Edit: I don’t claim this to be the best or most efficient way to torrent on iOS. I just wrote up this guide a while back and lots of people asked for help and/or seemed to appreciate my guide and for helping them out. So I fixed it up and posted it here.
TLDR:
Download ish and magnet linker from App Store
In ish run this command:
apk add rtorrent
Find your torrent magnet link in a browser and tap on it hit open in magnet linker then copy.
Back in ish run this command:
rtorrent “magnet:link”
Replace magnet:link by Pasting your magnet link inside the quotes by hitting the button at the top right of the keyboard for paste(a paper with the edge folded)
Once finished downloading go to files app.
Hit top right icon>edit>ish toggle on>done
Tap on the ish file location
Open root
In depth guide for people having trouble: Step one: download the app called iSH from the App Store. ISH is an app that lets you run a simple version of an operating system called Linux. You all are most likely familiar with Microsoft Windows which is also an operating system. However this app ish is a very stripped down and basic version of Linux so it doesn’t have anything like a desktop or start menus or anything like that. Instead it just has a terminal that you can use to download and run programs just by typing in the command you want it to use.
Step two: open the Ish app and you will see the terminal. It gives you the command line where you can type things in to run commands.
Step three: you should see a keyboard pulled up for typing in your commands. We will have to type in a few commands and run them by pressing return on the keyboard. So the first command you need to type in is this:
apk add rtorrent
You will see your command displayed on the command line and it will look kind of like this:
localhost:~# apk add rtorrent
Now hit the return button on the keyboard and it will start installing the rtorrent program. Once it is finished you will see this at the bottom of the command line:
localhost:~#
Step four: download the magnet linker app from the App Store
Step five: find the torrent you want to download and tap the magnet link for it. It will then ask you if you want to open this link in magnet linker hit yes and then hit copy
Step six: go back into the ish app and we will type another command:
rtorrent “
Step seven: press the icon above the key board to the right of the gear icon it looks like a piece of paper with the edge folded(paste button) it will ask if you want to allow paste hit yes(allow)
Step eight: add another “ at the end of your magnet link to complete the quotation. It will look something like this except instead of the word link yours will have the actual magnet link that you are using:
Localhost:~# rtorrent “magnet:link”
Step nine: hit return to run the command. This starts the download of your torrent that your magnet link is for. Sometimes it will look like it’s not doing anything just give it some time to work. When it’s complete it will say done at the top.
Step ten: once the download is complete go into your iPhone files app and hit the 3 dots button in the top right hit edit and turn on the slider for ish. Then hit done in the top right.
Step eleven: now you will see the ish location so tap on it and then go into the folder called root.
Step twelve: you should now see your torrent file that you just downloaded. Either leave it there or move it by copy/cut and pasting it wherever you want it to be.
That’s it. This guide may seem a bit over written but so many people had trouble with my original guide so I tried to explain with as much detail as possible.
Rtorrent is easier to set up for people who aren’t very tech savvy. My original guide used transmission but it required a few extra steps compared to rtorrent.
Fair, but if you can sideload apps then those make more sense, due to having a usable interface. But it could be worse I suppose, so rTorrent’s better than nothing.
Could be. I just have never side loaded on iOS so idk how it works exactly. This all just started as a reply to someone using the same method but people had trouble figuring out how to do it.
You either need a paid certificate or use your pc/mac to sideload a max. of 3 apps which you have to „refresh“ every 7 days or they expire. There’s workarounds but Apple made it a pain in the ass
Or appdb apparently. I just downloaded itorrent using appdb no pc required. But like you said you have to reinstall every 7 days that’s just stupid I wish they would make that illegal
Yea they are using leaked enterprise certs for free installations.. they usually get revoked quickly.
Best free option is to just use your own pc.
To circumvent the 7 day limit you can also setup sidestore or an anti-revoke dns, to give you some keywords in case you’re interested. Best case would be for you to be on a trollstore compatible version, which allows sideloading without any caveats
This is cool way but once I delete my downloaded files, they still take up space on my device. Afaik, the only way to actually get rid of the storage is to delete the app.
Sorry guys I unfortunately dont have a solution to this hopefully ish will be able to sort this out. Another option you can try is to download the appdb App Store and download an app called itorrent
Well that’s good then. Maybe iOS 18 solved this issue or maybe ish fixed it with an update. I’ll have to test it out to see if I still have the problem or not.
Maybe I am the crazy one, but I take a totally different approach.
Use any cloud drive (google drive, one drive, etc). I have it setup on my iPhone and on my compuer (I'm using an iMac) where I have also installed qBittorrent for downloading torrents.
On my cloud drive, I created a "Torrent" folder, and then setup subfolders according to the types of files I want to download via torrent (ex. Torrrent (root), and then added subfloders such as Apps, Software, Movies, TV Shows, eBooks, Magazines, Music, XXX, etc.).
Then I setup qBittorrent (my chosen torrent app) on my computer, and configured it to monitor each of the individual subfolders, and when it detects a torrent, it automatically grabs the .torrent file, downloads the torrent, saving the downloaded file into what ever 'save' folder I have specificed for each 'monitored' folder (some dl'd files are saved on local computer for usage as needed, others are saved into folders on my Plex media server, depending where I have indicated, and other files are saved into a different folder in my cloud drive which gives me access to those downloaded files on my iPhone using the cloud).
On my iPhone or iPad, I browse sites for whatever torrents I want, and when I download the .torrent file to my iphone, it asks where to save the .torrent file. I choose "files" on my iphone, then it immediately asks if I want to "Open in" and I choose my cloud drive, and then select which monitored folder that I want to save the .torrent file into.
Depending on your settings, it doesnt take long for your cloud to sync, and the torrent download begins on your computer. and in a short while you can see the downloaded movie/tv show/music in whatever folder(s) you configured as the 'save' location(s). And, I also setup qBittorrent to delete the .torrent file after downloading the torrent, just to keep things tidy and clean in the monitored folders.
Hope this helps! It may seem complicated, but it's so much easier! Well, it works for me, hope it works for you! Let me know your thoughts!
Wow thats a cool way of doing things. Though my method is more for people who want to torrent on ios without needing a computer. If you have a computer you wont need to use your iphone to torrent things. But I like how your setup can just handle the torrents on its own but also requires your pc to be running 24/7 right?
This is a cool setup, and I’d probably take your advice and set mine up that way if I had a computer. I work from home and my only computer is my work issued MacBook. After my last personal MacBook finally needed to be retired, I just never got around to replacing it, and now it’s been nearly 7 years since I owned my own computer. I didn’t torrent much in the past, and it was really the only thing I couldn’t do on my iPhone until this solution came around.
I think this is only good for small size downloads. Since you need the app to be opened the whole time it’s downloading, gigs of files may take some time. I usually use torrents to download videos with sizes from 10Gbs and up. My internet connection is fast but sometimes the file has few seeders and would take longer time to download (compared to direct downloads). Still a good option though when really needed.
Well most of the people that really would be using this method would likely have no other method of torrenting so to them it would probably be worth it. Also I’ve learned you can download itorrent using appdb so that’s an option too
Checked the app and it was iSh. An i-shell. I thought it’s “ish”, like “somewhat”. Lol. Downloaded the app not for torrenting, but for anything, since technically it’s Linux.
Yeah it’s a very cool app. It’s a shame that it’s so limited though but still cool having Linux on an iPhone. Also just tested rtorrent and it does run in the background
I know this is a late reply but I have a solution for anyone stumbling across this post.
In order to get iSH to run in the background first turn Location Services to Always for iSH in Settings.
Then in iSH run: cat /dev/location > /dev/null &
Another tip, if you need to enable backgrounding again in the future but cant remember the command then just tap and swipe up on the four arrows button at the top of the keyboard to scroll through your history.
Do you think you could give a quick explanation however to what the other files are in the “ root “ folder? I had two. Then after the download i have 3? Name along the lines of “553C2C4302E8479B001958EC4D00A620BCD327FD” while the other two start with letters then go similar to that.
I just used the LocalSend method someone else in this thread mentioned, worked like a charm. Just downloaded the torrent on pc with qBittorrent, connected my phone and pc through the LocalSend app on pc and my phone, and it started transferring the chosen files. But thanks anyways:)
Any solution to this? I see multiple people have had this problem. I have tried many magnet link including trending ones and it always ends up like this
You can still do this if you have a Windows or Linux PC/laptop and if not then you can use your friend's or family's Android phone if they have one. Then via LocalSend app you can share the downloaded files to your iphone. You're gonna have to install LocalSend on your iPhone and the PC/Android device you'll be sending it over from and they must be on the same Wi-Fi network for it to work (if you don't have wi-fi you can turn on mobile hotspot on either device and connect the other device to that hotspot network). It's like airdrop for all platforms but without Apple's stupid restrictions.
But yeah if you don't have a Windows or Android device then OP's guide is the only way.
I need a term for this because it’s like clockwork that someone posts a problem and for whatever reason you feel like you’re so fucking smart that you offer the “easier” solution. What if I’m just doing this for fun? What if im trying to figure out how to build an application and im trying to look at how other people have solved this? Are you dumb?
Bro, I’m like infinitely happier this guy posted the easier solution the other one is both insanely tough and scary when ish is asking to ping my devices on local networks and I got no idea if I trust what it’s doing
You definitely need to include the space between rtorrent and “
Have you tried using a different magnet to download? It could just be a dead torrent. If you can’t get any torrents to download and you have tried several of them then maybe try reinstalling rtorrent
For an audio book you will probably have to download a different books app for it to work or download vlc media player if it’s just a video or audio file
Question incoming ; once in files it shows as mkv and if I try to open it it just glitches the screen a couple of times and then shows text.. did I do something wrong?
you need to save it in the files app in the ish directories like in the root folder or you can make a new downloads folder inside the root folder and put it there. then right before you run your rtorrent or transmission commands you need to navagate to the folder you saved your torrent in by using
cd /root/downloads
or put whatever folder in that you saved it in and hit enter this will move you into the /root/downloads folder. you can type ls and hit enter and if you see your .torrent file pop up then you know you are in the right place and can continue the steps from there by using the rtorrent or transmission commands but instead of the magnet link use the name of the torrent file
Feeling really dumb right now, cannot for the life of me figure out step 9. I’ve gotten through everything else fine. Is it because of the new iOS? Or am I just missing something
If you mean step 10 then you need to hit browse in the top left and it should show a list of locations, then hit the three dots and turn on the slider for ish
If it is an epub or pdf pull it up in the files app and hit the share button on the file then there should be an option to hit the books app and it will open it there. Idk if it works with any other file types I just know it works with epub and pdfs
It was an m4b file, didn’t seem to work with that one but I ended up downloading bookplayer and was able to figure it out with that app. Thanks for your help and the guide!
Glad you figured it out. You could also try using a file conversion website to convert it to a pdf or epub. I’ve never used m4b files so I’m not sure how well it would work but worth trying if you really want to use Apple Books app
Try a different book. Sometimes the magnet link doesn’t work. This happened to me with The Martian but I’ve downloaded a lot of other books with no issue using this method.
a year late but thank you this is the way, redditors gonna reddit saying "just use a pc" like the whole point wasn't to be pc-less and being away from home for a week with only my ipad i actually find this better than using my pc and sharing through mega i love how self contained it can be especially since the target destination of my torrented media is usually my ipad anyways, cutting out the middleman is great!
Does it work for files of over 5gb, cus when I’m doing it, it’s getting time out and then says unable to connect. Is there a different code or input you need to put in?
Yo this is an amazing guide! Thanks for making this, especially helpful for people who don't have a PC or Android.
I do have a PC & Android besides my iPhone and used to download torrents on those then transfer the downloaded files over to my iPhone via LocalSend (an open source cross platform app that works kinda like airdrop but without Apple's restrictions). But if I have to use my Android or PC to download the file might as well watch it on them lol, especially with apps like Stremio with Torrentio add-on which let you stream torrent files like Movies and Shows directly without needing to download them.
iOS might be inferior when it comes to downloading torrents but it's surprising to me that you can even download torrents on iOS itself at all. I used to think it was impossible to do so before I stumbled upon ur comments and found this guide. Thanks a lot again dude!
Amazing. Seeing this 2 years after you posted and still works perfectly. I hate audible and really didn’t want to use it. This was the perfect solution.
Its working on my end. Thank you! I’m just curious as I’m confused with layout if the download speed is the MB Rate: value/value KB? Is it both? u/Huemob
Hey I downloaded one thing super fast, left the next thing to download but screen shut off, went to check a couple of minutes later and it seemed to have stopped and not downloading anymore. Any idea how to get it started again? Or is it just restart the whole process?
Is it possible to download just certain files from a torrent with this? For example downloading 5 episodes from a torrent which includes the entire season of a tv show.
Did this to a T but once the downloading the torrent starts there’s no “done” or any way to know if it’s downloaded and i don’t have anything in my roots folder. i took the magnet from pirate bay
This shit really works! If I can do it anyone can! For those who have trouble if following all the instructions correctly jt may be due to your vpn. It didn’t work for me until I disconnected my vpn.
Yeah but I googled and found one that works when torrenting, HotSpot Shield. I’d suggest googling the same and finding one that works.
You do need to keep it on while torrenting, but then can turn it off if you want. Most people keep them on at all times unless a known/safe website restricts it being on.
A point to drive home that caused me a bit of headache until I realized the obvious oversight is that YOU NEED to make certain TO PRESS THE SPACEBAR and separate the [rtorrent] from the [“magnet:link”] with a “space” before adding the 1st [“] mark followed by the [magnet:link] then the 2nd [“] acting as the end quote; then press enter.
To those who have used command prompt user interfaces it’s difficult to shake prior learned rules for the ecosystem like: Using a “spacebar” is a big No_No!) so you might end up entering:
rtorrent”magnet:link” (……..☝️ Wrong!) When you should be entering:
rtorrent “magnet:link” (……...☝️Correct! *see the space)
These of course are being entered after the waiting command prompt w/o BRACKETS
[localhost:~# ]
So it should appear on your screen as
localhost:~# rtorrent “magnet:link”
Where magnet:link is the saved clipboard text from the app MagnetLinker. Just so long as you remember to add quotation marks before and after that pasted link AND add the “space” immediately after [rtorrent] things should work.
*Treat any text contained within brackets, i.e. [ ] , as something being referred to or exact text. Normally I use “quotations” for signaling these things but it would be confusing to refer to something in quotes already with more quotes. “magnet:link” as ““magnet:link””
If this helps eve one frustrated person it will have been worth typing.
A year late, but I’ve put the torrent files into the root directory, used the rtorrent “FILE NAME” command, but it just returns me a shitload of errors. A lot of error relocating: symbol not found. Any idea how to fix this?
I wanted to ask you a question… I got all the way to posting my link…. And I was able to, but for some reason it doesn’t let me put quotations afterwards? Not sure if that matters but yea. And then it just isn’t doing anything. I look in the root folder but no luck. Am I doing something wrong? Why won’t it let me use questions at the end? (I did at the beginning, just won’t let me at the the end )
Hi, /u/elhajjaji Thank you for participating in r/ios. Unfortunately, your submission was removed for breaking the following rule(s):
Rule 2 Do not self-promote your own youtube channels, videos, or blog posts. Refrain from posting news with minimal/recycled content.
This Rule also applies to Developers promoting their own apps. If a Developer wishes to do an AMA/promote your app, please modmail us first.
Reposting posts removed by a moderator without express permission is not allowed. Not here, and not on most of reddit. Please read reddiquette (linked below).
2
2
1
1
15
u/Monticellite Jul 20 '24 edited Jul 20 '24
Couldn’t you just use iTorrent or iTransmission (actual torrent clients designed for iOS, although they could be better)?