Installous 5 Update Brings BitTorrent Downloading

BitTorrent downloading has been around for a long time, and is an easy way to share files between your peers. Even though this technology is great, it comes with negative connotations, as it is often related to piracy, and illegal downloads and uploads.

Installous also comes with negativity in the jailbreak community, as it can be used to download and install pirated apps, taking money out of the pockets of the developers that make iOS so great. We need to say that we do not support piracy here at iPhoneinCanada, and we hope you respect the developers of the apps you use everyday. My opinion is this: if you are going to open the app more than once, give the developer his $.99.

Installous can also be used to download officially free apps. This is handy for iOS users out there that might not be old enough to get there own iTunes account, or live in a remote part of the world that doesn’t have the App Store yet. Installous has always accessed the Apptrakr database to download apps, but a recent update adds BitTorrent capabilities, giving users more options for downloading apps.

Installous uses magnet links, a decentralized way of obtaining torrent metadata. As a result, we don’t host any .torrent files. We also use peer exchange (PEX), otherwise known as trackerless torrents. Both of these features make the entire process completely decentralized and uninterruptable. Demagnetization may be slow in some cases (especially for obscure apps), but we’ll be working hard to speed up that process.

The best part is being able to pause and resume downloads, something most filehosts don’t support for free users.

Installous will seed from the device only while the download is ongoing, and only if you’re on WiFi. When the download finishes, it will stop seeding. We use libtransmission from the famous Transmission OSX client, which includes support for all modern BitTorrent features (DHT, UPNP, encryption, etc.).

If you need another way to get your apps, or if you use the “try before you buy” method of searching for a great app, this might be for you.

Disclaimer: We do not support app piracy.