Where there’s a will, there is a way. If you wish to download torrents on iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, there is definitely a way to do so. You can either do it with a jailbreak app called iTransmission or you can also do it without jailbreak. In this article we will talk about how to download torrents on iPad or other iOS 8 devices with iTransmission and how to use this app.
iTransmission is one very popular Cydia app and it is currently the best iPhone Torrent Downloader App. It can be downloaded through Cydia App Store for free on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. The latest version is iTransmission 4 and it works on iOS 8.1.2, iOS 8.1.1, iOS 8.1 and iOS 7. Thus, if you are using an iPad, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad Mini or any other iOS devices, you may follow the tutorial here to download torrents on your iOS 8 devices. On the other hand, for those who insist not to jailbreak and want to download torrents on your iPad, you might want to refer to Download Torrents on iPad.
- Apple went to great lengths to ban all torrent clients from App Store, so currently the only iPad torrenting apps` available are those by third parties and download managers. One of the best such tools is iDownloader.
- ITransmission remain as one of the best torrent clients for iPhone and iPad until today. Torrent apps are just like gaming emulators. They’re not allowed in the App Store due to conflict with Apple guidelines. However, I have seen a few that safely landed through the approval process.
- For instance, it cannot play a wide variety of formats or support features such as optimized subtitles. So, just like with camera apps or wallpaper apps, there are tons of third-party options that offer extra functionality and flexibility. Moreover, most are free to use too. Take your pick from these best video player apps for your iPhone and iPad.
How to Install iTransmission & Download Torrents on iPad
Previously, I had written a post featuring the best torrent downloader app for an iPhone. In that I had mentioned a much easier way to download torrents on your iPhone, iPad or even on an iPod touch. But there’s a catch in that. These torrent downloading apps can be installed only on a jailbroken iOS device from third party app stores like Cydia.
As this is a jailbreak method to download torrents on iPad, it is a must to jailbreak your iOS device and download Cydia to it. Go through the step by step guide once you are holding a jailbroken iOS device.
Step 1: Open Cydia and tap on the Manage button located at the bottom black bar.
Step 2: Tap on Sources and then tap on the small Edit button located on the top right.
Step 3: There will be a list of installed Cydia sources or Cydia repos at this page. Tap on the Add button located at top left if you don’t have BigBoss Repo. If you do, skip to Step 5.
Step 4: Now you should see an Enter Cydia/APT URL with a text box. Enter BigBoss repo which is http://apt.bigboss.org and then tap Add Source.
Step 5: Access to BigBoss repo and use the search feature to search for iTransmission 4. Select Install from top right of your screen and tap on Confirm to install iTransmission 4.
Step 6: Restart springboard and you should be able to see iTramssion icon appear on your Springboard or App Drawer.
iTransmission Features – iOS Torrent Downloader
The latest iTransmission comes with an “Insomnia” feature. This feature allows torrents to continue download even when you exit the app. Under Preferences, you can set your preferred download speed. Set it to maximum if you are connected to an unlimited Wi-Fi connection or mobile data. Otherwise, set a limit to it or else this app might burn your pocket with an expensive phone bill. On the other hand, if you are going to upload torrents from your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, there is also an option to set the Upload speed or bandwidth. The default is disabled but it is recommended to set a limit if your internet connection is limited.
Love iTransmission? Have something to say or want to recommend some other Torrent Downloader for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch? Please do not hesitate to leave a precious comment here. We would love to know if there is other method to download torrents on iPad and iPhone.
Apple does not permit BitTorrent apps in the App Store, which makes torrenting on an iPhone or iPad a little more challenging than it is on other platforms. The good news, though, is that thanks to cloud torrent services, torrenting on an iOS device is possible.
What is a cloud torrent service?
A cloud torrent service is like a friend who does the actual torrenting for you. But instead of going round to their house to transfer the torrented content onto a USB stick when the download is complete, you simply transfer or stream it from a remote server to your iPhone or iPad using regular HTTP.
Cloud torrent services usually work inside your browser, although it is interesting to note that Apple does allow some cloud torrent apps into the App Store.
There are numerous cloud services, most of which work in more or less the same way. These include Bitport.io, put.io, and Zbigz, but there are many more.
Prices
It is common for cloud torrent services to offer free accounts, often with a 1 GB storage limit. These may be useful, but you get what you pay for. We found most free accounts resulted in HTTP download speeds which were all but unusable.
Paid plans typically start at around $10 per month for 100 GB of storage. This can vary dramatically, though, so it’s well worth shopping around. Paid plans invariable produce much better download speeds than free plans and are usually secured by HTTPS.
Streaming
Other than the fact that they will work on your iPhone, a big advantage of cloud torrent services is they can stream video content to your phone so that it doesn’t need to be stored locally.
Apple is notoriously spartan when handing out storage memory on its mobile devices, which also don’t support external SD cards. This makes this space-saving feature a godsend for iOS users.
How torrent on an iPhone or iPad
Some cloud torrent services (including our example put.io) do actually have an iOS app, but most are browser-based only. As this is a generic guide we focus primarily on how to use a cloud service via its web interface.
Get yourself a cloud torrent account. In this guide we’re going to use put.io because it is very typical of this kind of service. We found it worked well and like the fact that it offers an iOS app, but we have not fully surveyed the market and have therefore chosen put.io for purely illustrative reasons.
For what it’s worth, put.io does not offer free accounts. But it does offer a 1-day trial of its premium service for $0.99 which we found much more useful for evaluation purposes than any free account we tried.
Connect to a VPN (not strictly necessary, but always a good idea). We recommend ExpressVPN as it is fast, reliable, and super secure.
Visit a torrent site. Most people reading this article will already have a favorite, but if you are new to torrenting then Google (or a private search engine of choice) is your friend.
Search for the content you want.
Find the Magnet link, long press on it and Copy Link. Some cloud torrent services also allow you paste in .torrent files, but most need a Magnet link to work.
Please note that long-pressing a Magnet link no longer works in Safari, but it does in Firefox and Chrome.In your browser sign-in to your cloud torrent account and find the “add new torrent” field (it may be called something else). Long press -> Paste Magnet link in. See below how we do this in put.io.
In theory, you can use any browser. It is worth noting, though, that Firefox for iOS worked best for us, as Safari and Chrome threw up some errors during the download process.
The torrent will start downloading to your cloud torrent account. To transfer it locally to your iPad via HTTP, simply hit the associated download button.
Alternatively, it is usually possible to stream video content direct in your browser window.
As an iDevice owner, you are probably already well aware that file management in iOS is not as straight-forward as it is on other platforms. Fortunately, Files (the iOS built-in file manager app) provides access to the Firefox Download folder where you can easily access your newly downloaded torrents.
Handy tip: VLC for Mobile is a 100% free and open source app that will play just about any and every video file you can throw at it.
As already noted, put.io does, in fact, also offer an iOS app. This allows you to browse files stored in your put.io account, transfer them locally to your iPhone or iPad, or (in the case of movie files) stream them.
In other words, it replaces the need to perform steps 7 & 8 above in your browser. You will still need to follow steps 1-6 above in order to torrent the files to your account.
How to keep your iPhone secure when torrenting?
Use a VPN to keep your iPhone safe when torrenting
A VPN will help to keep you iPhone secure when you are torrenting. The benefits of using a VPN are as follows:
- Hides your real IP address from peers who can otherwise see exactly who you are. This is particularly worrying when you consider that copyright enforcers routinely monitor the IP addresses of people who torrent their intellectual property and take action against them.
- Hides what you download from your internet provider (ISP).
Please see Best VPNs for Torrenting for a detailed discussion on this subject.
Torrenting on an iPhone or iPad, however, is different because you are not torrenting directly. Your Cloud torrent service is acting as an intermediary which means that:
- Peers see the IP address of the cloud torrent server, not your real IP.
- Your local transfers are likely hidden by HTTPS (this is often not the case with free accounts, but is a fairly standard feature for most premium cloud torrent accounts).
So if all you want a VPN for is to protect yourself while torrenting on an iPhone, then, the case for needing a VPN is less pressing. But we still recommend using a VPN because:
Qbittorrent
- A VPN will unblock the torrent sites you still need to visit in order to find the torrents in the first place.
- A VPN will hide your real IP address from the torrent sites you visit, and who knows what records they log?
- A VPN will hide your real IP address from the cloud torrent provider (although it will probably have your payment details if purchased a premium plan).
We think you should be using a VPN, anyway, on all your devices. Most VPN services offer an iOS app, but please check out Best VPN Apps For iPhone and iOS for our top recommendations.
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