Two changes that make first-run downloads faster and easier to speed up further.
1. Segmented (multi-connection) downloader is now ON by default. The app forces
the legacy-LFS path (HF_HUB_DISABLE_XET=1) for clear progress, but that path
is single-stream and slow — which is why downloads felt sluggish. The built-in
IDM/uGet-style segmented accelerator (parallel byte-ranges, live speed/ETA)
was already implemented but defaulted OFF. Flip it ON: it only engages when
Xet is inactive (the default), and ANY failure falls back to snapshot_download
("can never compromise a correct install"). Pure-httpx, cross-platform,
auth-safe (token never forwarded to a CDN). Override with
OMNIVOICE_SEGMENTED_DOWNLOAD=0.
2. The Hugging Face token field is now a prominent, always-visible card right
above Continue — was a collapsed "advanced" fold almost nobody opened. A free
token gives authenticated downloads (higher rate limits, fewer stalls), so it
pairs with change #1 to keep the parallel fetch from getting throttled. The
card leads with the speed benefit, shows a saved-state, and adds a one-click
"Get one free →" link to huggingface.co/settings/tokens.
Docs: downloading-models.md updated — the legacy-LFS section now documents the
default-on segmented accelerator + the HF-token speed tip, and the tuning table
reflects OMNIVOICE_SEGMENTED_DOWNLOAD=0 as the disable knob (docs-sync).
Test: test_segmented_download_default.py pins the new default ON and that the
env override still disables it; existing FDL-08 behavior tests stay green.
Co-authored-by: mergetest <test@local>
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
