Frequently asked questions

Short answers to the questions we hear most. For step-by-step fixes, see Troubleshooting; for definitions, see the Glossary.

Is Spark Tray really free? Yes. It's funded by sharing a portion of your device's idle internet bandwidth while it runs — never your files or personal data. See The bandwidth exchange.

Does my media get uploaded anywhere? No. All downloading, conversion, and transcription happens on your device.

Where did my files go? Into your output folder, inside a per-utility subfolder. Open or reveal any result directly from the Job Queue, or change/reveal the output folder in Settings ▸ General.

Can I close the window without stopping my downloads? Yes. Closing hides the app to the tray and jobs keep running. Only Quit (from the tray menu) fully stops the app.

Can I run many downloads at once? Yes — up to the Job concurrency limit in Settings. Use Bulk Downloader for large lists of direct file links.

How do I turn a utility off? Settings ▸ Utilities — switch off any utility to hide it from the sidebar.

Do I need to download anything extra for transcription? Only a transcription model, and only the first time you use one. It downloads automatically (or you can start it from the model picker) and is kept for future use.

How do I update the app? It updates automatically; you can also check manually in Settings ▸ Updates. Restart when prompted to finish installing.

A specific video site stopped working — what do I do? Update the bundled download engine in Settings ▸ Tools, then retry.