ZIZZY’s blog

With Xtorrent’s recent departure from beta, I decided I might as well try out the “newest and freshest face on the block.”� From what it says on the official website, it looks like it has some pretty useful and cool features:

“Search Everywhere, Easily
Xtorrent is all about search. Type keywords in and the results show up right in Xtorrent. One click later and you’re downloading your content. It’s ridiculously easy… and it’s only in Xtorrent.

Get Exactly What You Want
You can browse the files and folders of a torrent before downloading and see its real-time swarm status. Easily narrow your search results using the straightforward media type and keyword filters.

Subscribe to Content, Easily
Xtorrent consolidates the work of many apps into one. Ditch your RSS reader and your web browser… Xtorrent lets you subscribe to RSS torrentcasts directly. Just like the search interface, you’re only one click away from downloading the latest content.

Hardcore Technology, Mac Simplicity
Xtorrent has the svelte body of a supermodel and the brute strength of an ironman. In true Mac form, it successfully marries a high-performance and advanced download core with a truly easy to use interface. Mac users deserve nothing less.

Advanced Features
Xtorrent does a lot more… iTunes and iPod support. Time and user-activity sensitive bandwidth limits. Custom download folders. Search suggestions. Watch-folder auto-download. Automatic port configuration (UPNP & Airport NAT-PMP). Seeding ratio controls. Innovative fragment status view. Growl support. The list goes on… download Xtorrent and see for yourself”

So that’s exactly what I decided to do - read my review after the jump.

As soon as I opened Xtorrent up, a notice popped up informing me that my copy of Xtorrent was unregistered, and because of that “search results are randomly disabled” and I will have a “download cap of 10kb/s in 59:55.”

It prompted me to “Upgrade to Xtorrent Pro” for “No search limits!” and “No download bandwidth caps!”, which I chose not to do. I’d rather not spend the $20 it costs to get a license. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a way to remove the window, and so I was forced to have it in my way. I couldn’t even move it off the screen, because when I tried it would simply bounce back on. One thing that puts this applications behind others is that you are forced to pay if you want the full experience, and otherwise it’s usability is hampered. Since there was nothing I could do about it without spending money, I just decided to ignore it.

The Interface

The interface is very simplistic. The bottom left hand corner displays the total speed of all your downloads along with the number of active and inactive torrents, and below that an option for creating a new folder or a new “Torrentcast” subscription.

The very top is a box for searching, and the rest of the left hand side is made up of a list of all your folders, subscriptions, and currently open searches. The download list is also very simple. It displays a list of torrents, and you can sort them by “Active”, “Inactive”, “Completed”, or just view them all. Next to the titles of each torrent, it displays the number of people you are connected to, the download speed, how much you’ve downloaded out of the total size, a progress bar, and the time remaining.

If you select any of the files, additional details are provided at the very bottom.

At the top, there are four buttons - Pause, Resume, Clear, and Remove.

Personally I prefer more detailed interfaces such as that in Azureus, but I’m sure this would be nice for those new to file sharing. One thing, although small, that I really like is the Dock icon. Not specifically what it is, but the fact that it displays your total download speed along with the number of completed torrents right there, so all you have to do is glance at the dock to see how fast your torrents are going.

Features and Usability

While how an application looks is important, what really matters is the features it has. Something I really like, one of it’s main features, is search. From right within Xtorrent you can search for and download torrents without ever using another application. While this is useful, what’s even better is the ability to add any sites for search. Then, whenever you search from within the application it automatically searches any of the sites you’ve added. Whatever it is you want to download, you can do it all without ever opening anything else. It even suggests search terms, but that hardly helps at all since it’s suggestions are rarely very relevant.

Another feature I like is “Torrentcasts.” Basically it allows you to add an RSS feed from a torrent site, so you can keep track of any new torrents. There weren’t really any options though, and while it is nice to have this built in I prefer much more customization.

All of your searches and Torrentcasts show up on the left, and you can organize them into folders if you want. That way, if you want to know when sites have new torrents in a category you don’t have to type in your search again but instead just click it from the side.

Xtorrent even has a browser built right in - that’s how it searches torrent websites. It’s not limited to searches though, so if you want to you can go anywhere on the internet from inside the application.

There is an option to have torrents in a specific folder automatically load, so you don’t even have to open them. This seems like it could be very useful, because say you save all your torrents to the desktop, then they will start downloading without you having to do anything aside from get them in the first place.

Also, you can choose to have torrents be deleted once they are opened. While minor, this is still useful. In most cases you won’t need the torrent once you’ve started it downloading, and this way you don’t have to worry. My desktop is always so cluttered with files, and since some are torrents this would help keep things clean. You can also set specific folders based on what kind of file it is, and that’s another way to keep things clean. While the only options are Music, Movies, and Pictures, that way you don’t have to move a lot of your downloaded files because they go straight where they belong. There are even more customization options to work with iTunes, such as having downloaded music and movies automatically imported into iTunes. You can even choose what happens once the files are in iTunes - they can play immediately, play only if nothing else is playing, be added to the “Party Shuffle,” or have nothing happen. While only a few people will actually use this feature, it’s cool to have it work so seamlessly with iTunes.

Obviously you can set limits on your download and upload speeds, but with Xtorrent you can do even more than just set a number. There is an option to have your limits removed at a certain time of day, or after your computer has been idle for a certain amount of time.

This could be very useful, especially if you’re sharing your internet. If someone else uses the same connection, you can set it to limit your speeds while they are home, but have it go all out when they are at work or asleep. That way, it won’t slow it down for them. Even if you aren’t sharing your connection, you could make use of it - say you set it so there are no limits after a little bit idle, then it won’t slow down your internet while you’re on the computer but soon after you get off it will start going full speed.

So far, I’ve taken the ability to cancel downloads and resume them later for granted. With other applications, if you cancel a download, you still have the partially completed file. However, with Xtorrent if I cancel a download, whatever I’ve already got gets deleted.

There are ways to avoid this (make a copy of the file and move it before you end your download), but this is one of the things I would most like to see changed.

Conclusion

Xtorrent definitely has potential, but it has not yet been reached. I prefer the additional details and features provided by other applications. I can see how Xtorrent would be a good application to start with for those new to file sharing though. The simplicity and straightforwardness of the interface and usability, along with features like built in search make it easy to download and start using right away without knowing much beforehand. Unfortunately, the fact that you have to pay for the full experience limits it’s appeal for beginners. There are plenty of free torrent applications with much more to offer, and I would recommend one of those at least for now. As Xtorrent evolves, we’ll see if it can match the alternatives - but unless it is made free it just can’t keep up.

Rating

Interface: 8.5/10
Usability: 9/10
Features and Customization: 7/10
Overall: 7/10

[Note: In case you’re wondering, the torrents I used to test Xtorrent can be found here, here, here and here]