iTorrent: a libtorrent client for iOS 16 and later, installed through AltStore or SideStore

What iTorrent is, and the iOS restriction that shapes it

The README describes iTorrent as "an ordinary torrent client for iOS with Files app support." That sentence hides the interesting part. Apple does not allow BitTorrent clients in the App Store, so the project cannot ship through the normal channel. The README states the position plainly: for EU citizens, third-party app stores are permitted and iTorrent is available on AltStore PAL. "For everyone else, unfortunately, there is no official way to install the app, so you will need to sideload it using AltStore or SideStore."

The audience follows from that constraint. This is for iPhone and iPad owners on iOS 16.0 or later who are comfortable running a sideloading tool, and who want torrent downloads to land in the Files app rather than in some sandboxed folder they cannot reach. It is not for someone who wants to tap a link in the App Store. The project's own warning is blunt: AltStore and SideStore are the only supported sideloading methods, and anything else gets no guarantees and no support.

The feature list is longer than the install path suggests. Background downloading, a Live Activity and Dynamic Island progress widget, a built-in VLC player with AirPlay and Picture in Picture, sequential download, torrent files from the Share menu, magnet links from Safari, file sharing from the app, a WebDAV server, per-file selection, an RSS feed, and a Glass UI for iOS 26. The README ends that list with "???", which is a fair summary of how the roadmap reads.

libtorrent underneath, VLC on top, and what sits between

The engine is not written from scratch. The libraries section lists LibTorrent first, alongside OpenSSL, SwiftVLC, MvvmFoundation, CombineCocoa, SWXMLHash, MarqueeText, MarqueeLabel, GCDWebServer and Firebase. So the BitTorrent protocol work, peer connections, piece verification and magnet metadata exchange come from libtorrent, while the iOS-facing layer is Swift.

The repository layout backs this up. The top level holds iTorrent.xcodeproj and iTorrent.xcworkspace, the app source under iTorrent/, a ProgressWidget/ target for the Live Activity and Dynamic Island widget, a separate iTorrent-TV/ target, and a Submodules/ directory. Two of the listed libraries, MvvmFoundation and CombineCocoa, are the author's own, and GCDWebServer points at a fork under XITRIX rather than the upstream project. That is worth noticing: the WebDAV server feature depends on a maintained-by-the-author fork, not on the original repository.

The data flow is what you would expect from that stack. A torrent file or magnet link enters through the Share menu or Safari, libtorrent handles the swarm, and completed files are written where the Files app can see them. The VLC layer reads from the same storage, which is what makes sequential download useful: the README's phrasing is "use VLC to watch films while loading", so playback and download share the file rather than waiting for completion. The WebDAV server exposes that storage to other devices on the network. Firebase sits alongside all of it for analytics and crash reporting.

Installing iTorrent by sideloading with AltStore or SideStore

There is no package manager step here, because there is no App Store listing. The README offers download buttons for AltStore Classic, SideStore, AltStore PAL, a jailbreak manifest, and the GitHub releases page. The supported route is AltStore or SideStore, and both work from a source URL rather than a direct file. The project publishes the AltStore source at xitrix.github.io/iTorrent/AltStore.json, which is the URL those buttons point at.

If you already have AltStore or SideStore installed on the phone, adding iTorrent means adding that source and installing from it. The README does not spell out the in-app steps, so treat the source URL as the concrete artifact and follow your sideloading tool's own instructions for adding a source.

https://xitrix.github.io/iTorrent/AltStore.json

For EU users the README gives a second path, AltStore PAL, and links a separate source file at xitrix.github.io/iTorrent/AltStoreEU.json. The distinction matters because AltStore PAL is the EU-only distribution route that Apple permits, and it is not the same as AltStore Classic.

https://xitrix.github.io/iTorrent/AltStoreEU.json

There is also a direct route for jailbroken devices, which the README links as an itms-services manifest pointing at the latest release:

https://github.com/XITRIX/iTorrent/releases/latest/download/manifest.plist

For a first real use, the README's own summary is the shortest path: add a torrent by link or by magnet. It lists both "Download torrent by link" and "Download torrent by magnet" as capabilities, and separately notes that magnet links can be added "directly from Safari". So the first test is to open a magnet link in Safari and let iTorrent pick it up, then confirm the download appears and that per-file selection lets you drop the files you do not want. What you should see is progress in the app and in the Live Activity, and finished files reachable through the Files app.

The sideloading dependency is the real limitation

The honest criticism of iTorrent is not about the client. It is about the delivery mechanism. A torrent client that depends on a sideloading tool inherits that tool's constraints, and the README does not document what happens when those constraints bite. It does not describe certificate expiry, re-signing, or what state the app is left in when a sideloaded install lapses. It also does not document rollback if a new build misbehaves.

That silence is a limitation in itself. If you are outside the EU, the README's own words are that there is "no official way to install the app". You are relying on AltStore or SideStore working, and the project states that any other sideloading method voids support. The jailbreak route exists but is explicitly a separate button and carries the obvious implications of a jailbroken device.

There is a second trade-off worth naming. The README discloses that the app uses Firebase Analytics, collecting the country of your internet provider and the time of your working session, and Firebase Crashlytics, collecting device model, orientation, free RAM and ROM, iOS version, crash time and a thread log. The project argues this "cannot be used to get someone's personal information" and that it is for bug fixing. That may be acceptable to you. But for a privacy-adjacent category like torrenting, an analytics SDK in the binary is a decision you should make deliberately, and the README does not describe a way to turn it off.

Finally, iOS background execution is not a general-purpose daemon. The README claims background downloading, and the Live Activity supports that impression, but the platform's scheduling rules are not documented here. If your expectation is a client that seeds continuously for weeks, this is the wrong tool.

How iTorrent compares with a desktop client such as qBittorrent

The obvious alternative for most people is not another iOS app, it is a desktop client. qBittorrent and Transmission run on a machine you control, seed without a mobile OS deciding to suspend them, and expose a web interface you can reach from the phone's browser. The difference in approach is where the work happens: iTorrent runs libtorrent on the phone itself, so the bytes land on the device and the Files app integration is native. A desktop client plus a web UI keeps the swarm on a machine that never sleeps, and the phone becomes a remote control.

That distinction decides the use case. If you want to download something while travelling, with no other machine involved, iTorrent is the only shape that works. If you want a permanent seedbox, the desktop client wins on every axis except portability.

Within iOS, the alternatives are thinner. The README does not name any competitor, and the sideloading constraint applies to any torrent client on the platform, so switching apps does not remove the AltStore or SideStore dependency. What iTorrent offers relative to that field is the specific combination in its feature list: libtorrent as the engine, a built-in VLC player with AirPlay and Picture in Picture, sequential download for watching while loading, a WebDAV server, RSS feeds, and a separate iTorrent-TV target in the repository. If you need one of those and not the others, the comparison is about which features you actually use, not about which client is faster.

Maintenance, releases and what the MIT licence means here

The repository is not archived, and the last push was on 2026-09-15, which is recent. The release history shows v2.2.0-1 on 2026-07-19, v2.1.1-1 on 2025-12-18 and v2.1.0-1 on 2025-10-25. That is a project with activity in the last months, though the cadence between releases is irregular rather than monthly, and the README does not publish a support window or a deprecation policy for older iOS versions.

The upgrade cost is mostly a function of sideloading. Because installs come through AltStore or SideStore, updating is not a background App Store refresh; it goes through the same tool that installed it. The README does not document an in-app updater or a migration path between versions, so the practical answer is that you reinstall through your sideloading tool when a new release appears. The AltStore source URL is the mechanism that makes new versions visible.

The licence is MIT, with copyright held by XITRIX (Vinogradov Daniil) and dated 2024 in the LICENSE.txt file. MIT is permissive: it allows use, copying, modification, merging, publishing, distribution, sublicensing and sale, provided the copyright notice and permission notice are included. It ships with no warranty. Two things are worth separating from the licence itself. First, the bundled dependencies have their own terms; libtorrent, OpenSSL, Firebase and the VLC-related components are not covered by iTorrent's MIT grant, and the README does not reproduce their licences. Second, MIT says nothing about the legal status of the content you download, which is a separate question entirely. This is not legal advice.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt iTorrent if you are on iOS 16 or later, you already run AltStore or SideStore, and you want a libtorrent client with background downloads, a built-in VLC player and sequential download for watching while a file loads. Do not adopt it if you expect an App Store install, if you are outside the EU and unwilling to manage a sideloading tool with its own refresh cycle, or if you need a tracker-facing client on a desktop where qBittorrent or Transmission will do the job with fewer moving parts. Before installing, verify three things: that your device runs iOS 16.0 or later, that AltStore or SideStore is already configured on it, and that you accept the Firebase Analytics and Crashlytics collection the README lists, since the app has no documented opt-out.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. Issues
2. License: MIT
3. README
4. Releases
5. XITRIX/iTorrent on GitHub