I rolled out v1.3 last night. It’s a performance update, nothing visually different, but I think you will see a vast improvement in file allocation and download speeds. There’s also a bugfix for some phones not connecting to peers. That’s about it, let me know if you have any issues.

Since I released an update recently, here’s a little update on what’s going on with the next version of swarm:
I’ve got some more speedups like fast file allocation (Using Java nio) already coded, I’ve also cleared up some speed bottlenecks by switching large byte array allocations to ByteBuffers. Ultimately, all that means faster downloads.

I have a Galaxy Tab 10.1 and a Logitech Revue GoogleTv box with Honeycomb (check out the screenshots on the Screenshots page) now, so I’ll be working on making a nicer interface on large screen devices. Swarm does run on both the devices, so far, without a hitch.

That’s it for now, I’ll write about new features I’ll be adding in a later post.

I just pushed a quick fix for a bug that caused some torrents downloaded using the browser to error with the message “invalid argument.” It was a small bug in the new cacheing system (.torrent files downloaded from websites are now cached locally instead of attempting to re-download them at each start.) Sorry for any frustrations caused by the bug.

I just released v1.2.9 into the Android market. There are quite a few changes, the first of which is download folder selection. The method in which users selected the folder that they wanted to download to was cumbersome and error prone, so I created a folder browser to replace the text box and absolute path check box in the preferences.

Also, there was no way to change the download path of an existing torrent. Now users can select View Info in a torrent’s menu to see (and change) the path to the .torrent file and download folder.

Some other updates include:
• UDP Tracker port reporting -1 fix
• New icon!
• New background texture!

As usual, I’ve worked hard to increase speed and connectivity. And if you have any issues, let me know!

I released a fix for the nasty bug I posted about earlier. If you have any problems please report them.

In the latest market version of swarm a bug that causes torrents not to start has been discovered. If you attempt to start a torrent and it’s status sticks at “Thinking” and shows a size of 0.0b of 0.0b, hit stop and wait for the status to show “Stopped” then start it again. The files should then allocate properly and the torrent will start. I’m working on the issue and will post a fix this evening. Thanks for your patience.

There were a few bugs in the 1.5 releases that caused some commotion. All have been cleared out and everything seems to be working smoothly again. Sorry for the rapid succession of fixes/anti-fixes. Now back to work on the next feature release version.

I just pushed a version with several performance updates an the select/deselect all feature many of you have been asking for.
The update has made downloading on everything from the G1 to the newest phones run more smoothly and uses far less system resources. Update now and let me know what you think.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted an update and I can see that users are calling for updates, so here’s some details on common questions:

Q: It seems to take a while to connect to peers and or doesn’t connect to peers on some trackers, why?
A: Outside of network connectivity issues on the phone, I have found a bug in swarm’s ability to properly connect to peers given by UDP trackers. Since there are a lot more trackers of this type, this was a big find and is fixed in 1.3. Secondly, I have been working hard on new a DHT engine for swarm to connect to more peers as “trackerless” torrents are becoming more and more popular (a lot of PB torrents are this way now, and since it is a popular site, the usage is way up.) Lastly, a large amount of the time since the last release has been spent on optimizing the core system itself, I constantly check and recheck the code and improve it.

Q: Can you add a select/deselect all button to the box that lets you choose torrent files?
A: Yes, while that feature is not in the current beta, it will be in v1.3.

Q: I can’t download over 4g, why?
A: My phones run on tmobile and I haven’t experienced the issue, mostly Sprint users have reported this issue. If anyone can send a log of their phone attempting to download and failing (with swarm’s debug level at “All”) it may help get to the root of the problem and would be appreciated.

Q: The app slows down my phone. make it faster.
A: Every version has improvements, I’m constantly reworking code for efficiency. v1.3 has more speed improvements.

Q: Where are the instructions?
A: I assumed that the app use was self-evident, that wasn’t very smart on my part. I’ll work on some basic usage and settings pages and put them up soon.

Those are the biggest questions. If you have more post them here and I’ll try to answer and help fix any issues you may have.
If you are interested in trying a beta and helping debug let me know as well (knowing how to use aLogCat is a nice plus).

I released v1.2 in to the market last night. It’s got loads of improvements, a new UI, and media library integration. If you have any issues with the new version let me know. Time to start planning out v1.3.