In Operation
Here’s an image of Motrix in action.
We’ve created 3 tasks which are downloading ISO files including a daily build of Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble Numbat), the next release of Ubuntu with Long Term Support.
Motrix’s supports a maximum of 10 concurrently downloading tasks.
The interface is remarkably clean, and very simple and intuitive. At the top right reside five icons, which from left to right, let you create a new task, delete a selected task, refresh the task list, resume all tasks, and pause all tasks.
In the image below, we’re creating a new task.
The software supports both BitTorrent and Magnet. We can drag a torrent file into the window or select the file in the usual way.
As the image also shows, a single task can support up to 64 threads.
To show more of the functionality, we’ve tick the advanced options box. This reveals options such as using a mock User-Agent, proxy support and more. The proxy protocol supports HTTP and HTTPS, but not socks5. There’s also support for simple user password authentication.
What else does the software offer?
There’s support for UPnP & NAT-PMP Port Mapping, notifications of completed downloads, and the tracker list is updated every day automatically (this can be disabled).
There’s a useful resident system tray which offer another way to access things like basic and advanced preferences. These include a choice of theme, internationalization support, startup options, define the default download path, transmission upload and download limits, and much more.
There are also extensions available including YAAW for Chrome, an Aria2 Web Frontend, and Motrix Chrome Extension which lets you download all the files via Motrix replacing Chrome’s native download manager.
Summary
Motrix is a very slick and easy to use download manager. It gets our strong recommendation.
What don’t we like about Motrix. Unfortunately, it’s an Electron-based app so we weren’t expecting memory footprint to be low, as Electron-based apps are notorious for being memory hogs. However, we’re pleasantly surprised here. ps_mem reports memory usage is about 288MB. That’s lightweight by Electron standards.
Website: motrix.app
Support: GitHub Code Repository
Developer: Dr_rOot
License: MIT License
Motrix is written in JavaScript. Learn JavaScript with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Pages in this article:
Page 1 – Introduction and Installation
Page 2 – In Operation and Summary
Be warned my firewall app revealed Motrix is spyware. Although it was otherwise a great app, that was grounds for instant deletion from my machine.
The software is open source so it shouldn’t be difficult to verify your claim.
Do you mean to say the only way to definitively detect spyware is by reading through the source code? I guess I can see the desire to verify it in some cases.
What did your firewall report? That it was sending out data? Of course it does, it uses BitTorrent for its Async DNS.
That does not mean the software is spyware.
I said revealed, not reported. There is a difference. Let me define some terms. Spyware collects usage data, quietly. Malware will try to brute past your firewall, and God help you if it succeeds. Firefox comes close to that definition because if you block it from directly phoning home it will attempt to get through indirectly. It doesn’t use brute force so I define it as spyware. But I delete both.
We haven’t seen any evidence to show that Motrix is spyware.
Do you guys even look? I couldn’t miss it. I see known spyware apps topping the list in roundups and I haven’t yet seen any mention about spyware concerns. I’m guessing your threshold is very high.
The conventional definition of spyware is malicious software that enters a user’s computer, gathers data from the device and user, and sends it to third parties without their consent.
What malice are you claiming?
If you have concerns with Motrix, I suggest you raise it on their GitHub repository and ask them if/what data they are collating.
I see you don’t want people mentioning concerns about spyware in comments. Noted. But I think you don’t see evidence of spyware because you can’t actually be looking. I still like the site even though important info is being overlooked. I can see why you might have your reasons. It is a thorny issue.
That’s not true, we don’t have any issues with people discussing spyware concerns in our comments. But it’s important to backup a claim with evidence.
Lots of Linux software uses telemetry in one way or another. Maybe that’s what your firewall is reporting? But that doesn’t, in itself, suggest malice.
If you look at my response to another post I defined terms to make it clear I don’t consider spyware malicious. But I, like many others, prefer apps that don’t phone home. Plenty of others don’t. And as I said Motrix was a disappointment because it works so well.
You didn’t provide your definition of spyware in your initial post. That’s an important omission given you warned others not to use Motrix.
My response was based on the conventional definition of spyware.
Conventional definitions don’t call spyware malicious. That’s why there’s a separate definition for malware. I saw the need to define terms when it became apparent people were assuming I was calling it malware. And I didn’t say “don’t use this software” I just posted a warning for people like myself who don’t like being tracked knowing full well most people couldn’t care less. It would have been awful wordy spelling all that out and posting detailed security analyses to back up my innocent statement as you suggest. So I’m back to my thought that you don’t want people mentioning privacy concerns in comments.
You’re wrong about the conventional definition of spyware. And I stand by my comments. If you want to carry on a discussion about telemetry v spyware, this is not the place.
Malware is best detected with antivirus software as it actively seeks out, quarantines, and deletes malware.
My AV doesn’t indicate Motrix is malware.