Need to download something in a pinch? Peer-to-peer networking is probably the answer, but how do you download files through BitTorrent on Android? Several apps are available.
Here’s how to use the best option available and download and share your files on BitTorrent.
A magnet link is essentially a hyperlink containing the hash code for that torrent, which your torrent client can immediately use to start finding people sharing those files. Site Tags torrent magnet, torrent download, magnet links, magnetlink.in, torrent search engine, meta-search Site URL 2 ratings. Connect to MagnetLink IRC channel (via Kiwi IRC) comments for MagnetLink. Load more comments. Leave a reply. Cancel reply. Download files quickly and easily with uTorrent. Understand magnet links. As well as using torrent files as described above, you'll also encounter magnet links. Magnet links can be used to.
BitTorrent Is Not Illegal
You might wonder why we’re seemingly promoting illegal downloads by discussing a topic like this. But we aren’t; in fact, BitTorrent isn’t illegal.
It’s a peer-to-peer (P2P) networking system that makes downloading and sharing data easy. Instead of everyone downloading a single file from a server, P2P networking lets the people who have downloaded the file then share it with others who want the file.
And yes, there are illegal applications for BitTorrent. Almost all torrent sites serve copyrighted data. But the illegality comes in downloading data you haven’t paid the owner for. The actual BitTorrent P2P technology is legal, and used more widely than you might expect.
For instance, you might want to download a new ROM for your Android device. There might be a Linux operating system you need to downloaded, or a video game update. Or you might be using Resilio Sync to sync data between your Android phone or tablet and another device.
In short, there are many legal uses for BitTorrent8 Legal Uses for BitTorrent: You'd Be Surprised8 Legal Uses for BitTorrent: You'd Be SurprisedLike HTTP, which your browser uses to communicate with websites, BitTorrent is just a protocol. You could use your browser to download pirated content, just as you could use a BitTorrent client to download pirated...Read More.
Setting Up a BitTorrent App on Android
Several BitTorrent apps are available for AndroidWhat Is The Best Free BitTorrent Client For Android?What Is The Best Free BitTorrent Client For Android?Looking for a good torrent client for Android? Look no further.Read More, but we would suggest you stick with the official BitTorrent app.
Once installed, you’ll need to give permission to the app so it can access photos, media and files. Browsing the app, you’ll find a screen for torrent files, as well as views for audio and video files.
At this stage, the torrent view will be empty, while the audio and video views will list corresponding media on your device.
Finding and Downloading a Torrent File
Finding a torrent file to download shouldn’t be too difficult, as several legitimate torrent sites exist on the web. For example, the Internet Archive offers legal torrents of media in its archive.
To demonstrate downloading a torrent file on Android, I’m using the example of a Linux distribution, specifically a version of Ubuntu called Lubuntu. This lightweight OS offers a standard download, as well as options for torrent and magnet links (magnet files are essentially a simplified version of torrent files).
By visiting Lubuntu’s download page, I found the link to the 64-bit version of the ISO file for Lubuntu. However, I had to confirm a few points before I proceeded to download.
Does Your Android Device Have Enough Space?
Before downloading any data to an Android phone or tablet, you should ensure you have enough storage space. If it’s just a few songs, it’s no problem. But if you’re downloading desktop apps, games, videos, or operating systems, you’re going to run out of space sooner or later.
Monitoring your device’s storage is thus important. If you don’t have a phone with a good deal of storage space already, adding more storage through a microSD card is wise. Our guide to choosing and installing a microSD card3 Ways to Get More Storage on Android Using a microSD Card3 Ways to Get More Storage on Android Using a microSD CardmicroSD cards are a great way of adding storage to your Android device -- but you need to know these tricks!Read More should prove useful here.
In short, don’t download until you’re certain your device has enough space. It’s also important to ensure your battery isn’t low; BitTorrent will let you know if the device needs to go on charge.
3 Essential Android Tools When Downloading Torrents
Aside from space, your Android device also needs an antivirus, Wi-Fi connection, and a VPN to torrent optimally.
1. Antivirus
Even when downloading data from a trusted source, it’s a good idea to have antivirus software on your phone6 Android Security Apps You Should Install Today6 Android Security Apps You Should Install TodayAndroid security apps - capable of blocking malware and phishing attempts - are necessary if you wish to run a safe and secure smartphone. Let's look at some of the best Android security apps currently...Read More or tablet. Wait until the file has downloaded before scanning. If it detects any problems, delete the download immediately. It’s simply not worth letting malware infect your phone.
2. Wi-Fi
Mobile data these days isn’t as generous as it used to be. As such, if you’re torrenting larger files, it’s a good idea to do this on unmetered wireless internet. After all, you wouldn’t want your data allowance to run out! Switch to Wi-Fi before downloading data.
3. VPN
On a similar note, it’s a good idea to use a VPN for downloading torrent files. Many VPNs support this functionality, and it’s a useful option that can help to prevent privacy issues.
Utorrent Magnet Links
While this isn’t likely to be a problem when downloading an open-source operating system, you still might want to take a look at the best Android VPNs on offerThe 5 Best VPNs for AndroidThe 5 Best VPNs for AndroidNeed a VPN for your Android device? Here are the best Android VPNs and how to get started with them.Read More to protect yourself.
Download the Data to Your Android Phone
Ready to download your BitTorrent file? Upon tapping the link, the BitTorrent app will immediately open, and the data begins to download.
You have two views: the Files tab, which lists any torrents currently on the device (uploading, downloading, or otherwise), and Details tab. Here, you’ll see time to download (ETA) and the Speed, as well as the number of Peers (people you’re sharing with) and the number of Seeds (people you’re sharing from).
The Download Location is also listed. You can use this option to change the destination of your downloaded files.
Obviously, how long this takes will depend upon the data you chose. It’s worth keeping your Android device on a charger for larger downloads.
What Next? Use the Data or Share to Another Device
Once the data has downloaded, you’re free to use it in whatever way you can. Note that if you pause sharing, peers won’t receive the data you’ve downloaded, potentially slowing their download speed. As sharing is part of the ethos of torrenting, it is courteous to wait until the amount of data you’ve uploaded at least matches what you’ve downloaded.
You can, of course, use media files right away. You can unpack zipped data with the right tools, but if you’re taking risks and downloading from illegal torrent sites, make sure to run a scan with your antivirus tool first.
In some cases, you might want to share the data with another device. Cloud storage is the best option here, although you could easily copy the download to a PC via a USB cable.
Want to know more about BitTorrent? See our general guide to file sharing with BitTorrentThe Torrent Guide for EveryoneThe Torrent Guide for EveryoneThis beginner's guide is a great introduction to peer-to-peer file sharing with BitTorrent. Get started with torrent downloading in a safe and responsible way with our tips here.Read More.
Explore more about: Android Apps, BitTorrent, Peer to Peer.
BitTorrent is definitely not illegal. However, most of the content that is downloaded is illegal content to download (mainly copyright infringement). Don't fall for a honeypot folks.
I have a Torrent app running on my home server that has an outdated but pretty useful web interface. The one problem is that it doesn't take magnet links, only .torrent files. I'd like to continue using this and not have to bother with finding a different program.
Given that magnet links are just a pointer to download the torrent file from the swarm, I'm hoping there's a program out there that will take a magnet link and spit out a .torrent only. I know I could put it into µTorrent and grab the file from the app's directory, but that's a bit roundabout, and I'd like something that will do it semi-unattented. Preferably for OS X, but Linux (or a web app) would work too.
3 Answers
In order to do this, you would pretty much have to do it the roundabout way. A magnet link downloads the .torrent file by torrenting it from the peers, as you've said, so you would basically need a torrenting app to get this done. This could be avoided if there is a site that runs the magnet, downloads the torrent and then hosts it for downloading, but I don't know of any such site.
I solved this not the way I was expecting, but rather I came across sites that cache most publicly available torrents, and provide access to them via the Magnet URI hash. It's fairly easy to create a simple macro to generate a URL from one of these sites for any given torrent (in my experience they don't seem to have a 100% cache rate, but between two or three of them, you can find anything from The Pirate Bay).
How To Download Torrent Via Magnet Link For Pc
The ones I've come across all use the open source Torrage code, and include Torrage.com, Torcache.net and Zoink.it.
Yes, for example torrent-infohash. Install Go, and go get github.com/anacrolix/torrent/cmd/magnet-metainfo. Then execute it:
The torrent file is downloaded via DHT to the working directory.