We highly recommend you upgrade your FrostWire to 5.7.4
We’ve fixed issues that would break YouTube downloads, and prevent Torrents.fm search results from appearing.
We’ve also brought back the ability to download soundcloud urls, and included soundcloud playlist downloads if you enter a soundcloud track or playlist url on the search box.
frostwire (5.7.4) stable; urgency=high
* Fixes issues with youtube downloads.
* Recovered ability to download soundcloud urls.
* Can download entire soundcloud playlists from playlist url.
* Fixed broken Torrents.fm search.
* Updated Gson library, included the sources into our repo.
-- FrostWire Team Thu, 26 June 2014 15:44:35 -0500
To MacOSX Yosemite users: We are still working to make FrostWire Yosemite compatible, we’ve found some binary issues that we need to resolve, we hope to have FrostWire ready for you on our next release 5.7.5.
Please test:
– Search (we had an issue where torrent.fm search was broken and slowing down the app from getting any other search results, past whatever came in first before querying torrents.fm)
– Pasting a Soundcloud URL on Search.
– Pasting a Soundcloud Playlist URL on Search.
– Pasting a Soundcloud URL on (+) transfers.
– Pasting a Soundcloud Playlist URL on (+) transfers.
– Searching youtube videos by pasting a YouTube url on search.
– Scrolling through search results, my audio, my pictures should be smoother/faster.
Please report any crashes ASAP.
We are still fixing a few more issues that occur when the internet connection is dropped and recovered, or when the user disconnects the Bittorrent engine from the Preferences screen and tries to re-connect. As soon as we’re done with these fixes and any more reported crashes are fixed we’ll be releasing 1.3.3.
This version should feel a lot faster.
Changelog FrostWire 1.3.3 - JUNE/23/2014
- Improvements in memory consumption and performance for image caching.
- Download Soundcloud Tracks and Playlists by entering URL on search box.
- Download Soundcloud Tracks and Playlists by entering URL on Transfer "+" control.
- Search YouTube videos by pasting YouTube URL on search box.
- Fixes issues with Torrents.fm search.
- Transparent use of ViewHolder pattern in ListViews.
- GSON library update.
- Picasso library update.
A new major release of FrostWire for Android (1.3.0) is finally out after 5 long months of coding and testing. Thanks to everyone supporting the project! be it with code, translations, spreading the word or sending donations, without you this release wouldn’t be possible.
The most important changes done in this release have a lot to do with the Bittorrent core engine, significant improvements in memory handling (less unexpected crashes due to out of memory errors, and the app should feel a lot snappier than 1.2.2 when you switch screens and scroll through search results) and lots of details related to user experience.
BitTorrent Improvements
The entire BitTorrent core was replaced with the latest stable source code from the Azureus Project, during this integration we enabled a few features that we didn’t have before on Android, the most important ones being:
uTP support (which helps FrostWire deal better with packet congestion issues resulting in a better Internet experience on your phone/tablet, even while you’re downloading seeding)
DHT and Magnet support while on Wi-Fi. DHT/Magnet support was there but turned off as it doesn’t really work as expected when you are connected to the Internet via 3G/4G. After 1.3.0 we turn it on when you are connected on Wi-Fi networks, sort of a best-as-you-can approach.
Now that we have DHT/Magnet support, we’ve added several popular Torrent/Magnet search indexes, so you will be getting a lot more search results than before if you are connected to Wi-Fi. Some of the search engines now available are: TPB, Torrents.fm, Monova and Yify.
We’ve joined uTorrent in its initiaive to lower times while connecting to a swarm (which leads to faster downloads for everyone) and to avoid the possibility for a DDoS attack on swarms by implementing the BEP 040 proposal for “Canonical Peer Priority” when selecting what peers to connect to using a new peer prioritization algorithm.
User Interface/User Experience Improvements
The “Transfers” screen got a lot of love.
You can now paste a magnet URI or .torrent URI to start a transfer from it.
Magnet URI Support. FrostWire will now start magnet downloads if you click on a magnet on a web browser
Smart Pause/Resume transfer. If you move from a Wi-Fi connection to a 3G/4G network, FrostWire will take a look at your preferences and if you don’t want to use BitTorrent while on a mobile network, we’ll automatically pause those transfers for you, if you come back to any other Wi-Fi network we’ll automatically resume those transfers for you.
Transfers can now be filtered by their status (All, Downloading, Completed)
Updated icons and new buttons for context menus, the downward arrow we used to have was a bit confusing when compared to the “+” to expand multiple-file transfers.
Other user experience improvements include search result thumbnails (when available), making the search experience more intuitive and less Reading-Intensive if you recognize the thumbnail of what you are looking for.
FrostClick/FrostWire promotional images are now displayed the same way across all devices when you first open the app, please support these artists by downloading and seeding their free content, you might discover a favorite new artist to follow.
You can get FrostWire for Android 1.3.0 on Google Play or on our website
(submission pending for the Amazon App Market)
Full Changelog
FrostWire 1.3.0 - APR/30/2014
- Upgraded BitTorrent engine with latest code from Azureus project.
- Added uTP packet congestion support.
- Added Canonical Peer Priority support. (BEP40)
- Upgraded Android SDK target to Ice Cream Sandwich's API (15 - Android 4.0.3).
Users on Android devices running older versions will have to use FrostWire 1.2.3
or upgrade their operating system to +4.0.3 to receive further updates.
- Removed cling library for Local peer discovery, switched to JmDNS compatible with
frostwire for desktop 5.7.1.
- Considerable memory handling improvements, lots of leaks fixed which should lead
to very little out of memory errors from crashing the app.
- Added optional sponsored search results by Appia.
- Minor upgrades to audio player and Frostclick.com's free promotional downloads.
- Added TPB, Torrents.fm, Monova and Yify search. Search results available only when on a Wi-Fi connection.
- Magnet URI support when touching a magnet link on a web site.
- Paste a magnet or .torrent URI on the Transfers screen to start a download.
- Some search results now have image thumbnails. More coming.
- When internet connection is dropped, ongoing transfers are automatically paused and
restored when internet connection comes back.
- Corrected file sizes on SoundCloud search results.
- Multiple bug fixes.
This release is all about performance and stability.
Some users have complained about what happens to their internet connection when using FrostWire heavily, so we’ve finally added uTP support to solve these issues.
FrostWire can now deal with bandwidth congestion issues in a way that won’t compromise your internet experience while you use it.
You can, for example, see how FrostWire will automatically adjust its transfer speeds to cede network resources to other programs in your computer, like your web browser while surfing the web or streaming a movie from Netflix.
If the connection is not being used by any other software FrostWire will automatically use as much bandwidth as it can, and you don’t have to do this manually using the existing throttling controls, and all this while not clogging up your router’s memory.
Another benefit of having added uTP is that some WiFi/DSL/Cable routers won’t have issues with packet data overflow when torrenting with FrostWire, which in some cases can completely drop the internet connection forcing you to restart your router to reconnect to the Internet.
We’ve also taken care of very important user experience details, that should make FrostWire easier to understand for new users, as well as smaller usability bugs and crashes that have been fixed.
Here’s the full list of changes.
frostwire (5.7.2) stable; urgency=high
* uTP support enabled.
* Multiple crash fixes.
* UX: playable single file torrents now can be played from transfer list.
* UX: Fixes UI Thread freeze when opening Options > Search.
* UX: Better error reporting when a torrent can't be fetched from a
magnet connection.
* Spanish translation update by @dennistobar.
-- FrostWire Team <contact@frostwire.com> Fri, 11 Apr 2014 14:22:10 -0500
Just wanted to let everyone know that as of the next FrostWire release, for both Desktop and Android, we’ve added uTP transport support.
uTP transport is a clever way to handle packet congestion in a way that:
1. Won’t mess most Wi-FI routers after doing a lot of BitTorrenting.
2. Won’t choke your internet connection.
Some users often complain that when they’re using FrostWire their entire internet connection gets really slow, or pretty much can’t use anything else. With uTP support this should not happen anymore, so great news!
We’re currently testing internally, in the next hours we’ll be releasing beta installers for desktop and android. Beta installers for desktop will be available on the official download page, and beta installers for android will be available for Google Play beta testers.
#itWasAboutTime
Mainstream centralized digital distribution platforms offer content creators means of monetization and discovery for their works, however these centralized systems often impose censorship and are ridden with middlemen which inevitably add up costs that have made it impossible for a digital media micro-tipping economy to be born.
With the combination of peer-to-peer file distribution through the BitTorrent network and peer-to-peer cryptocurrency networks such as Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin, our community can help bootstrap the largest micro-tipping economy of the Internet by enabling over a quarter of a billion BitTorrent users world wide to support content creators with tips of any amount, no middlemen involved, no chargebacks and no fees so content creators get 100% of the revenue collected, instantly.
With FrostWire 5.7.1 you will be able to attach Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin and donation/tipping urls to torrents, as well as Creative Commons, Open Source and Public Domain license metadata.
5.7.1. also improves local Wi-Fi sharing, does updates on search, bug fixes and performance improvements.
changelog
frostwire (5.7.1) stable; urgency=high
* Wi-Fi sharing discovery improved considerably with JmDNS.
Removed cling library.
* Improvements in .torrent creation window:
1. Web seed url(s) (GetRight style) support.
2. Associate a Creative Commons, Open Source, or Public Domain license.
3. Associate a Bitcoin address for Name-your-price/tips support.
4. Associate a Litecoin address for Name-your-price/tips support.
5. Associate a Dogecoin address for Name-your-price/tips support.
6. Associate a Paypal url for Name-your-price/tips support.
* Transfers and Library tables now able display Tips/Payment options column.
* Transfers and Library tables now able display License column.
* Updated Torrents.fm search engine.
* Removed Clearbits search engine, service offline for ~2 months now.
— FrostWire Team <contact@frostwire.com> Wed, 12 Mar 2014 16:25:42 -0500
FrostWire has introduced the possibility for of adding Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin wallet address into metadata of the torrent file format in order to enable optional donations. By eliminating middlemen and transaction costs, microtipping is now fully possible and the recipients can collect 100% of their contributions.
Mainstream centralized digital distribution platforms have been relatively successful at providing big content creators with means of monetization and discovery of their works. In spite of their success however, many self-publishing artists are still struggling with having have to share a significant portion of their revenues with the stores and middlemen, just for being able to bring their works to their fans. The centralized systems also often impose censorship and are ridden with bureaucratic structures that inevitably increase costs, making it impossible for a digital media micro-tipping economy to be born.
The FrostWire team believes that by integrating a free, peer-to-peer payment method, Bitcoin, into the free, peer-to-peer file distribution network, BitTorrent, our community can help bootstrap the largest micro-tipping economy of the Internet.
By enabling over a quarter of a billion BitTorrent users worldwide to support their favorite content creators with tips of any amount, from a fan directly to the artist, for the first time ever we would enable content creators to collect 100% of their revenues, easily and instantly.
This would be the first step towards not only creating an alternative massive monetizable distribution channel, but a decentralized digital media catalog that would make it easier for fans to discover new artists and more beneficial for any content creator to use the power of BitTorrent for a free, uncensored, and direct worldwide distribution.
We also believe that the world cannot experience an evolutionary step in digital media distribution if existing copyright licensing is antiquated and not fit for global reach. We want to help speed up the adoption of alternative licensing models by building the tools that make it convenient for content creators to embrace licensing solutions like Creative Commons.
Content Creators can now select from any of the available Creative Commons licenses available and express in advanced how their content can be used.
As a first step in making this vision a reality, the FrostWire team has developed a way for the payment & licensing information to be included into the .torrent file. Now all BitTorrent Clients and search engines can read that information and present it to their users.
The newest version of FrostWire (5.7.1 beta) can already process the payment information.
After FrostWire starts downloading a torrent file containing metadata related to a Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin wallet or PayPal donation url it will show “Tipping” buttons anyone can use to voluntarily support their favorite content creators. This version of FrostWire already allows for creation of the enhanced torrent, giving the creators an ability to add their Creative Commons License information into the torrent itself.
When tipping options are available these appear bolded, and one click takes them to the payment page.
Just imagine a BitTorrent bundle in which Bono from U2 shares free songs or a free video documentary to raise awareness and collects Bitcoin donations for the (Red) foundation to further the fight against HIV worldwide. We can’t wait to see all the imaginative use cases this integration can inspire!
If you are or know an artists how would like to create their own Bitcoin empowered torrent, please have them contact us at contact@frostclick.com. Before we roll out this particular feature to the general audience, we would like to test to make sure it’s absolutely perfect and bug free.
We encourage to try it out yourself and tell us what you think. We have created beta installers for different operating systems so that you can test the tipping/payment process yourselves.
When tipping options are available these appear bolded, and one click takes them to the payment page.
This is how the tipping page looks like. It presents the cryptocurrency wallet of your choosing in QR, Text and Link forms.
Content Creators can now select from any of the available Creative Commons licenses available and express in advanced how their content can be used.
Content Creators are now able to enter Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin wallet addresses. If they are already using Paypal buttons to collect tips they can also enter the Paypal url.
Mainstream centralized digital distribution platforms offer content creators means of monetization and discovery for their works, however these centralized systems often impose censorship and are ridden with middlemen which inevitably add up costs that have made itimpossible for a digital media micro-tipping economy to be born.
With the combination of peer-to-peer file distribution through the BitTorrent network and peer-to-peer cryptocurrency networks such as Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin, our community can help bootstrap the largest micro-tipping economy of the Internet by enabling over a quarter of a billion BitTorrent users world wide to support content creators with tips of any amount, no middlemen involved, no chargebacks and no fees so content creators get 100% of the revenue collected, instantly.
Official FrostWire Blog 