Contents

WebTorrent

Peer-to-peer web-based torrent client

This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. Please help improve ittomake it understandable to non-experts, without removing the technical details. (November 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

WebTorrent

The WebTorrent logo
Original author(s)	Feross Aboukhadijeh
Developer(s)	WebTorrent
Initial release	22 October 2013; 10 years ago (2013-10-22)
Repository	github.com/webtorrent/webtorrent
Written in	JavaScript
Operating system	Cross-platform
Available in	JavaScript
Type	Communications protocol, distributed file system, content delivery network
License	MIT[1]
Website	WebTorrent.io

Part of a serieson
File sharing
Technologies File hosting services Online video platform Peer to peer Usenet Web hosting WebRTC XDCC
Video on demand sites 123Movies Dailymotion PeerTube Putlocker YouTube
BitTorrent sites 1337x Demonoid ExtraTorrent EZTV isoHunt FitGirl Repacks KickassTorrents Nyaa Torrents RARBG Rutracker.org Tamil Rockers The Pirate Bay YIFY YourBittorrent
Academic/scholarly ICanHazPDF Internet Archive Library Genesis Sci-Hub
File sharing networks BitTorrent Direct Connect eDonkey Gnutella Gnutella2 Hyphanet I2P Soulseek
P2P clients BitComet DC++ eMule Filetopia μTorrent OnionShare qBittorrent Shareaza Transmission Tribler Vuze WinMX
Streaming programs Butter Project Kodi Popcorn Time Torrents-Time
Anonymous file sharing Anonymous P2P Darknet Friend-to-friend Private P2P Proxy server Seedbox VPN
Development and societal aspects Timeline Legality BitTorrent issues
By country or region Canada Japan Singapore UK USA
Comparisons Comparison of BitTorrent clients Comparison of BitTorrent sites Comparison of eDonkey software Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients Comparison of Usenet newsreaders
v t e

WebTorrent is a peer-to-peer (P2P) streaming torrent client written in JavaScript, from the same author, Feross Aboukhadijeh, of YouTube Instant, and the team at WebTorrent and on GitHub, for use in web browsers, as well as a WebTorrent Desktop stand alone version able to bridge WebTorrent and BitTorrent serverless networks.

History[edit]

Before creating WebTorrent, the developers first created PeerCDN, a peer-to-peer content delivery network which was bought by Yahoo! in 2013.

The idea behind WebTorrent is to make a BitTorrent-like protocol that works on the web browser, maintaining as much compatibility with BitTorrent as possible.^[2] Any web browser should be able to connect to a peer-to-peer swarm, fetch content, verify that it is correct, and display it to the user – all as much as possible without centralized servers relying on a network entirely of people's browsers.^[3] WebTorrent uses the same protocol as BitTorrent but uses a different transport layer. WebTorrent primarily relies on WebRTC connections, while BitTorrent uses TCP connections and UDP datagrams directly.^[3]

WebTorrent Desktop[edit]

The WebTorrent Desktop bridges the two networks of WebRTC-based WebTorrent and TCP/UDP-based BitTorrent simultaneously. The BitTorrent client Vuze (formerly Azureus) less gracefully but adequately functionally incorporated WebTorrent adding simultaneous network bridging to their software. The developers used Electron that makes desktop apps using JavaScript with access to all the APIs from Chrome and Node.^[3]

Functionality[edit]

Online video is the core focus as that is where WebTorrent is most useful. It is less suited for smaller files or data sets but is ideal for larger files.^[3]

File availability, as with BitTorrents, is dependent on torrent seeding. If only a few users are sharing a file, then an HTTP server that provides webseeding would be the fallback. There is no sharing without webseeding. However, this could have some positive implications. Rather than using a middleman upload site to share a large private file with another person, with WebTorrent you may directly connect without leaving traces somewhere or potentially being archived on some upload site. You simply drag and drop your file to create a magnet link that you can share with your friend. Connections are already encrypted, but you may add extra layers of encryption with keys to send another way. RAM limits may be managed with IndexedDB.^[3]

The client prioritizes downloading pieces chronologically, so that the file is able to be streamed uninterrupted even before the download is complete.^[4]

Adoption[edit]

WebTorrent uses widely supported open web standards like WebRTC and therefore works in any modern browser, including Google Chrome, Firefox, and Opera for Desktop and Android, Microsoft Edge and Safari.^{[5][better source needed]}

BitChute[edit]

Launched in 2017,^[6] BitChute is a video hosting service that used WebTorrent P2P technology.^[7][8] It claimed in order to ease bandwidth issues of centralized streaming.^[6] According to Fredrick Brennan, there is little evidence BitChute actually uses peer-to-peer technology.^[9] By April 2021, the option to host videos using WebTorrent on BitChute "appears to have been deprecated", according to Ars Technica.^[10]

Brave[edit]

Brave web browser bundles WebTorrent into the native executables and integrates WebTorrent into its UI.^[11]

See also[edit]

• BitChute, formerly used WebTorrent^[10]
• PeerTube, formerly used WebTorrent^[12]
• libtorrent, implements WebTorrent^[4]
• Comparison of BitTorrent clients
• InterPlanetary File System
• List of video hosting services
  • DailyMotion
  • Vidme
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube
• YouTube Instant

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website
• Instant.io for WebTorrent magnets.