Bittorrent Share, Easy File Sharing

Martin Brinkmann
Jan 6, 2012
Updated • Dec 2, 2012
File Sharing, Software
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Sending big files over the Internet is still a big issue for many users. While it is possible to overcome those issues, it often means spending time preparing the files to do so. You could for instance pack and split the files before sending them, upload them to an ftp server or online file hosting service, use Microsoft's Hotmail which uses the company's own SkyDrive storage service to enable the sending of large files, or resort to handing out the data on physical discs.

Bittorrent is another solution, one that requires basic knowledge of creating torrents and seeding it to friends. Bittorrent Share tries to reduce the complexity by making it easier for users to share data with their friends (keep in mind that Share is a temporary name subject to change).

Users can download the alpha version from the official website. A free account is required which can be created directly in the application. Share is initially available for Windows systems, with Mac and Linux systems announced to be available at a later point in time.

Share users can then use the file browser or drag and drop to add files to the program that they want to share with individual friends or groups. Multiple files, for instance a folder full of photos, are automatically grouped together.

share files

You can share the files with users either by entering individual email addresses into the share form, a name of a user that you previously shared with, or by selecting a previously created group. Groups allow you to share with multiple users at the same time, for instance your college football team, your family or colleagues at work.

The emails users receive point to a download page. Users who want to download the shared files need to create a Share account as well before they can download the files. This is different from downloading shared files with software like uTorrent, as no accounts are required to do so.

Share has no file size limitations as it is based on the same technology that powers all Bittorrent clients. Users should however keep in mind that they upload the files to the users they share with, which can mean that the total bandwidth spend sending those files may be larger than the size of all files.

All users with access can leave comments in the program interface. Invited users will also share the files automatically with other users that have been invited to download the files. This access restriction is one of the advantages of Share, as it allows users to limit access to files they want to share.

Bittorrent (the company) notes that it will "initially host and remotely seed a file for a limited time" to "ensure quality of service and file availability".

The big issue here is that the initial seeder needs to be online when other users start the file download. This can be a issue if the software is not open about this to both seeders and downloaders. This is probably one of the reasons why Bittorrent made that decision.

The company intents to integrate Share into Bittorrent and uTorrent clients. What they mean by this is that both clients will include features to download files shared via Share in the future. This is beneficial to existing uTorrent or Bittorrent users who do not want to download another software to download those files to their computer.

Share in its current form is a dumbed down Bittorrent client with integrated social features that simplifies the sharing of files. While it simplifies the sharing, it adds to the complexity of the operation by requiring accounts prior to downloading files.

What's your take on Bittorrent Share?

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Comments

  1. Roman ShaRP said on January 10, 2012 at 2:33 pm
    Reply

    As for me, it looks like “too limited to be useful” (“The big issue here is that the initial seeder needs to be online when other users start the file download”)

    I do prefer “fire and forget” approach.

  2. Marc said on January 8, 2012 at 6:48 pm
    Reply

    There’s File Transfer http://sourceforge.net/projects/file-transfer/ open-source and portable.

    Note aside, uTorrent makes it easier to share torrents via links and drag-and-drop, though it requiers the end user to install utorrent. I bet It would be better to just send via the link a portable package of utorrent bundled with the torrent .

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on January 8, 2012 at 8:23 pm
      Reply

      Was not there a program available that bundled a torrent client with the download. I seem to recall having reviewed a program like that some time ago.

      1. Marc said on January 9, 2012 at 3:03 am
        Reply

        hum.. not sure.. “Torrent2exe” perhaps? an online service that bundles a torrent client in a downloaded “exe” file which has to be sent. Though if I remember correctly it didn’t at that time generate any short link to share, hence the “exe” had to be additionally uploaded somewhere else in order to share it via email (or use some trick..).

        Anyway I like more the idea of using a known client with proven performance. The exe file was reported by virustotal as virus, likely a false positive but the antivirus of the person on the other end might delete it.

  3. DavidW said on January 8, 2012 at 3:24 pm
    Reply

    Seems too complicated! To require each person wanting to download your file to have to first download the application.. not good.

    Why not use a free service like TransferBigFiles.com that allows you to upload a file and send an email out to the people you are sharing the file. This email has an embedded download link. The receiving person then simply clicks on the download link and its done… no application to load beforehand in order to get access to the file.

    I guess if you were sharing an extremely large file to 100’s of people I could see this being an advantage… but for an occasional large file to a small select group of people it doesn’t make sense to me.

  4. insanelyapple said on January 6, 2012 at 11:51 pm
    Reply

    Looks interesting but sharing files with Facebook help? Thank you but no. This smells fishy.

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