FrostWire

FrostWire is a BitTorrent client that enables the transfer of data through the torrent protocol using both .torrent files and magnet links, both of which can be obtained from torrent portals such as The Pirate Bay, the most popular in the industry. You can also use the in-built search functionality which allows you to enter relevant keywords about what you want as well as the type of data which will then show a list of relevant results about what it thinks you're looking for.

After a search has been made, users are able to make a selection from the list and start a transfer going by double clicking any (or multiple) of the results. This will connect to other peers in the network in order to source the files and is a very quick way of getting the files you need without any hassle. There are other features built in too, such as the ability to download data directly from your phone by wirelessly connecting to your computer. You can also change the options to make it suit your bandwidth requirements so that you don't exceed limits.

Required Operating System

Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7

Application Type

File Size

9.3MB

Date Created

4th September, 2004

Software Version

5.3.5

Last Updated

April 18th, 2012

Required

Windows OS, hard disk space, internet access

Download Link

FrostWire Download

Our Review

Other Reviews

The search technology behind a file sharing application could arguably be one of the most important features of it. Think about it carefully, if you want to download a file, do you really know where to get hold of it without making any kind of search? It's essential that tools like this do it very well to make sure that you can always find what you're looking for no matter what it is, so this program tries its best to do so and gives you many different options to choose from when you are making a search inside the tool.

In most software packages like this, you'll just have to enter a keyword and the tool will then go and check the network for anything related. You could get a massive amount of different file types included which aren't very helpful, especially if you're looking for something specific like audio. In our FrostWire download you'll find the ability to select the type of data you're looking for, the estimated file sizes as well as the different search engines that you'd like the program to check out. You get all of the flexibility you want at the click of your mouse.

It's important to note that the more information if ou give the better the chances of finding what you're looking for. It's only a machine after all, it uses complex algorithms to try and work out what you want but this can only be correct some of the time. There are tons of different options you select from that are optional, so the more you give the better position you'll be in to get what you want.

When you've made a search for something that you're looking for, the next stage in the process is to sort through the results. The problem you may have with some tools is that it simply returns the result in a random order, making it very difficult for you to look through them and find what you actually want. This can be said for a lot of popular torrent websites these days. This is much better than most in this regard, presenting you with unique results in a list as well as plenty of other information you may need when deciding which to download.

When you're deciding which files you want on your system, you're obviously going to need the name of it, the type of file and data it contains, the file size and the number of seeders currently connected to the torrent. The application gives you all of this and more so that you can make your decision very quickly and download only the files you're sure you want. You can choose the ones that will offer the best download speeds! This is why people love this software package so much.

It's important to remember that the top results in the list aren't necessarily the best ones to go with. The number of seeders that a torrent has may be an indication of possible good download speeds but it doesn't necessarily mean that it'll happen. You may need to test a few out to get the content that you want, so have a good browse through the list before you make any decisions.

After you've taken a look at the results you've found after making a search in the software, the next and final stage is obviously to download the data. You can then use it for whatever purpose you intended - if it was audio you can listen to it whenever you want, if it was video you can also play that back on any compatible device. This client allows you to start the download going just by clicking on any of the results it has displayed to you, so go through the list and click on what you want to start the transfer. You then need to wait until it has finished.

Searching of course isn't the only way you can find files through this piece of software. It supports all .torrent files and magnet links, both of which you'll find on websites such as The Pirate Bay or ones similar. This means if you'd rather not use the search functionality in this client, you can go directly to these websites yourself and do it that way. You have a huge amount of freedom when it comes to the downloading process, no matter how you want to do it you'll be able to.

Not all torrent search engines are trustworthy, though. The ones that are available directly in this program should be fine to use and will offer you the download as required but others may be less reliable and may ask you to pay to obtain the files. These should always be avoided and in fact it's usually best to just stick to the few most popular ones as these are usually always the easiest place to go to.

You may think that when a download has finished, its job has been done and you no longer require it, it can provide no extra functions. This is where you're wrong. Managing all of the files you obtain is essential if you want to be able to sort through them and find a specific one whenever you want it. For example, downloading a large quantity of movies could be good initially but in a few weeks as your hard drive starts to get filled more and more, it can be difficult to find them. This client offers a file library to help you sort this problem out.

Whenever you download any data through the torrent protocol, the file will automatically be added to your file library. This is the place where they'll be sorted into different categories for you - Audio, Video, Images and Programs. Whenever you want to open a file, you can simply load up our FrostWire download, go into the relevant category and select the file there depending on the type of data. You can even search your library if you have a large number of files in there, it really is as easy as that.

From this area you'll also be able to create playlists for all of the music that you download. You'll see a button called "New Playlist" which when pressed will allow you to choose from the list of songs currently in your library. You can even give it a name too, so that you know how to locate it when you want to go back to it later. This is just one of the helpful features inside of the app.

Most people these days have cell phones which they use for a variety of reasons - as technology has developed these reasons have continued to change. It used to be about sending text messages and making phone calls, but now with the huge amount of different apps available you can do almost anything with your cell phone. It offers something truly original - you can start file transfers on your computer directly from your phone and it is all done through an app you can find in the app stores of your iPod, iPhone or any Android enabled device.

Not everyone has access to their computer at all times, this is something you should know. You might still want to start a transfer going, though, so when you return the file will have been completed and will be stored on your hard drive and be ready to use. The program can connect wirelessly to your phone to enable this technology. You'll find more information about it on our blog but you should find that when you install it, it all becomes fairly clear by itself anyway.

To use all of these features you're going to need compatible technology though. For example, having a phone with bluetooth enabled is essential, you'll also need a phone which can support the app (iPhone or Android). Your computer must also be able to connect using bluetooth as well which is something that not every machine has so please do check before you try and do anything.

When it comes to an application like this, people expect so much more than just the basic file sharing. The demand for more and more features has led to real developments in the industry, causing pieces of software to contain much more than anyone ever thought was needed just a few years ago. The ability to chat and communicate with others in a tool like FrostWire is a fairly new concept that not everyone has understood and appreciated yet, but the functionality is there and many people do use it on a regular basis.

So, what type of features does this community chat actually offer? There is a default chatroom in place which is where all users can go to whenever they want to talk about anything in general. There are also thousands of other rooms which are more specific, where people of similar interests can gather and talk to each other about hobbies, music or anything of that nature. Private messaging is also available. You'll be able to meet many new people with this.

You'll also be glad to know that it works using the IRC protocol, the most popular way of allowing internet chat. What this means is that you can also talk to people who aren't even using this program, they can be using any number of IRC clients giving you the ability to talk to much more people without having to encourage them to download this tool instead.

If you've decided that you want to give back to other people and want to upload files so that everyone else can download them, this is a great thing. The industry relies on people sharing, otherwise there simply would be no content there at all. There's a process you need to go through to get your files publicly accessible though, so follow the steps we're going to discuss if you want to do so.

The first thing you're going to need to do is select the files that you want to share. You might think that this is something that you don't need to hear about but it is really important that you find out the facts. Remember that once the files are on the internet it's nearly impossible to get rid of them completely which is why you need to be incredibly careful about what you decide to share.

You should scan through your whole hard drive looking for non-personal information that people will want - for example, music or movies. Anything that can identify you as a person is a very bad idea as you have no control over the data as soon as it's been transferred to someone. When you've chosen the files, then you can start sharing.

After you've selected the files, you then need to get them into a format which you can share. For this tool, you need to create a .torrent file which you can then distribute to other people. There are multiple tools you can use to do this but you should find the feature included in the software useful enough to complete the actions necessary. Note that this file will allow people using other programs to download data too such as Ares and uTorrent, it's an industry standard format.

Load up FrostWire and then go into File --> Create New Torrent. You'll be provided with several different options that you can select from. You can choose to share 1 file (it could just be an individual file or an archive) or a whole folder (but remember to check everything that is in the folder first). Either of these will work.

You can then select "Trackerless Torrent (not recommended) and "Start seeding" which you should enable as it will allow people to start downloading from you as soon as you've created it. You can enter the trackers in a list too if you've selected this option. Simply click "Save torrent as..." afterwards and the file will have been created for you.

When you have the .torrent file saved on your computer, the only thing left for you to do is to distribute it to everyone else. Whenever someone opens this file in any BitTorrent client, their computer will seek anyone who has the files and is currently seeding it. If you've just created it you'll be the only seeder so it's essential that you keep the program running until a few people have downloaded it and seeded it. Then you can leave it to the others if you want to.

You need to upload this file to Torrent portals and search engines such as The Pirate Bay. Put in suitable titles and descriptions so people know what the contents is, do this on multiple websites to really get the word out about it. When they've all been submitted, you just need to wait for the downloads to come in which shouldn't take long (depending on what the content is).

When you start to see the upload speed the torrent is giving going up you'll know that people are downloading. You can also find the number of peers that you're currently connected to in the program too. There isn't much else to do from here other than seed and let other people enjoy the content that you're sharing to them.