Save video and audio from more than a thousand sites, then re-encode it right on your phone. A fast, private, general-purpose downloader and transcoder — no account, no cloud, no store required.
Android 8.0+ · you'll need to allow installs from your browser/files.
Everything runs locally on your device. Nothing is uploaded anywhere.
Paste a link and Sieve analyzes it and picks the right formats for you.
Re-encode your own media on-device with real, tunable controls.
Grant one output folder and your files land straight there.
Yours to keep, with nothing watching over your shoulder.
No setup, no sign-in. Open Sieve and go.
Drop in a URL from any supported site. Sieve analyzes it and finds the available formats.
Choose from eight one-tap presets — best video, a specific resolution, or audio-only.
It runs in the background queue and lands in your chosen folder — ready to transcode if you like.
Sieve for Android is licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 3 (GPLv3), because it links GPL-licensed software at runtime — a self-built, full-GPL build of FFmpeg and youtubedl-android (which bundles yt-dlp). Because those components are covered by the GPL, the combined work as a whole is licensed under GPLv3. Every piece of source is linked below.
Sieve bundles a self-built FFmpeg (executed as a child process, never linked in-process),
statically linked with x264 and x265 and built full-GPL. The complete corresponding source is
the exact upstream commit of each project below, plus the build recipe
transcode/build-ffmpeg/ffbuild.sh
in the app repository. All three are unmodified upstream checkouts — no local patches.
Sieve is a general-purpose tool for downloading and converting media that you have the right to access. Only download or convert content that you own, have created, or are otherwise permitted to access, and respect the rights of content owners, applicable terms of service, and the laws of your jurisdiction. Sieve is not affiliated with or endorsed by any content platform or service.
Sieve has no ads. No trackers. No "monetized" installs, and no code that quietly profits from what you tap or download. That isn't an oversight — it's the entire point. A tool this personal should never be selling you back to someone.
Keeping it clean, independent, and free for everyone takes real work — and that work continues no matter what. But if Sieve has earned a place on your phone, a donation helps it stay exactly what it is, and lets it move faster.
Free, open source, and entirely on-device. Android 8.0 and up.
You'll need to allow installs from your browser/files.