What is playdl?

PlayDL is a Telegram bot that lets someone send it a Google Play Store link and get back an installable APK file. The bot pulls the package name from the link, downloads the app through one of a few supported downloader tools, merges any split APK files into a single regular APK, and uploads that file back to the user through Telegram. It is written in Python 3.13 using the aiogram library for Telegram, and it stores user and job status in MongoDB. To merge split APKs into one file it relies on a separate tool called APKEditor. For the actual downloading step, the project supports three different backends: a recommended tool called gplay-apk-downloader, a Python package called gplaydl, or a tool called apkeep, plus the option to plug in a fully custom download command. The bot can optionally install these helper tools itself on startup, but it does not install system level software such as Java, MongoDB, or the Telegram Bot API server, so those still need to be set up by hand. Running it requires several pieces in place: Python 3.13, MongoDB, Java 17 or newer, and a locally hosted Telegram Bot API server, since the public Telegram API will not work for this bot. Setup involves creating a virtual environment, installing dependencies, copying an example configuration file, and filling in values like the bot token and MongoDB connection string. There is also an optional upload step through a service called nixfile, which needs its own account credentials in the configuration file. The project includes a Persian language guide alongside the main English README, suggesting its primary user base speaks Persian. This is a self hosted, single purpose bot aimed at someone comfortable running a small Python service with a database, not a hosted or plug and play product.