WebTorrent is a streaming torrent client for node.js and the browser. YEP, THAT'S RIGHT. It's written completely in JavaScript – the language of the web – so the same code works in both runtimes. Do you need help? If the video is. Aug 13, 2018.
BitTorrent today launched a new BitTorrent client: uTorrent Web. Not to be confused with uTorrent (stylized as µTorrent), and despite what its name might suggest, you still have to download and install uTorrent Web.
BitTorrent commonly refers to the infamous peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing protocol associated with piracy. But there is also a company by the name of BitTorrent, which owns the two most popular clients for the protocol: BitTorrent and uTorrent.
uTorrent Web has been available in beta for years, but today the web-based torrent client is finally available as a stable version. The main difference between uTorrent Web and its counterparts is that all the downloading happens in your browser. Just like uTorrent, uTorrent Web can play audio and video files before they’ve finished downloading, but unlike uTorrent, the playback also happens inside the browser. Other file types can be downloaded as well — it’s really just like a normal BitTorrent client.
After installation, uTorrent Web will try to open torrent and magnet links automatically in a browser window. You can search for content on your regular torrent sites or use uTorrent Web’s search box, which redirects you to Google. Downloading is just as fast as you would expect, and playback is seamless — even subtitles are pulled in automatically, assuming they’re included in the torrent file.
The app’s settings are far from rudimentary. You can pick your language, your default download folder, and even whether to open each torrent in a new tab. It’s also possible to set uTorrent Web to start up when your computer boots or clear your search history, and of course you can choose uTorrent Web as your default torrent client.
The idea is that making all this possible inside the browser will make downloading torrent files easier for average internet users. At least, that’s how BitTorrent explains it:
When we first started the project, our vision was to build a torrent client with simplicity and quick playability. With a simple download to play experience as the focal point of µTorrent Web, we see more users successfully downloading and playing torrents than with any other product in BitTorrent’s history.
Despite today’s release, BitTorrent promises that the desktop version of uTorrent, which will now be referred to as uTorrent Classic, will live on: “Our long-term plan is to continue development across both products and make them available on utorrent.com.”
uTorrent Web is only available for Windows, but it will likely be ported to other operating systems if this launch is successful. In our testing, however, the experience wasn’t ideal — uTorrent Classic is still significantly simpler to install and use. But the fact that BitTorrent has managed to bring all the basic functionality into the browser is certainly a success.
WebTorrent is the first torrent client that works in the browser. It's easyto get started!
Install
To start using WebTorrent, simply include thewebtorrent.min.jsscript on your page.
This provides a WebTorrent function on the window object.
Browserify
WebTorrent also works great with browserify, which letsyou use node.js style require() to organize your browsercode, and load packages installed by npm.
Then use WebTorrent like this:
Quick Examples
Downloading a torrent (in the browser)
This supports video, audio, images, PDFs, Markdown, and more, rightout of the box. There are additional ways to access file content directly, includingas a node-style stream, Buffer, or Blob URL.
Video and audio content can be streamed, i.e. playback will start before the fullfile is downloaded. Seeking works too – WebTorrent dynamically fetchesthe needed torrent pieces from the network on-demand.
Note: downloading a torrent automatically seeds it, allowing the user to also serve the file to other peers
Creating a new torrent and seed it (in the browser)
This example uses the drag-drop package, to make the HTML5 Drag andDrop API easier to work with.
Note: If you do not use browserify, use the standalone filedragdrop.min.js.This exports a DragDrop function on window.
Download and save a torrent (in Node.js)
Creating a new torrent and seed it (in Node.js)
Note: Seeding a torrent to be compatible with the browser (i.e. with support for WebRTC) requires webtorrent-hybrid (note this requires Node version 12, 13 to work, Node v14 will NOT work with this module, lower node versions may also be supported)
where seedy.txt is a text file which is going to be seeded as a torrent, such as
Complete HTML page example
Web Torrent App
Looking for a more complete example? Look no further! This HTML example has a form inputwhere the user can paste a magnet link and start a download over WebTorrent.
Best of all, it's a single HTML page, under 70 lines!
Best Torrent Client For Windows 10
If the torrent contains images, videos, audio, or other playable files (with supportedcodecs), they will be added to the DOM and streamed, even before the full content isdownloaded.
HTML example with status showing UI
This complete HTML example mimics the UI of thewebtorrent.io homepage. It downloads thesintel.torrent file, streams it inthe browser and outputs some statistics to the user (peers, progress, remainingtime, speed...).
You can try it right now on CodePen tosee what it looks like and play around with it!
Web Torrent Downloader Online
Feel free to replace torrentId with other torrent files, or magnet links, butkeep in mind that the browser can only download torrents that are seeded byWebRTC peers (web peers). Use WebTorrent Desktopor Instant.io to seed torrents to the WebTorrent network.
More Documentation
Check out the API Documentation and FAQ for more details.