“We’ve reviewed µMonitor and determined that we cannot post this version of your application to the App Store at this time because this category of applications is often used for the purpose of infringing third party rights. We have chosen to not publish this type of application to the App Store,” Apple wrote to the developer after a 4 month review process.

This is not the first time that Apple has excluded a BitTorrent-related product from its store. In May they also banned an application designed to remotely-control the Transmission BitTorrent client for the same reasons outlined above.

Interestingly Apple has no problem allowing Usenet related applications in their store. myNZB for example is an application that is available from the App Store although it’s similar in functionality to the BitTorrent apps that were rejected.

Despite Apple’s blockade, there is still a way to get µMonitor on your iPhone. Instead of throwing months of hard work overboard, µMonitor’s developer has recently decided to bypass the Apps Store and make the application available to ‘jailbroken’ iPhone users from the Cydia repository.

Thanks to Apple, uTorrent users who want to control their torrent via an iPhone application have no other option than to jailbreak their phone. Detailed instructions on how to get µMonitor working on your phone can be found on Claudio’s website.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Maza Digital submitted Drivetrain to Apple for approval back in April, and resubmitted the App after he made a few small UI changes. He then received an email in return saying that the review would take longer than expected.

This was followed up by a second email in which Apple rejected the application for inclusion in the App Store, telling Maza Digital;

We’ve reviewed Drivetrain and determined that we cannot post this version of your application to the App Store at this time because this category of applications is often used for the purpose of infringing third party rights. We have chosen to not publish this type of application to the App Store.

Of course, not only are all BitTorrent clients absolutely legal (people infringe copyright, not software) but Drivetrain is just an application to control a torrent client and as such goes absolutely nowhere near any copyright infringing material.

“By now I am very disillusioned with the whole AppStore process, Maza Digital told TorrentFreak in a response, adding “I find it rather ridiculous that they have rejected an app that does not do anything that may be ‘often used for the purpose of infringing third party rights’.” However, it seems that Apple has decided that everything BitTorrent related is a no go for the AppStore.

A ridiculous move by Apple and a step too far. Quick, ban Safari so no-one can use Transmission Web Interface .

Via iLounge

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

But there are other more subtle ways for the company to benefit from copyright infringement. Who remembers our article from 2008, when we showed an aXXo release being used to sell Macs in a John Lewis store? Well, now it looks like another retailer had the same idea – why spend money on real DVDs when you can just download them?

On a visit to the Rivas H2Ocio shopping mall in Madrid, Miguel Ángel Moro walked into a Saturn store. There, in the Apple section, he saw demo machines – and they were all running pirate movies.

Miguel told TorrentFreak, “This is not the first time I’ve seen this stuff in MediaMarkt/Saturn, a big consumer electronics store in Europe. They sell from computers to washing machines, including DVD and Blu-ray discs.”

Displaying their own DVDs is illegal without clearance, so they might as well grab a copy off BitTorrent and safe a few bucks – right? Sharing copyrighted files is legal in Spain, but not for commercial use which is clearly the case here.

Below is a photograph taken by Miguel of a ‘Cars’ Blu-ray movie rip running on VLC Media Player, on a Macbook, in the store.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

The BitTorrent client has added a new feature that integrates Vuze with several media devices. It allows users to automatically convert and transfer downloaded videos to iTunes, and stream the files to the Xbox 360 and PS3.

“With today’s release, we’re unlocking HD content and giving it wings to get from the computer to the other screens in our lives: TV and Mobile,” Vuze CEO Gilles BianRosa told TorrentFreak. “We think this is a big deal because a large majority of our users actually have these devices at home. Also, consumers want to control and own their content, an ‘Open Home Theater’, if you will.”

Vuze currently supports Apple devices including the iPhone and the iPod. The PS3 and Xbox 360 are the two gaming consoles that integrate with Vuze as well. More devices may be added in the future but no decisions have yet been made on which ones, TorrentFreak was told. In a recent poll, most Vuze users indicated that iPhone/iPod support was most wanted.

Once device support is turned on in Vuze, users can drag and drop downloaded video onto their device of choice. Vuze will then convert the video into the appropriate format and add it to the device’s library.

For iTunes, Vuze will import the video into your iTunes library so it can be transferred to your iPhone, iPod or Apple TV. For the PS3 and Xbox 360, Vuze will stream the videos from your PC or Mac directly to your game console.

The device support is a great feature for users who want to have an easy all-in-one solution that not only downloads video, but also makes it ready to play on other devices. Although Vuze has been focusing mainly on video lately, the client can still download other content as well.

It is good to see that Vuze is using the feedback from its users to improve their client, although it is impossible to please everyone and some may still prefer a more lightweight client. That said, the Vuze all-in-one solution will especially appeal to novice BitTorrent users, but even for the most die-hard users the new features will make a great addition.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

A project started by a coder named ‘SaladFork’, Crackulous was officially only available to a limited number of individuals, but it quickly gained notoriety as it makes the process of cracking software ridiculously easy. The successor to the more fiddly xCrack script, Crackulous is now being developed by ‘Angel’ and has a full GUI. All people have to do is buy an app from Apple and click a button, it’s that easy.

Although the software package was publicly released just hours ago, the source for this version (0.9) isn’t yet available. Crackulous is set to be released as open source software so that many people can contribute to its development, with original dev SaladFork commenting, “I’ve filled the source code heavily with comments explaining exactly what it’s doing and how it’s doing it. My hope is that Crackulous can be a learning resource for all the prospective iPhone developers out there, and will be able to revolutionize the cracking scene by producing a standard for application quality and functionality that can easily be reproduced to great effect.”

Currently a few people are reporting that they are experiencing difficulty getting the release to run, while others have no problems. There are also a couple of minor acknowleged bugs, but these are expected to be fixed shortly.

There was a hint of irony during November 2008 as the future of Crackulous was put in doubt. An early version of the software leaked out and SaladFork retaliated by threatening to cancel the entire project saying, “I personally think this leak is absolutely disgusting, and downright insulting.”

The latest version of Crackulous is now officially available from the Hackulous Cydia Repo. Expect it to become one of the most downloaded iPhone apps ever and, of course, Crackulous is free of charge. Let the app-avalanche begin – it could be a difficult one to stop.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Instead they engaged the cracker in dialogue, and the results have proved interesting. Not least, sales are up 100% and people are donating freely.

James told TorrentFreak that after the initial disappointment, they tracked down the cracker’s email address and surprisingly he responded. “Connie read the emails I sent and thought it was really amazing that we were having a civil conversation with the guy who was directly responsible for pirating our game,” said James. “I had decided to be really nice and accommodating in the emails to have a better shot at getting the pirate to respond.”

The email exchanges are detailed in our earlier story, but it’s developments since that really shows the importance of dialogue, with James telling us that the feedback has been excellent for the company. The game was originally up for purchase on the iTunes App store, but things have changed, he notes. “We decided to release a free version supported by ads to accommodate the issues that folks were reporting with the iTunes App Store, a.k.a the ‘Crapp Store’ – no try before you buy, lack of demo versions, and too expensive.”

The game hasn’t been withdrawn from the iTunes though, with James and Connie now preferring a dual-track option for the customer – a choice to either pay for it through iTunes or download the free ad-supported version. “We feel that a free app that still provides us with revenue through advertising is the best possible solution to the issue. Ads can be annoying for some people, so we’ve left the 99 cent version out there for folks who love the game but don’t like ads. Very hopefully, this will work for us and we can use the proceeds to fund future games.”

The ad revenue is being generated through AdMob, after the company approached James and Connie with their solution. AdMob is currently offering a promotion to around 200 iPhone software developers and giving them $5,000 worth of free advertising. “The folks at AdMob were awesome,” James explained. “They got us into the promotion and we’re now utilizing all of the tools they have available, such as in-game banners, click through reporting and detection to see if someone buys your game after clicking on one of your ads.”

James also took the opportunity to tell the game’s cracker, most_uniQue, about the new, free ad-supported version. He responded saying, “People love to hate me, but that just means they don’t understand. I’m glad you try to work things out properly and I hope you get good revenue from your ads. But the thing we all would like to know is this – did this adventure boost the sale of Whack ’em All?”

Good point. Before Whack ‘em All was reported pirated, the game was getting around 10 sales each day. Now, with all the extra publicity, sales are up to 20 a day, a nice 100% increase. Piracy might be viewed as a bad thing by some, but it sure beats obscurity it seems, and with extra revenue coming in from the ad-supported version, things seem to be looking up.

Additionally, a TorrentFreak reader suggested that the developer should put up a ‘donate’ button on the site so that pirates could still show their appreciation. It’s not a huge amount, but in just a few days people donated more than $75.

most_uniQue told James that he hopes that Apple learns from this situation and allows people to try before they buy, noting that he wouldn’t be surprised if Apple contacted him at some point, while hoping it’s to thank everyone for bringing the issue to their attention.

Hopefully it’s not, “most_uniQue: Wanted dead or alive’,” he joked.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

“So I was in my local John Lewis store a week or so back, and I was checking out their new little Apple mac area, which had lots of Macs on display, with some desks setup and other accessories. They also had some wall mounted iMacs. Imagine my surprise when getting closer to one of them to see ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest’ – ripped by Axxo playing.”

Using a ripped DVD is bit odd because this is certainly not the best promotional material. Regular DVDs or free HD-content looks much better on an iMac monitor.

One thing is clear though, aXXo’s presence has now moved beyond the Internet, and for him it must be flattering to see that commercial outlets appreciate his work. Perhaps this might motivate him to return?

The last official aXXo torrent was uploaded November 11, after that it has been awfully quiet. There were rumors that he got caught, others said he had an accident. However, the official statement is that he decided to take a break.

John Lewis was not available for comment, the MPAA probably wont appreciate it that much, but they have our support.

Update: John Lewis replied to Hexus with an official statement: “Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We have fully investigated the incident and the shop has removed and destroyed the clip. We have also taken the necessary steps to ensure that the replication and publication of pirate material in any form does not take place in our shops. This incident is not reflective of our policy and we take very seriously the copyright laws and would not intentionally break any of these rules or regulations.”

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

The mistake was apparently caused by a mix up between the production number and the broadcast number of the episodes. Stargate Atlantis is not shot in a chronological order and the fourth episode, named “Doppelganger”, was the first episode that was shot for the fourth season, it therefore carried 401 as production number. The iTunes store mistakingly thought that this was the broadcast number and offered it as the season premiere.

The wrong episode was available in the iTunes store for 24 hours before it was replaced by the real season premiere episode “Adrift”

Not surprisingly, the leaked episode – which is scheduled to air two weeks from now – is already widely available on BitTorrent and other filesharing networks. It’s not known if Apple will be compensating MGM, the production company of Stargate Atlantis, but we are sure they will be more careful next time.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

The technical specifications of the device certainly make it possible. It has more than enough cpu power for it, assuming a nice, tightly coded client was written. The built in WiFi (802.11b/g) and use of the EDGE 2.75G wireless network data transfer system allows a fairly widespread availability of reception.

According to one of the developers of the ‘iPhone-binutil‘ project, going by the name ‘geohot’, the only obstacle stopping it from making an application like “iTorrent” happening is their current lack of coding ability for the iPhone. The file system is open, and media players already exist, if for nothing else than playing media from iTunes.

On of the downsides it that, for many, the 3.4Gb free on a brand new phone (or 7.4Gb, if you went for the bigger one) may not be enough to hold much data, but it all depends on what you torrent. Bigger problems are that the battery will last only in the region of 6-8 hours at best (according to Apple’s figures) which isn’t the greatest. Additionally, many users have reported the wifi connections being on the slow side as far as data transfers go. Using EDGE is a lot slower, about 30k/sec max.

Of course, the benefits are that you can carry it around with you, and you have the wide range of content available, with the benefits of torrent file’s typical pricing (free). Of course, time will tell. Meanwhile, the lack of MMS on the iPhone has been a small thorn in the side of many owners. However, there is help at hand in the form of a workaround. More details here

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Slyck posted an article in which they publish statistical data they received from an anonymous source. According to these statistics uTorrent is more than twice as fast as Azureus, something that I find hard to believe.

Here’s what Slyck’s source reports:

Azureus Mac
Max Rate Seen: 297 KB/s
Average Rate: 235 KB/s
Consumed RAM: 155 MB
Average CPU: 20%

µTorrent Mac
Max Rate Seen: 840KB/s
Average Rate: 698 KB/s
Consumed RAM: 14 MB
Average CPU: 6%

Slyck received these stats from an anonymous source. Probably someone working at BitTorrent Inc because these stats are a little subjective to say the least. It is hard to get differences like this without cheating the protocol, something that Gilles BianRosa, CEO of Azureus, agrees with:

“We are not aware of any such stats, and clearly would doubt their validity. BitTorrent is a standard, and clients have, by design, limited ways to optimize transfer speeds. We have implemented features to optimize “around” the protocol, such as PeerExchange, but getting such wide variations without “bastardizing” the protocol beyond recognition (and making it not compliant/compatible in the process) make these numbers look VERY suspicious, if not ridiculous.”

I’ve been in the position to test an Alpha version of the Mac version of BitTorrent and I also tested Azureus’ Mac version and I came up with figures that clearly favor uTorrent, but not as dramatically as the statistics provided by BitTorrent Inc the anonymous source.

I decided to run my own comparison test using the exact same setup for both clients. The results are based on downloading 3 .torrent files that differed in swarm size and file size. Here’s what I found :

Azureus Mac
Max Rate Seen: 1.42 MB/s
Average Rate: 769 KB/s
Consumed RAM: 130 MB
Average CPU: 18%

µTorrent Mac
Max Rate Seen: 1.28 MB/s
Average Rate: 788 KB/s
Consumed RAM: 16 MB
Average CPU: 7%

The results are quite clear. It is hard to conclude that downloads will go faster with Azureus or uTorrent. Perhaps a difference can be found in a scientific and controlled setting, but no significant difference is observed in a real-life setting. One thing is clear though, the huge difference in download speed reported by Slyck’s anonymous source doesn’t make sense.

What we can see from both comparisons is that uTorrent for Mac, just like its Windows counterpart, uses less CPU and RAM. This is definitely a reason for me, and probably a lot of other BitTorrent users with me, to try uTorrent as soon as it’s released.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

I work at [an Apple service provider]. Today we saw [multiple] iTunes libraries completely corrupted; looks like the culprit was Limewire not playing well with the newest version of iTunes.

All had just updated to the new version of iTunes and all had Limewire set to automatically update their iTunes library with new songs. One [library] was not salvageable, though the other two were (after much pain and suffering).

It’s believed the tip is related to the Mac versions of the software. The situation on Windows versions is unclear.

TUAW points to two threads on the Apple support forum as a starting point for concerned users 1 2

LimeWire users with difficulties can find support on the Gnutella forum.

According to a recent NPD Group report, Limewire users took a 62 percent share of p2p music downloads in 2006, with the average user downloading 309 tracks.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

The Quicktime servers are crippled right now, good thing we still have BitTorrent. Note that this is not the official video.

And if you just can’t get enough, check out the The Complete Apple Keynote Collection, courtesy of The Pirate Bay.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Why is piracy widespread in Asia?
This question has two simple answers. Firstly, there aren’t viable legal competitors. Piracy can only be overcome if the customer feels he/she is getting something better by buying content, instead of downloading it for free. There are moral issues involved as well, and each person has a different breaking point. For some it might be being able to purchase songs from the iTunes Store, for others it might be getting a better deal, like an all-you-can-download monthly subscription service.

Secondly, Asia comprises mostly of ‘third world’ countries, most of whose citizens can’t afford the exuberant rates companies like Sony ($700 for a 512MB mp3 player) charge for their products. Multi-nationals are slowly understanding this and are starting to sell their products at a cheaper rate in Asia. The XBOX 360 is one of these. Also, many countries charge extraordinary import taxes on goods. This makes an imported good purchased in the grey market almost 1/3 the price of one bought legally. For example, iPods bought in the US and sold in India are considerably cheaper than those sold by authorised dealers here. Wired News published a mostly accurate piece on the booming grey market of iPods in India.

Pirates will be pirates
Pirates will be pirates. But people who want to purchase digital content legally will only be pirates if they have no other choice. Accusing an entire continent of being law-breakers is outrageous. Everyone’s favourite example these days is the iTunes Store. If Apple would expand into more countries, I am sure we would see a noticeable drop in the amount of music shared over P2P networks. Companies like Apple need to start trusting Asia. They can only gain from this. Piracy will continue with or without them. Their presence might actually reduce it. Apple Asia’s marketing director said that they “cannot comment on the specifics but it is true that iTunes is not available in Asia” and that the continent’s attitude towards copyrighted material is “relaxed.”

In April we reported on how a leading Indian newspaper, the Hindustan Times was openly promoting BitTorrent and the downloading of copyrighted files. Do they have another good legal alternative to recommend to their tech-savvy readers? No, they do not.

Asia now has the money. We’re just not being recognised as a potential market. Don’t turn away from us. We don’t want to be forced to pirate. “Do you want more frickin’ pirates?” asked Joey Alarilla, writing for CNET Asia. My answer is no, we do not.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Navin told Jemina Kiss at the Mipcom festival:

“Apple is a phenomenal company – we’ve hired engineers from Apple and know the caliber of the talent and creativity. Fundamentally Steve Jobs has challenged an entire value chain, whether it’s publishers or the consumer electronics industry. But Apple is only as good as the weakest link because that’s all forged and locked in together. If people stopped wanting iPods because a better piece of hardware came along, the whole thing would fall apart.”

Navin continues:

“We think the second phase of iTunes and digital distribution is not about Apple, but about the best hardware, the best content and the best delivery system – and that’s BitTorrent. We’re not hamstrung by a hardware business. We care about delivery and we care about content, and as long as there is good content in the world – which is guaranteed – we’ll be successful.”

Navin admitted that he always wanted to work at Apple. He ended up at BitTorrent, but perhaps he can try to work with Apple now. Apple is not ignoring the power of BitTorrent, they have plans to include a BitTorrent powered content delivery system in OSX.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

The widget is created by TyrantBuilt, he also included quick links to TorrentFreak’s latest articles, and the TorrentFreak homepage.

The widget currently supports the following sites:

* bitoogle.com
* BitTorrent.com
* fenopy.com
* btjunkie.org
* demonoid.com
* hypertorrent.com
* btmon.com
* mininova.org
* myBitTorrent.com
* newtorrents.info
* thepiratebay.org
* torrentportal.com
* torrentreactor.net
* torrentspy.com
* torrentz.com
* yotoshi.com

This is the first release of the widget, TyrantBuilt is planning to add more BitTorrent search engines in the near future. If you’re missing your favorite site, or if you want to suggest an option, please drop a comment and we will pass it through to him.

For now, enjoy.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Fenopy is constantly looking for features that may enhance the “user experience”, and usability of the site. Last month they implemented their “share on your blog” feature, a visually attractive way for bloggers to share torrents, without running a tracker.

TyrantBuilt, the developer of the widget told TorrentFreak that he will release updated versions on a weekly basis. He even offered to make a TorrentFreak widget for the latest articles, pretty cool.

Fenopy Widget (Macupdate)

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

The interview:

TorrentFreak: What made you decide to develop BitRocket?

Julian: I wanted to develop a BitTorrent client for Mac OS for a while now. Just before I went to WWDC I had some spare time and started researching my options. Initially I thought using the libTransmission core would be a good base. I worked with that for a week or 2 and realized that it just wasn’t powerful enough for my needs. I have since scrapped all of that and rebuilt the client from scratch based around Rasterbar’s libtorrent core. That is what we see today as BitRocket.

TorrentFreak: Many people criticise libTransmission for being not up to the mark. What didn’t you find good/powerful enough about it?

Julian: It’s a very unfinished and unpolished library. There are some major tracker announce issues which are frowned upon by quite a few tracker site administrators. There is no UDP tracker support, no .torrent creation support, no multi-tracker support, no Kademlia DHT, no Selective Downloading, the list goes on.

TorrentFreak: Even as a beta release BitRocket is being praised for its intuitive user-interface and its many features. What do you think makes BitRocket different and better than any of other clients out there?

Julian: I don’t like to use the term “better”, it’s different that is for sure. BitRocket is not being built to be a slim client such as Mainline or Transmission. It’s out to be an alternative to advanced clients such as Azureus, that is the route I am headed.

TorrentFreak: A few bloggers have written about BitRocket and suggested features like searching without leaving the application. What new features do you plan to implement in upcoming releases?

Julian: I like the idea of searching within-side the application, however the thing that worries me is that it would rely on basically screen-scrapping torrent sites. This is bad because the BitRocket developers would always have to make sure that was working and if it failed because of a simple change to a torrent site then that would require an immediate “patch and release”. Personally I would like to see a DHT layer that allows for distributed horizonless torrent searching, however we have seen this fail with applications such as eXeem, but I believe it can be done effectively. Beyond this at some point most of the Azureus features should be implemented, it’s my role model.

TorrentFreak: Where are you from? Is BitRocket a side-project or are you working full-time on it?

Julian: I currently reside in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. BitRocket is a side project, I work full time on the Mac OS version of Gizmo Project.

TorrentFreak: What’s your standpoint on file-sharing and the BitTorrent protocol?

Julian: Heh, it’s funny especially with Open Source software. Developers are all concerned about their licensing schemes and enforcing them, and on the flip side your building an application that in retrospect goes against licensing all together, for the most part. I fully support file-sharing and the BitTorrent protocol whether it is downloading the latest Ubuntu iso or the hot movie of the summer. Don’t get me wrong I have purchased and and currently own over 200 DVD’s, most of which were bought because I first downloaded the torrent. I think the mpaa needs to rethink their tactics, they still “do not get it”.

Stay tuned for our upcoming review of BitRocket.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Based on the feature list it looks like Bitrocket could give the existing BitTorrent clients some tough competition.

Bitrocket supports essential features like:

DHT: Support for “trackerless” torrents. DHT keeps the torrent alive if the tracker goes offline.
Torrent Creator: Create and share torrents.
RSS: Bitrocket has RSS support. With RSS you can automatically download your favorite torrents.
UPnP Port Mapping: If your router supports UPnP, you don’t need to forward any ports.

Other features like selective downloading, http-seeding, and multi tracker support are supported by the library Bitrocket uses might be implemented in the near future.

Stay tuned for a Bitrocket review.

Bitrocket Homepage

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

In this article we will highlight the most popular Mac BitTorrent applications and compare their features.

Let’s start with the granddaddy of them all, Bram Cohen’s self-titled BitTorrent application. It’s gotten kind of confusing since he named the protocol, his company and his application all BitTorrent. BitTorrent OSX is a very (and I mean very) basic application. It’s as feature-full as Safari’s download box and that’s not saying much. Now some people wouldn’t mind something like that, but if you’re looking for simplicity Transmission is a much better choice. BitTorrent OSX also takes an age to start up on my MacBook Pro.

Transmission is my current Mac B.T. client of choice. It’s an Open Source project, maintained by the developer of the popular Mac DVD ripping application, HandBrake. Transmission does its job well. A neat feature it offers is the ability to view download and upload rates in the dock, so I don’t even have to open up the program to check how my downloads are going. Another great thing Transmission does is copy the .torrent file to its support folder, then trash the original file from my desktop thereby leaving no mess of files behind for me to clean up. Now just like everything Transmission has its flaws, the biggest of which is that Demonoid, a leading BitTorrent directory has banned it on ocassion! They say it doesn’t adhere to set standards.

Azureus is a cross-platfrom BitTorrent client written in Java. It’s slightly slower than all the other native Mac B.T. applications, but has features none of the others can boast of. Therefore it remains one of the most popular clients, even on the Mac. The one reason I have both Azureus and Transmission installed at any given time is because Transmission doesn’t allow me to select which files I want from a particular torrent. We call the feature ‘Selective Downloading’ and Azureus is sadly the only popular Mac B.T. client that lets me do that! There are also a number of great plug-ins for Azureus that let you do all sorts of things like subscribe to RSS feeds with .torrent enclosures.

Tomato Torrent is a very plain alternative, seriously lacking in eye-candy and begging for a new icon (and maybe a new name too). It’s based on the official BitTorrent client. I think it desrves a mention because I know a few people who swear by it. It comes with an AppleScript file that you can place in folders you want to download to. When you want to download a torrent to a specific folder, you just drag the .torrent file onto the piece of AppleScript to initiate the transfer. One pro is that it’s an extremely light client that hogs very little RAM. It’s the closet thing to uTorrent on the Mac.

Bits on Wheels is a slightly out-dated (last updated Sep. ‘05), yet popular Mac BitTorrent client. It claims to be “the first 100% native BitTorrent client for the Macintosh” as it is written in Objective-C and Cocoa.

Bits on Wheels is freeware but not Open Source. One of its main features is a visual 3D Swarm with which you can observe what’s actually going on under the hood, how many seeders and leechers you’re connected to and the bits transferring between everyone. Bits on Wheels is very OSeXy (heh!), it’s how I’d imagine the default OS X BitTorrent downloader to look if there was one. If not to use the first native OS X B.T. client, I’d download it just to fly around in 3D chasing bits.

Conclusion
Clearly, feature-wise Azureus is the winner. Bits on Wheels and Transmission are both great alternatives to BitTorrent OSX. If only Bits on Wheels would be updated more often and Transmission become standards-compliant and both of them allow Selective Downloading, they might start taking back some market share. And lets not forget the light weighted tomato. Tomato Torrent could use a few more features and better interface, but it too is a great BitTorrent client.

Worthy Mentions
Acquisition is a Mac p2p program like Limewire that accesses popular file-sharing networks like Gnutella to search for files. It also doubles as a BitTorrent client. Although I have never been able to achieve superior download speeds that I do with Transmission or Azureus, it’s iTunes-integration is sweet.

From version 9 Opera the popular cross-platform browser has implemented a simple, built-in BitTorrent client. It’s supposedly “targeted at novice users.”

Windows Clients Comparison
BitTorrent Client Features (wiki)

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

But it looks like things changed for the better. Gary from Isohunt.com came to the rescue…. At Podtropolis we read:

Well, I just hate good community and nice design going to waste, so here I am, rescuing sites again. I’m Gary, aka. IH at isoHunt.com. As Andrew have said, the site was having financial trouble with keeping up hosting costs, and I happen to have servers for it. So Podtropolis will be joining brethens at isoHunt.com and TorrentBox.com. We are working out the kinks in getting the site back up to its former glory, so stay tuned.

By the way, you can see a CBC interview with gary over here

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.