How to Select Video Quality for Downloads in YTLite: A Complete Guide

YTLite uses unified "Playback quality" settings for both streaming and downloads—configure Wi-Fi and cellular quality in the tweak's Player settings, and downloads automatically match your selection.

YTLite is a YouTube enhancement tweak that adds powerful playback controls to the iOS YouTube app. One of its most-requested features is the ability to select video quality for downloads—ensuring saved videos match your preferred resolution rather than defaulting to automatic quality. This guide explains exactly how YTLite's quality selection works and how to configure it for both streaming and downloads.

How YTLite's Video Quality Selection Works

YTLite extends the standard YouTube settings with a dedicated Player submenu. The quality you select here applies universally—to both streaming playback and the Download Manager's output files.

The implementation follows this flow:

1. User preference storage – Selected quality indices saved to wiFiQualityIndex and cellQualityIndex in YTLUserDefaults.m
2. Network-aware retrieval – The ‑autoQuality helper in YTLite.x checks current connection type
3. Format constraint application – MLQuickMenuVideoQualitySettingFormatConstraint enforces the selected quality on both player and download pipeline

Available Quality Options

YTLite provides these resolution choices in the quality picker (YTSettingsPickerViewController):

@[
  LOC(@"Default"),      // System automatic selection
  LOC(@"Best"),         // Highest available quality
  @"2160p60",           // 4K 60fps
  @"2160p",             // 4K 30fps
  @"1440p60",           // 2K 60fps
  @"1440p",             // 2K 30fps
  @"1080p60",           // Full HD 60fps
  @"1080p",             // Full HD 30fps
  @"720p60",            // HD 60fps
  @"720p",              // HD 30fps
  @"480p",              // Standard definition
  @"360p"               // Low bandwidth
]

Configuring Playback Quality for Downloads

Step 1: Access YTLite Settings

Open YouTube → Settings → YTLite (purple-tinted section) → Player

Step 2: Set Wi-Fi Quality

Tap "Playback quality on Wi-Fi" to open YTSettingsPickerViewController. Select your preferred resolution. This quality applies to:

• Video streaming on Wi-Fi networks
• Downloads initiated while connected to Wi-Fi

Step 3: Set Cellular Quality

Tap "Playback quality on Cellular" and select a resolution. This applies to:

• Video streaming on mobile data
• Downloads initiated on cellular networks

Step 4: Enable Force Best Quality (Optional)

The ForceBestQuality toggle (found in Player settings) disables Shorts-specific quality choosers and forces maximum available quality. This also affects downloads through the same MLQuickMenuVideoQualitySettingFormatConstraint mechanism.

How YTLite Enforces Download Quality

The quality selection is applied through code in YTLite.x:

NetworkStatus status = [[Reachability reachabilityForInternetConnection] currentReachabilityStatus];
NSInteger kQualityIndex = status == ReachableViaWiFi ? ytlInt(@"wiFiQualityIndex")
                                                 : ytlInt(@"cellQualityIndex");

NSArray *qualityLabels = @[@"Default", bestQualityLabel,
                         @"2160p60", @"2160p", @"1440p60", @"1440p",
                         @"1080p60", @"1080p", @"720p60", @"720p",
                         @"480p", @"360p"];
NSString *qualityLabel = qualityLabels[kQualityIndex];

// Find closest match if exact label unavailable
// ...

MLQuickMenuVideoQualitySettingFormatConstraint *fc = [[%c(MLQuickMenuVideoQualitySettingFormatConstraint) alloc] init];
if ([fc respondsToSelector:@selector(initWithVideoQualitySetting:formatSelectionReason:qualityLabel:)]) {
    [self.activeVideo setVideoFormatConstraint:
        [fc initWithVideoQualitySetting:3 formatSelectionReason:2 qualityLabel:qualityLabel]];
}

The activeVideo object's format constraint is read by both the player and the download manager, ensuring downloaded files match your selected quality.

Key Source Files

File	Purpose
Settings.x	UI definition for quality picker rows; stores wiFiQualityIndex/cellQualityIndex
YTLite.x	‑autoQuality implementation; applies MLQuickMenuVideoQualitySettingFormatConstraint
Utils/YTLUserDefaults.m	Default values for quality indices (both default to 0 = "Default")
layout/…/Localizable.strings	Translated UI strings ("Playback quality on WiFi", "Force quality")

Summary

• YTLite's playback quality settings control both streaming and downloads—there are no separate download quality options
• Configure "Playback quality on Wi-Fi" and "Playback quality on Cellular" in YTLite → Player settings
• The ForceBestQuality toggle overrides all quality selection for maximum resolution
• Quality selection is enforced through MLQuickMenuVideoQualitySettingFormatConstraint in YTLite.x, which both player and download manager respect
• Default quality indices are stored in YTLUserDefaults.m and read dynamically based on network status

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if my selected quality isn't available for a video?

YTLite automatically finds the closest available quality. The ‑autoQuality method in YTLite.x compares the numeric portion of your selected label (e.g., "1080" from "1080p60") against available formats and selects the nearest match.

Do I need to set quality separately for downloads and streaming?

No. YTLite uses a unified quality system. The same wiFiQualityIndex and cellQualityIndex values control both playback and downloads. When you initiate a download, the download manager reads the same activeVideo format constraint that the player uses.

Why does YTLite have separate Wi-Fi and cellular quality settings?

This follows YouTube's native pattern while adding download support. The Reachability framework detects your connection type in YTLite.x, and the tweak automatically applies the appropriate stored index (wiFiQualityIndex or cellQualityIndex). This prevents accidental 4K downloads over cellular data.

Where are my quality preferences stored?

Quality indices are persisted through NSUserDefaults via the YTLUserDefaults.m utility class. The keys are wiFiQualityIndex and cellQualityIndex, both defaulting to 0 (the "Default" option that lets YouTube choose automatically).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}