[pspzockerscene]

@jDoX

Adding to Jiaz' post:
JDownloader has never been a fully automated tool that makes assumptions and configures everything by itself. Instead, we prioritize customizability.
While JDownloader may not offer the ideal default settings for your use case, it is so customizable that it covers a wide range of other users' needs (and yours too if you configure it according to your needs).

More about automating default behavior:
Regarding YouTube, one could argue that since it's a video platform, JDownloader should, by default, only provide the user with the video itself—excluding audio, thumbnails, subtitles, or descriptions. However, this would not align with our focus on flexibility and user choice.

Coming back to your post:

Originally Posted by jDoX

JDownloader for Mac downloads YouTube videos that VLC can play, but the Mac Finder or PowerPoint cannot play (codec unavailable).

You are assuming that users always intend to play the downloaded videos on the same device they used for downloading. In reality, many users play their videos on other devices, such as smart TVs, or stream them via their NAS.

Fun fact: As a programmer, I do of course always assume that people are using the only good video player, VLC media player :D

Originally Posted by jDoX

Yet applications like Downie do not have such problems.

This is more of a convenience issue rather than a fundamental problem. Additionally, "Downie" is paid software, whereas JDownloader is completely free.

Where I agree with you:
For highly popular websites like YouTube (or upon first launching the application), JDownloader could offer a setup wizard that asks users about their video download preferences.