BitLet: A Cute Web-Based BitTorrent Client

Written by Ernesto on July 30, 2007 

BitLet is a cute web-based Java applet that allows you to download .torrent files on a computer that doesn’t have a BitTorrent client installed. Very useful if you want to share a torrent with your BitTorrent illiterate friends, or if you’re on a computer that doesn’t have a BitTorrent client installed.

BitLet: A Cute Web-Based BitTorrent ClientBitLet is still in an early stage of development, but it is already fully functional. More features, such as uploading local .torrent files, will be added to the site and the Java Applet in the near future.

I’ve tried it with a couple of torrents and it seems to be working quite well, just enter the url of the .torrent file and you’re good to go. The download speeds are decent and doesn’t require any configuration, so it’s pretty much idiot-proof.

BitLet also has a very useful code generator so you can offer BitTorrent downloads on your blog or website so that people can easily download, even when they don’t have a BitTorrent client installed. If people click on the link a popup window will appear, and the download starts immediately. Here’s an example download link:

Steal This Film!

If everything works like it should you’ll get a popup window similar to the screenshot below, it currently shows the download speed, percentage completed, and even a status led that signals potential problems (green is good). BitLet uses the Sun Java platform, if you encounter any problems, try installing the latest Java Virtual Machine plugin from Sun.

BitLet: A Cute Web-Based BitTorrent Client

Personally I think that BitLet is a great way to make BitTorrent available to the occasional downloader who is not familiar with it at all. It could also be very helpful if you want to download a torrent on a PC that doesn’t have a BitTorrent client installed, like work or school for some people. It’s not a replacement for the regular BitTorrent client, but it sure is a great addition.

If you don't like torrents try MP3 Fiesta. They hold nearly 67,000 albums from nearly 17,000 artists. Prices are around the $0.10 mark for single tracks with full albums coming in at roughly $1.00. Tracks are available from 192kbps and they take major credit cards and PayPal

Previously: Downloading More Than Ever Before, Brits Care Less About Getting Caught

Next: The Pirate Bay Launches Bergmanbits, A Tribute to Ingmar Bergman

60 Responses

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1 Jul 30, 2007 at 23:17 by VASH

HOW DO I FIND THE METAFILE URL SORRY FOR A NOOB QUESTION

2 Jul 30, 2007 at 23:37 by Ernesto

[quote comment="139633"]HOW DO I FIND THE METAFILE URL SORRY FOR A NOOB QUESTION[/quote]
That’s just a link to a .torrent file

Like: http://torrents.thepiratebay.org/blabla.torrent

3 Jul 31, 2007 at 00:33 by lanix

Hmm. Nothing about how much you’ve uploaded, that sucks.
Let the leeching being I guess…
It should at least ask people to share to 1:1.
Or does it say anything when you’ve finished the DL? I just tried the thing for a few min.

4 Jul 31, 2007 at 00:57 by Grant

This doesnt work with private sites cuz they use a special passkey to track downloads, anyway around this or just stick with public sites?

5 Jul 31, 2007 at 01:31 by Ernesto

[quote comment="139664"]This doesnt work with private sites cuz they use a special passkey to track downloads, anyway around this or just stick with public sites?[/quote]

This is not really targeted a users of private sites. You can use your regular BitTorrent client for that.

@lanix. I agree, a keep this window open as long as possible message could help

6 Jul 31, 2007 at 02:13 by Netmaster

THIS IS VERY GREAT!!!

Yes this is a noob-proof bittorent alternative. And i just love it!!!

Thanks again Torrentfreak for share this with us!

7 Jul 31, 2007 at 08:48 by anonymous coward

Except that MY firefox doesnt have java. Freak that.

8 Jul 31, 2007 at 08:52 by anonymous coward

I guess this is another solution to the Iphone bittorent issue.

9 Jul 31, 2007 at 12:37 by aCiD

is there any, pause OR resume function available in this Java based applet?

10 Jul 31, 2007 at 12:47 by Ravi

Hi! Very nice. Whose’s bandwidth does it use? I mean BitLet runs on your server right? So it first comes to yours, and then to mine? So bitlet.com will be taking a hit in bandwidth? I am not clear about that.

11 Jul 31, 2007 at 14:08 by Ali

In places like universities, you can’t use bittorrent clients, because the ports are all closed.
Does this solve this problem?

12 Jul 31, 2007 at 14:19 by Mat

Ravi,

This is a client side Java applet, so the only bandwidth used is your own. All BitLet does is take the incomming torrent URL and drops it into the HTML that is sent to your browser. The applet loads and starts the download process.

Ali,
I highly doubt this applet would work under those circumstances since this is still a client side applet and not something like TorrentFlux.

13 Jul 31, 2007 at 15:16 by Lord HellFire

#11
Ali, you could use a VPN tunnel to gain access to your own computer at home.
May I recommend http://www.hamachi.cc to open a VPN connection. This can create an encrypted VPN network between you and your friends. There is not much difference between the paid and free version. This network allow you to enable sharing of your home internet connection (or you could put up a socks proxy at home) and then use a torrent program on your university computer, set to use your home computers Hamachi IP (5.1xx.xxx.xxx) as proxy. This should funnel all torrent traffic through the VPN tunnel. Hamachi creates this tunnel via port 80 and should work through proxies and firewalls, as long as it is not specifically blocked.

Hamachi also enable network play via the VPN tunnel. Up to 20-something concurrent users on each hamachi network.

Alternatively use a Remote Desktop program to gain access to a computer at home and set all torrent downloads on your home computer.

http://www.logmein.com is very good for that. As it works over port 80, it is usually not blocked on university firewalls. You can pay extra to allow transfer of files through that remote connection aswell, but the basic version(free) allow normal remote desktop functionality.

14 Jul 31, 2007 at 15:48 by Kam

Yawn. Just use Opera. It’s already got the bittorrent client there. And no need for that java. Lets face it if you’re mates can’t deal with Bittorrent, they can’t deal with Java. Portable Opera all the way….

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