in statusstrip

    [Website]
    ~ Updated favicon icon
    # Fixed help section

    [Layout]
    + Added new icons to menu
    + Added new logo
    + Added new loading screen
    ~ Updated fonts for menus and buttons
    # Fixed flickering of tab control in settings
    # Fixed grammar mistakes in labels and menus
    # Fixed position of each form
    # Fixed wrong autofocus in main form and settings.
    – Removed background gradient in settings

    [Sownloader.log]
    + Added error reporting for Tag Editor
    ~ Updated Sownloader.log error reporting

    [Converting]
    + Added multi-thread support
    # Fixed freeze while converting a song
    # Fixed audio quality of converted mp4 files
    # Fixed converting crash with files that contains a blank space

    [Supdater]
    + Added Supdater 1.2 to Sownloader
    + Added button to start Sownloader after updating
    ~ Updated copyright information/description

    [Tag Editor]
    # Fixed layout issues in the Tag Editor
    # Fixed System.IndexOutOfRangeException in Tag Editor

    [MarvinKleinMusic favourites]
    + Added one MarvinKleinMusic favourite video performance (great performance Adrian & Chanticleer!)
    + Added three Magic Piano songs to MarvinKleinMusic favourites

    Added MarvinKleinMusic favourites:
    https://www.smule.com/recording/the-animals-house-of-the-rising-sun/225212212_824299592
    https://www.smule.com/recording/beyonce-halo/414010542_915896026
    https://www.smule.com/recording/alter-bridge-wonderful-life-original-acoustic/632816155_870481806
    https://www.smule.com/recording/aerosmith-i-dont-want-to-miss-a-thing/389180235_910126944
    https://www.smule.com/recording/lauryn-hill-tanya-blount-sister-act-2-his-eye-Is-on-the-sparrow/492506800_770540802
    https://www.smule.com/recording/eva-cassidy-autumn-leaves/56089930_201505114
    https://www.smule.com/recording/sixpence-none-the-richer-kiss-me/565210116_390415011
    https://www.smule.com/recording/falling-slowly/373723159_171048752
    https://www.smule.com/recording/drake-hotline-bling-piano-r-b/836848587_758723968
    https://www.smule.com/recording/lorde-lorde-royals-acoustic-beat/173630729_446621750
    https://www.smule.com/recording/ellie-goulding-feat-tarrus-riley-powerful-acoustic/533775705_530236225
    https://www.smule.com/recording/the-rolling-stones-ruby-tuesday/949726964_859857336
    https://www.smule.com/recording/adele-when-we-were-young-male-key/377974586_852031637
    https://www.smule.com/recording/pink-bridge-of-light/120933022_900389656
    https://www.smule.com/recording/sara-bareilles-brave/273235153_119657569
    https://www.smule.com/recording/callum-scott-dancing-on-my-own-lower-key-acoustic/490018200_891101304
    https://www.smule.com/recording/justin-cry-me-a-river-acoustic/494609242_522167589
    https://www.smule.com/recording/amanda-seyfried-little-house/92760682_826790599
    https://www.smule.com/recording/dj-sammy-heaven-candlelight-mix/103610044_208226031
    https://www.smule.com/recording/michael-buble-buble-version-what-a-wonderful-world/989936829_915422881
    https://www.smule.com/recording/skyfall/208157041_197404115
    https://www.smule.com/recording/michael-buble-on-an-evening-in-roma/532683785_865946411
    https://www.smule.com/recording/sia-cheap-thrills/262201552_888773325
    https://www.smule.com/recording/train-hey-soul-sister-piano/212278671_883041256
    https://www.smule.com/recording/ed-sheeran-i-see-fire-female-key/687813295_864886348
    https://www.smule.com/recording/hans-zimmer-time/376069011_841862703

    MarvinKleinMusic