Flud+

Review by eFreeware

Moving large files between devices is rarely as tidy as it sounds. A torrent client on a phone or tablet has to hold a download together across a flaky connection, let you choose what actually lands on storage, and stay out of the way while it works. Flud+ is Delphi Softwares' attempt at that job, a BitTorrent client for Android sold as a paid edition of the company's free Flud app.

The pitch is straightforward: the same downloader, without advertising, plus a couple of visual options the free release keeps back. The developer's own advice is to try the free version before paying, which is an unusually candid note to find on a paid listing and worth taking at face value.

I'll go through who it seems built for, how the downloading side works, what the extras and the price amount to, and how it compares with the alternatives.

Who tends to want a phone-based torrent client

The people I'd expect to get the most from Flud+ are those who already treat a phone or tablet as a real download machine rather than a viewer for someone else's library. If you keep a media collection on a device, or you pull down large files onto a tablet while at home, a client that runs on the device itself removes a step.

It also reads as a fit for anyone who wants to decide how a download proceeds rather than just press go. Choosing individual files from a torrent, setting priorities for folders, and downloading pieces in order are all supported, and those controls matter when a package is bigger than the space you have free.

The tablet-optimized layout and the Material design approach suggest the developer had larger screens in mind as well as phones. Between that and the paid, ad-free framing, I'd place it with readers who dislike interruptions enough to pay once rather than tolerate them.

The app is built for acquiring files over BitTorrent, and its feature set is arranged around that single job.

The download controls that do the heavy lifting

The core of the app is file handling. You can pick which files inside a torrent you want, assign priorities to files and folders, and run a download sequentially rather than in scattered pieces. Sequential mode is the one I'd single out for anyone who wants to start watching or opening a file before the whole thing has arrived.

Underneath, the client supports the protocols that keep a swarm healthy: DHT, UPnP, NAT-PMP, µTP and peer exchange. Magnet links are handled, including ones recognized from a browser, so a link tapped in a browser can be handed to the app. RSS feeds can be watched with automatic downloading, which suits anyone who follows a recurring release rather than hunting for it each time.

There is also room to move files while a download is still running, and the developer says the app copes with torrents containing a large number of files as well as very large individual ones. One practical limit is stated plainly: on an SD card formatted as FAT32, a single file cannot exceed 4GB.

For connections, encryption and IP filtering are supported, and trackers and peers can be routed through a proxy. A WiFi-only switch keeps downloads off mobile data. Those are the settings I'd expect a cautious user to reach for first, and their presence is the main reason this reads as a client for people who know what they want from one.

Themes, layout and the paid extras

The differences between this and the free app are narrow and mostly cosmetic. Flud+ carries no ads, supports Material You so the interface can pick up the system's color scheme, and adds a black theme. Light and dark themes are available in the app generally, and the interface follows Material design with a layout adapted for tablets.

That is the whole of the paid proposition. If you download rarely, the free version may cover you, which is presumably why the developer suggests starting there. If you keep the app open often and would rather not see advertising while you work, the paid route is the one being offered.

The extras are the kind of thing that matters more over months than minutes: a theme that matches the rest of your device, a dark or black treatment for late sessions, and an interface that fits a larger screen rather than stretching a phone layout across it.

What the app costs

Flud+ is a one-time purchase at $3.99. It contains no advertising and offers no in-app purchases, so the price is the whole of what you pay. That is a simple arrangement compared with clients that ask for a subscription or push purchases at you later.

The trade-off is that you are paying for a version whose functional additions over the free app are limited to the absence of ads and the theming options.

Because the free version carries advertising and the paid one does not, the sensible approach for a new user is to spend some time with the free release and decide whether the ads are annoying enough to justify the outlay. The price is modest, but it is still worth knowing what you are buying before you buy it.

How it sits against the alternatives

The obvious comparison is with the free edition of the same app, and for many readers that comparison will decide the question. The second is with a desktop client paired to your phone through some other transfer method.

Against a general media player, the split is clean: a player is for files you already have, while this is for getting them. Against a cloud storage service, the difference is control.

What it does offer is depth in its one area rather than a broad but shallow feature list.

Version 2.1.0, the most recent update noted, brings bug fixes, performance improvements and an updated libtorrent. That is a maintenance release rather than a new direction, which for a client of this age is the reassuring kind of update.

A considered buy for regular downloaders

Flud+ makes sense for someone who downloads torrents on a phone or tablet often enough that the advertising in the free version becomes a nuisance and who wants the controls to shape how those downloads run. The file selection, priority settings, sequential mode, RSS automation and connection options are the substance here, and they are the reason to choose it over a simpler downloader.

The case is weaker if you download occasionally. With a $3.99 price and a free edition the developer itself suggests trying first, there is no rush, and the paid extras are largely visual. A rating of 4.7 from more than 17,000 ratings, with over 100,000 installs, suggests a settled app rather than an experiment, and the 2014 release date means it has had years to reach that state.

My advice is to treat the free version as the trial the developer intends it to be. If the advertising in the free version bothers you and the theming appeals, the paid edition is a reasonable one-time purchase. If they don't, you have lost nothing by waiting.

What's new

Version 2.1.0 * Bugfixes and performance improvements * Updated libtorrent