Well, I bought a Mac. Specifically a MacBook Air 11.6″ notebook. It is the best ultralight travel computer I could find.
I had known the MacBook Airs were good little computers for quite some time, but after they did away with the backlit keyboard a while back I scratched them off of my “short list” of top notebook. Well, they re-added the backlit keyboard and they also put in some spicy new CPUs and nice big SSD options. So I did what I never thought I would, I bought a Mac.
After all that, I will get to the point… since I am playing with Mac OSX a bit (before probably switching to Win 7 on bootcamp or VMWare Fusion) I need replacements for some of my “go to” apps.
May 26, 2020. Transmit for Mac is a full service FTP client for the OS X platform. Transmit looks great, is easy to use, and should be a welcome program for anyone who has had difficulties transferring files.
WANTED – a good Torrent client for Mac
First up, a good Torrent client. The top candidates: uTorrent and Transmission
Initial download size:
1.7mb uTorent
4mb Transmission
Size after installation:
3.5MB uTorrent
8.3MB Transmission
The results
To be updated as I use the apps…
UPDATE: 2011.09.20*
*Note: I returned my MacBook Air so I have not been able to add the screenshots and UI comparisons that I wanted to. However, the next time I am doing development work in my VMWare Mac OSX installation I will try to take screenshots and update the article.
Performance:
uTorrent: 5/5
Transmission: 4.5/5
Both clients performed admirably in my tests. Neither had any problems solidly downloading a variety of legal torrents. Speeds were comparable, neither provided an extreme DL boost compared to the other. uTorrent gets a small win here since I prefer its speed reporting and graphing capabilities vs. Transmission.
Cross-Platform Compatibility:
uTorrent: 4/5
Transmission: 4.5/5
uTorrent is readily available on Windows and Mac. Transmission open source and is available on Mac, GTK+ and Qt as well as being ported to a variety of platforms.
User Interface
uTorrent 4.25/5
Transmission 4/5
Each client takes a totally different approach to user interface and content presentation. Transmission is very minimalistic and “Mac like” while uTorrent provides you with loads of information.
This really comes down to individual user preference but I generally like more info rather than less so for me uTorrent gets the nod.
Transmission Mac Os
The winner is?
Thankfully these are both great torrent apps for use on Mac OSX Lion. If I had to choose one I would choose Transmission. When I use a Mac I try to keep things simple, Transmission is a very simple and streamlined interface that makes downloading torrents easy. The complexity is hidden and with the “keep it simple” mantra I find myself not even digging into the options that I often play with on uTorrent for Windows.
This conclusion (choosing Transmission) really came as a surprise to me. When I use Windows I personally tend do more complex things and at those times I prefer the control/info that uTorrent offers in plain vie. However, especially in older versions, it is not a streamlined simple interface. It is a power user interface IMHO. But on Mac OSX uTorrent just does not fit in, it does not quite belong in Apple-Land. Whereas Transmission fits into the landscape perfectly.
As Keith pointed out in the comments below, Transmission also has a longer history on Mac OSX and they seem to really focus on pushing the limits for the Mac version. Whereas the Mac version of uTorrent may always lag behind the more popular Windows version when it comes to features and development.
In the end – both of their place
In addition to choosing Transmission, I am also leaving uTorrent for Mac installed. Neither takes up significant resources and they both have a place in my torrent toolbox.
I hope this info was helpful to you and I encourage you to share your experiences as well. 🙂
Transmission Mac App
Here are the steps to install Transdroid when you use Transmission on Mac OS X:
Setting up Transmission
Transmission has a native Mac OS X interface now and is becoming more and more popular on this platform. To install this client on your Mac, visit the Transmission website and download the latest Mac OS X build, which is a .dmg file. When it is done downloading, copy it to your Applications to install it.
Next, we will enable the web interface, because this is used by Transdroid to communicate with it. Choose ‘Transmission -> Preferences’ from the menu and go to the ‘Remote’ tab. Enable the remote access. You can leave the listening port to the default 9091 or change it. If you change this, remember it because you will need it later on. It is strongly advised to also enable authentication. Make up some username and password. Remember it because you will need it later. Lastly, make sure that you leave the IP filtering option off..
You should now test if the web UI works. Click on the ‘Launch web interface’ button. This opens up your browser. If it doesn’t, open the browser yourself and go to http://127.0.0.1:9091/transmission/web. It will ask for the username and password that you just entered. If you now see the web interface of Transmission, you may continue.
Allow access from anywhere
The next step is very important if you want to use Transdroid to control Transmission from anywhere you go and not just your home Wi-Fi network. You will need to open up the port 9091 and redirect this to your home computer. First get your Mac’s local IP address. For OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and 10.6 (Snow Leopard), select the Apple menu and choose ‘System Preferences…’ or use Spotlight to find it. Here, choose ‘Networking’ and on the left click the active network adapter (Ethernet for wired and AirPort for wireless connections). The local IP addres is shown in the networking status.
With Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) and lower, select the Apple menu and choose ‘Location’ and then ‘Network Preferences…’. Next to show, select ‘Network Status’ which will show the active network adapter and its IP address.
Now go to your the manager interface of your router or ADSL modem. It will most likely have a NAT tab or settings screen. Here you will need to set up a port forward from all external traffic on port number 9091 to you local computers’ IP address – the one that you just retrieved from the Network screen – on the same port. There are too many routers and ADSL modems to make detailed explanations here, but you can use the website PortForward for in-depth help.
Setting up Transdroid
The final step is to set up Transdroid. Install the software from the Android Market and open up the application. You will see a message that you need to set up a server configuration first. Hit your Android device’s menu button and choose ‘Settings’. Next, click the ‘Add a sever’ button to create your first sever configuration. You can add more later, if you need to.
Now fill in all the settings. The name is totally up to you. From the type menu you choose for Transmission of course.
The IP address is your server’s external IP address. If you do not know this, open up a browser on your Mac and surf to whatismyip.com. It will present you the external IP address that you need in Transdroid.
The port number is the next setting and is 9091. (Except for when you manually changed it, of course.) You entered this in the Transmission remote access settings tab.
Since you have enabled authentication as well, enable this setting and fill out the username and password that you choose earlier.
Time to test your settings! First disconnect from the Wi-Fi network if you are connected to the local network (the one where your Mac is in as well). This is important, because you will need to use different settings for that.
Now, hit the back button of your Android device twice to return to the main screen. It should now state that it is connecting to the sever. After a couple of seconds you should get a listing of all the active torrents in Transmission. Rewards yourself by downloading some torrents, right from your phone. 🙂
Transmission Client Mac Os X
Local Wi-Fi network access
One thing you should know when you have a Wi-Fi network at home, is that you cannot use your external IP address as described above while you are connected this way. When connected to the wireless network that your Mac is in, you will need to use your machine’s internal IP address instead.
Easiest thing to do is to open Transdroid’s settings menu again and add a new sever configuration. Use the exact same details that you used before, but now use your Mac’s local IP address. Of course you also want to give it a name that identifies it as being your local configuration.
Give it a test by going to the main screen and choose ‘servers‘ from the menu. You can select the other configuration from the pop-up menu. A little tip: switching servers can also be done by swiping your finger from left to right (or the other way around). No need to open the menu each time!
Troubleshooting
If Transdroid refuses to connect you, use these steps to trace the problem.
First try to connect to the web UI directly from your Mac. Start a browser and surf to http://127.0.0.1:9091/transmission/web. If you get a page not found error, you have not enabled the web UI in Transmission or you are using a different port than 9091.
If you are presented a login screen but are refused access, please check your username and password, maybe re-enter them. As long as you cannot even access the web UI, Transdroid will not work as well.
If this direct connection works, check if you can connect using Transdroid while connected on your internal Wi-Fi network. Remember to use you internal IP address now. If this works but external connections via 3G/EDGE don’t, you have not set up the port forwarding correctly.
Still having troubles? Send us an e-mail explaining what you have attempted already, what error you are receiving and which torrent client you use.
Good luck and enjoy!