If you’ve ever wanted to download torrents on your iOS device, then iTransmission is the way to go. While Apple (currently) wouldn’t let something like this into the App Store, you can download it for free from the InsanelyI Cydia repo (repo.insanelyi.com). iTransmission is currently in alpha, so there may be some bugs. It’s very easy to use, works very well, and works for both the iPhone/iPod Touch and the iPad. For you developers out there, iTransmission is open-source.
Once you’ve installed and opened iTransmission, you’ll be taken to the main screen. From here, you’ll be able to see any active or paused torrents. You can also see the overall upload & download speeds as well as the state of your connection.
Tapping on the gear in the lower-right will take you to the settings screen. iTransmission features a web interface, just like most popular desktop torrent clients, so you’ll be able to enable that feature from the preferences. You’ll also be able to set whether or not you’d like to use your WiFi network, cellular network, or both. And finally, you can set your port number.
iTransmission, like most torrent clients, offers 3 different methods for starting downloads:
- URL – Paste a direct-URL to a .torrent file.
- Filesystem – This feature currently isn’t available, but you’ll be able to choose a .torrent file that’s already somewhere on your iDevice.
- Magnet – Similar to the URL method, but you’ll be able to use a magnet: instead of a .torrent file.
After you’ve entered in a download, it will be added to your main menu. It will initially be paused, so tapping on the green resume button will start your download. Depending on your connection and torrent you’re trying to download, it may take up to a minute for the download to actually start. Fortunately, AT&T’s 3G network torrents quite nicely.
Tapping on a torrent will show you some detailed information about the torrent. You can view all of the possible information in the screenshot above.
When a torrent is finished, you’ll have the option to remove the torrent from your list while keeping whatever data that has been downloaded, or you can delete everything. You’ll also see the same options when removing a torrent that’s currently downloading or one that is paused.
Overall, iTransmission is a fully-featured application for downloading torrents onto your iDevice. It’s simple to use, has most of the features that you’d expect in a desktop torrent client, and is free.
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