WebTorrent: torrents via browser. No plugins, pure JavaScript

Hornbeam

2 min

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Now you don't need a separate torrent client to download and watch movies from torrents. Just like distributing files via the BitTorrent protocol, you also do not need a separate client. A regular browser is sufficient; Chrome, Firefox and Opera (desktop and Android) are supported.

All this thanks to WebTorrent , a hybrid of BitTorrent and WebRTC. Downloading and distribution occur directly through the site. The built-in player starts showing the movie as soon as a few percent are downloaded.

The site https://instant.io/ is available to indicate files for downloading or distribution . A magnet link or hash for downloading is indicated there (for example, as in blocked RuTracker distributions).

Alternatively, a standard torrent client interface is implemented in the unofficial βTorrent project .

WebTorrent is the brainchild of Stanford graduate programmer Feross Aboukhadijeh. This is a fairly well-known developer; he has already come up with several extraordinary projects. For example, I showed an exploit of the HTML5 Fullscreen API for a phishing attack. In this case, the victim’s browser is forced into full-screen mode, in which the interface of the same browser is drawn.

Prior to this, the developer created the peer-to-peer content delivery network PeerCDN, which it sold to Yahoo in 2013.

Ferossa's latest project could breathe new life into torrents, because many modern users, fed up with Netflix-style online video services, are already too lazy to download a torrent client and do not want to share files. WebTorrent does this in the background, unnoticed by a person, through a regular browser, using WebRTC technology.

Maybe in the future, using the WebTorrent protocol, people will distribute not only individual files, but entire websites. Such sites, which are hosted on the computers of thousands of users, can neither be closed nor blocked.

WebTorrent is the first torrent client that runs on the web and does not require plugins, extensions or installation of other additional software. It is written entirely in JavaScript and uses WebRTC for fair peer-to-peer data transfer.

The first raw versions of WebTorrent appeared a couple of years ago, but by now the technology is already ripe for serious use. Moreover, six months ago, even Netflix itself, in one of its job applications, indicated knowledge of WebTorrent as one of the desired requirements for a candidate. This means that even large companies are considering P2P streaming as a potential business opportunity.

In fact, such technology can significantly reduce traffic costs and even improve the quality of service.

“If Netflix used WebTorrent, users would get a better quality video stream during peak hours,” the author says . — WebTorrent allows clients of one Internet provider to exchange video fragments with each other without leaving the provider’s network. This guarantees the best quality even when the channel between the provider and Netflix is ​​completely clogged.”

Unfortunately, not all browsers support WebRTC yet, but there is reason to believe that the future of the web lies with such decentralized technologies.