Xtorrent: Mac BitTorrent Client with Integrated Search
There's a new BitTorrent client for the Mac that's sure to turn some heads with its slick design and integrated search feature. Xtorrent, which has just been released as a public beta, was developed by David Watanabe, the man behind Acquistion, NewsFire, and Inquisitor.
Xtorrent is still very young, so it's lacking the features that users of uTorrent and Azureus would expect. However, the app's search features are already killer — they deliver relevant results to torrents that actually work. The search field displays your past searches and suggests common search terms as you type. The engine queries a long list of trackers, so you get some pretty robust results. Each torrent's health is shown, along with a peer count, in the results.
During a download, you can switch between the search view and the download view. The search view lets you continue searching unobtrusively. The download view gives you information about each torrent, including bandwidth allocation and the address of the tracker. In addition to a standard progress bar for each torrent, you get a progress square, a 2D grid which fills up slowly as the file downloads. Your total bandwidth is also displayed in Xtorrent's dock icon.
I spoke with David over email today. He mentioned that Xtorrent is a shareware application and that the beta will expire when the app launches in its final version. Also, he asked me to stress that it's only 3 days old and still finding its feet. So, if you notice any bugs or have any feedback, let him know. He also keeps a development blog. A very promising application!
