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Transmission, the adware-free BitTorrent for Mac, gets surprise update after two years

Update: Some builds were infected by malware. Version 2.92 is clean and removes the malware files.

uTorrent may be the most popular BitTorrent app for the Mac, but the open-source Transmission client has its fans among those who want to steer clear of all the adware. The app doesn’t bundle toolbars, pop-up ads or anything of that ilk.

Most had assumed that development ceased a couple of years ago, but Softpedia spotted a surprise release yesterday – the first in two years …

Prominent features of Transmission 2.90 include better renaming of torrents with a common prefix, support for PolarSSL, CyaSSL, and WolfSSL cryptographic backends, support for OpenSSL 0.9.7 or later, CMake support […]

The Mac build of Transmission received a lot of love for this major release, such as user interface improvements for Mac OS X 10.9 or later, support for trimming potential URIs from clipboard, and support for downloading from HTTP servers on El Capitan.

Support for Snow Leopard was, however, dropped. Transmission 2.90 is a free download.

BitTorrent launched its first peer-to-peer streaming iOS and tvOS app earlier this month.

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Comments

  1. JT (@TheJTizzle) - 9 years ago

    Sorry but your article is a little BS. Anyone can go to their site and download nightly builds and see the program has been under steady development this whole time. It’s nice to see a final build, but we all knew it was coming.

    • Matthew Judy - 9 years ago

      I, for one, didn’t know you could do that (and I’m a developer). It was definitely a surprise to me after two years of checking for updates and seeing none.

    • moo083 - 9 years ago

      I did see the nightly builds so I knew the lights were on. But isn’t it a bit strange to not have an official release since 2014 and then release one now with no explanation given on the delay between the two?

  2. Greg Kaplan (@kaplag) - 9 years ago

    I’ve always loved transmission. Nice to see an update.

  3. Brett Huhn - 9 years ago

    I have been using Transmission for years on my Mac and it is a very fast and reliable piece of software and I would recommend it to friends as well as family members because of it’s reliability. I hope this helps you make installation decisions. Have a great 9to5Mac day!

  4. Alex Holyoake - 9 years ago

    Never really used Transmission before. How’s it stack up against BitTorrent and uTorrent? One would assume they have pretty much the exact same functionality, but are there any differences, advantages or drawbacks?

    • frikova - 9 years ago

      This is adware-free, for starters.

      • Alex Holyoake - 9 years ago

        True that…

      • Anders Borum (@palmin) - 9 years ago

        I the light of recent events I would prefer adware over ransomware.
        I’m deleting Transmission and never going back.

    • keetonfeavel - 9 years ago

      Its adfree, the UI is simple, its open source and is insanely stable.

    • PhilBoogie - 9 years ago

      I’ve never used those 2, only Transmission. For something like 10 years now. So can’t compare, but I do like it:
      – clean interface, easy to understand. Colour bars indicate status/progress et cetera
      – ‘speed limit mode’ (can be scheduled) for when you have other stuff to download (movie on AppleTV or whatever) so that can finish first
      – hasn’t interfered with my uptime (403 days now, so I might ‘experience a Houston’ tomorrow lol)

      • Alex Holyoake - 9 years ago

        Well I’ve made the transition to Transmission, and I have to say you’re completely right! Easy to understand, clean interface, the speed limit scheduling is pretty good, and it seems stable so far. The lack of adware is a real bonus. I’d say the only thing that surprised me is how small the initial window is!

    • Brett Huhn - 9 years ago

      It has extremely low overhead as far as memory usage. It is leaps and bounds better than anything out there. Fastest bit torrent out there on a Mac

  5. PhilBoogie - 9 years ago

    Love the Change Log:

    2.90 App Changes
    Improved compatability with modern OS X
    Several bug fixes
    We’re still alive!

  6. proudinfidelusmc - 9 years ago

    Been using Transmission for years as well with no problems. Never used anything else.

  7. Taylor Deveraux - 9 years ago

    They update it every day if you choose a nightly-build..

  8. typemrt - 9 years ago

    Does this release fix the bug where you have to manually confirm the start of transfers triggered by magnet files downloaded to the watch folder?

    • AeronPeryton - 9 years ago

      Magnet torrents are an address that you enter into a torrent client, not a file. That’s the whole point to them, there’s nothing that has to be hosted anywhere. How do you “download” a magnet?

      • typemrt - 9 years ago

        When I click a magnet link, a torrent file is downloaded and opens in Transmission – that’s when the prompt asks for a location to same the file to be downloaded.
        Clicking on a torrent link downloads the torrent file and Transmission starts the download automatically. That’s why I can’t figure out what makes clicking on magnet links cause a different behavior.

  9. Paweł Furman - 9 years ago

    Only app that supports no uploading.

  10. srgmac - 9 years ago

    LOL, the screen shot shows only one legitimate download, the rest are pirated works :D
    I don’t care myself, just thought it was funny. I don’t see what the big deal is with downloading TV shows — if you pay for cable or satellite / whatever, and you get that channel, and you don’t have a DVR, I don’t see what the harm is in downloading shows…I know, it’s still illegal, and it’s against the law and all that — just my 0.02.

    • focher - 9 years ago

      Has anyone ever been sued for downloading TV shows? It appears to still be a grey area for exactly the reasons you listed.

  11. claustin - 9 years ago

    Nice! I’ve been using Transmission for years and never once even thought to check for an update. It’s just always worked. Good to know it’s still alive and well.

  12. Corey Nachreiner - 9 years ago

    One other person already mentioned this, but you may want to consider updating this article for your readers as the latest Transmission build includes ransomware.

    http://researchcenter.paloaltonetworks.com/2016/03/new-os-x-ransomware-keranger-infected-transmission-bittorrent-client-installer/

Author

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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