January 27, 2026 | Page 3 | Andy Arthur.org

How I download and play YouTube videos with my smartphone using vlc and yt-dlp! I wrote this bash script as ~/bin/termux-url-opener and tell the YouTube app to share with termux. Prompts if I want to download an mp3 audio or video, saves the file, then opens it ad free in vlc.

#!/bin/bash

read -t 5 -p "Hit m for mp3 otherwise download video: " CHOICE

if [[ "$CHOICE" == "m" ]]; then
        DOWNLOAD_DIR="/sdcard/Movies"                                     
		cd "$DOWNLOAD_DIR"

        FILENAME=$(yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 --print filename -o "%(title)s.mp3" "$1")
        FILENAME=${FILENAME%.*}.mp3            
                   
        echo "downloading mp3..." $FILENAME
        yt-dlp "$1" -x --audio-format mp3 -o "$FILENAME"
         
        am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW \                                   -
			 -d "file://$DOWNLOAD_DIR/$FILENAME" \                           
			 -t "audio/mp3" \
             -n org.videolan.vlc/org.videolan.vlc.gui.video.VideoPlayerActivity
        exit 1
fi                                                                                                                                  

DOWNLOAD_DIR="/sdcard/Movies"
cd "$DOWNLOAD_DIR"

FORMAT="bestvideo[height<=240]+bestaudio[abr<=128]/best[height<=240]"
FILENAME=$(yt-dlp -f "$FORMAT" --print filename -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "$1")

echo "Downloading: $FILENAME"
yt-dlp -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "$1" -f "$FORMAT"

if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
        echo "Got error, retrying in 10 secomds"
        sleep 10

        yt-dlp -o "%(title)s.%(ext)s" "$1" -f "$FORMAT"
fi

am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW \
         -d "file://$DOWNLOAD_DIR/$FILENAME" \
         -t "video/*" \
         -n org.videolan.vlc/org.videolan.vlc.gui.video.VideoPlayerActivity

You camp in the middle of January in an unheated truck cap. You ride your mountain bike to work in February on the icy bike trail. You’ve lost around 50 lbs of weight, you eat right and ride to work most days of the week. You don’t eat that processed food stuff.

Truth is I wish I had many more skills, that I was a better hunter, trapper, fisher and homesteader. Skills I could refine if I did more of it, and maybe I really don’t have a good excuse not to practice except that I live in city, though I do spend a lot of time in wilderness too.

Maybe if I wasn’t so damn lazy, unwilling to do more then pick up a book and instead get out there and do more, I could be a lot better off. Be involved with more activities and groups, associate myself with more of the right kind of people that share my interests. Join a sportsmen club, attend more lectures and activities on hunting and fishing. Tour more off-grid houses, meet people are forums and events.

But maybe I’m just kind of fat and lazy in another way. Too willing to do things the way I’ve always done them, too unwilling to go out in field and practice my book knowledge. It’s great I’ve read a dozen books on hunting and homesteading, but it’s all for naught if you don’t do any of those things.

Day: January 27, 2026💾

termux-url-opener bash script for downloading and playing Youtube videos

Water and Ice

Mountains

Agriculture in New England

Monroe County Municipalities

Stoney Clove

I wish I was tougher and more skilled 💪