Tidal Media Downloader (Tidal‑DL & Tidal‑GUI) Review from GitHub

Part 1: What Is Tidal Media Downloader?

Hosted on GitHub, Tidal Media Downloader is an unofficial open source tool for downloading music and videos directly from Tidal to a computer. Unlike the official Tidal app, which only allows streaming or protected offline downloads, Tidal Media Downloader saves tracks, albums, playlists, and artist albums in formats such as FLAC (lossless), M4A or AAC, and MP3. It also preserves metadata like titles, artist names, album art, and track numbers. The core project powers related tools like tidal dl and tidal gui.

Tidal Media Downloader PRO

Tidal Media Downloader PRO offers an easier installation for Windows. Precompiled builds reduce the need to install dependencies, making it convenient for users who want the full features without technical setup. Its functions are similar to the original project, but the PRO version is simpler to use.

Part 2: What Is Tidal DL on GitHub?

tidal dl is the command line version and the most powerful option. Users can batch download tracks, playlists, albums, artist catalogs, and music videos while controlling output format, metadata, and destination folders. It is popular among advanced users who automate library management or use scripts.

The tool works on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android, but requires familiarity with Python and terminal commands. While it offers an interactive interface, the lack of a graphical interface can make it harder for beginners. For those comfortable with CLI, tidal dl is lightweight and efficient for managing Tidal content offline.

Part 3: What Is Tidal GUI on GitHub?

tidal gui is a graphical interface built on tidal dl that makes downloading easier for Windows users. Users interact with a windowed application rather than the command line, making it beginner-friendly with clearly labeled buttons and settings.

Updates may lag behind tidal dl, and some features are Windows-only. As an open source tool, it may sometimes require manual updates or troubleshooting. Still, the simple interface makes tidal gui ideal for everyday users who prefer a visual downloader.

Part 4: Important Things to Know About Tidal Media Downloader

Open-source downloaders can be powerful, but it helps to understand how they work before you start using them.

4.1 Is Tidal Media Downloader Safe to Use?

If you're thinking about Tidal‑Media‑Downloader, tidal‑dl, or tidal‑gui, they are generally safe when downloaded from the official GitHub page. Being open-source means the code is public and can be inspected by anyone. To access music, the tools require a Tidal login. Often this happens through a browser, which generates a temporary token instead of saving your password. This is safer than storing credentials directly, but you are still giving the program account access. Some users even use a secondary Tidal account for extra peace of mind.

Antivirus warnings can appear when running compiled versions, but these are usually false positives caused by Python packaging tools. The bigger risk is downloading from unofficial sites, which could include altered files or malware.

4.2 Is Tidal Media Downloader Legal?

The legal side is more complicated. These tools let you save music streams from TIDAL to your computer. The software itself is fine to distribute, but downloading music may violate Tidal's terms of service.

Tidal normally allows downloads only inside its app, and those files are protected. These tools bypass those protections, which is why developers include disclaimers recommending personal use only. In short, most users treat the software as a personal offline solution. The tools themselves are not illegal, but how to use them could raise legal or contractual issues.

Part 5: How Do Tidal-GUI and Tidal-DL Work?

If you have never used command-line programs, tools like tidal‑gui and tidal‑dl may seem technical at first. In practice, the workflow is fairly simple once you see how it works.

5.1 How to Use Tidal‑GUI from GitHub

Tidal‑GUI is a graphical downloader designed mainly for Windows computers. It lets you log in to Tidal, browse music, and download tracks inside the program window.

Step 1 Open your browser and go to the GitHub repository for Tidal Media Downloader, then locate the Releases section on the right side of the page.

Step 2 Click the latest release and scroll to the Assets section, then download the file named tidal-gui.exe to your computer.

Step 3 Open your Downloads folder and double click tidal-gui.exe to launch the program.

Step 4 When the application opens, a Tidal device code will appear on the screen.

Step 5 Open the Tidal app or the Tidal website in your browser, sign in to your account, and enter the device code to complete authorization.

Step 6 After login finishes, the Tidal‑GUI window will load your account and allow you to browse music inside the interface.

Step 7 Use the search bar to find a track, album, or playlist you want to download.

Step 8 Select the item and adjust download settings such as format or audio/video quality if needed.

Step 9 Click the Download button to start downloading the selected music.

5.2 How to Use Tidal‑DL from GitHub

Tidal‑DL is a command line downloader that runs through Python. It works on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android devices through terminal commands. Before installing Tidal‑DL, make sure Python is installed on your system. Then follow the setup steps for your platform.

Windows:

Step 1 Open your browser and go to the GitHub page for Tidal‑DL.

Step 2 Scroll to the Releases section and download tidal-dl.exe.

Step 3 Move the file to a folder on your computer and double click it to launch the program.

Linux:

Step 1 Open Terminal.

Step 2 Run the following command to install the downloader.

pip3 install tidal-dl --upgrade

macOS:

Step 1 Open Terminal and run the following commands.

brew install ffmpeg

brew install python

curl -O http://python-distribute.org/distribute_setup.py

python distribute_setup.py

curl -O https://raw.github.com/pypa/pip/master/contrib/get-pip.py

python get-pip.py

pip3 install --upgrade tidal-dl

Step 2 After installation finishes, run:

tidal-dl

Android (Termux):

Step 1 Install the Termux app from the Play Store and open it.

Step 2 Grant storage permission by running:

termux-setup-storage

Step 3 Install the required packages.

pkg install python clang libjpeg-turbo ffmpeg zlib -y

apt update

apt upgrade

pkg update

pip3 install --upgrade pip

pip3 install --upgrade tidal-dl

Step 4 Start the program by running:

tidal-dl

Download Music with Tidal‑DL

Step 1 Launch tidal-dl.exe on Windows or run tidal-dl in Terminal on macOS, Linux, or Android.

Step 2 When prompted, enter your Tidal username and password to sign in.

Step 3 Follow the on screen prompts to configure settings such as the download folder, format, and audio quality.

Step 4 Open the Tidal app, copy the share link of the track, album, or playlist you want to download.

Step 5 In the command window, run:

tidal-dl [URL]

Step 6 Replace [URL] with the link you copied from Tidal. The program will begin downloading the selected music automatically.

Part 6: Best Tidal Media Downloader Alternatives for Windows and Mac

While Tidal Media Downloader is a powerful tool for downloading Tidal tracks, the process can put users at risk for privacy. Plus, Tidal DL and Tidal GUI give users a complicated interface that is hard to handle. Many people want to get a more practical way to download Tidal tracks. If you are also looking for a more effective tool, then the best alternative to GitHub Tidal downloader is ViWizard Tidal Music Converter.

3.1 Review of ViWizard Tidal Music Downloader

ViWizard Tidal Music Converter is an all-in-one tool available for Windows and Mac. It allows Tidal users to download and convert Tidal tracks to common formats like MP3, M4A, FLAC, etc. This converter can maintain the original sound quality and ID3 tags while downloading at 40x faster speed. It is worth mentioning that this downloader enables you to personalize the output parameters and manage your output library easily by album, artists, or album/artists. It is optional to set the output format, bit rate, channel, and sample rate as desired. After you download your favorite Tidal tracks, you can transfer them to other devices, like your Apple Watch or Sonos.

Key Features of ViWizard Tidal Music Converter

Free Trial Free Trial

* Security verified. 5, 481,347 people have downloaded it.

• Download full songs, albums, playlists, and artists from Tidal without ads offline
• Convert Tidal tracks in bulk at up to 40x faster speed
• Export Tidal music to MP3, FLAC, WAV, AIFF, M4A, and M4B
• Support various quality options up to a maximum of 24-bit, 192 kHz

3.2 ViWizard Tidal Downloader vs GitHub Tidal Downloader

To help you make a quick decision to choose a suitable downloader, we prapare a overview chart to compare GitHub Tidal Media Downloder and ViWizard. You can see their strengths and weaknesses clearly below.

3.3 How to Download Tidal Music with ViWizard

If you think the ViWizard Tidal Music Converter stands out in most aspects compared with Tidal DL and Tidal GUI downloader, you can learn how to download Tidal Music in this part. Here is a how-to guide to download your favorite Tidal music with ViWizard program. Please read on.

Step 1Enter Tidal tracks to ViWizard

Make sure the ViWizard Tidal Music Converter is installed on your computer. Launch it and log in your Tidal account, you can head to your Tidal music library to find some tracks that you want to download. Then click the 'Add Music' icon to add them to the conversion list.

Step 2Adjust output parameters

Now head to the menu bar in the program and click the 'Preferences' button. A new window will pop up and you should click the 'Conversion' tab to adjust the output parameters as you want. The converter allows the users to select the output format, channel, sample rate, and bit rate. After adjusting, don't forget to hit the 'OK' button to save your settings.

Step 3Download and convert Tidal Music

Click the 'Convert' icon button in the bottom right corner of the ViWizard program to start the download and conversion process. After a while, this converter will export Tidal tracks to your targeted format and save them as local audio files. Please click the 'Converted' button to locate and view your downloaded Tidal tracks.

Part 7: Tidal-DL vs Tidal-GUI: Feature Comparison Table

Conclusion:

Both Tidal-DL and Tidal-GUI are unofficial tools from the TIDAL-Media-Downloader project that are designed to download music from TIDAL. They offer similar core functions, but the overall experience is different. Tidal‑DL is better suited for users who are comfortable using terminal commands and want more control or automation. Tidal‑GUI, on the other hand, focuses on simplicity. With its graphical interface, users can paste links and start downloading with just a few clicks, making it easier for beginners.

For an even better Tidal listening experience, there is ViWizard Tidal Music Converter. It works well for Windows and Mac users who want to download music from Tidal to local files with a simpler workflow and interface. You can try it for free.