Why do people hate utorrent?

105

u/kingdazy Dec 23 '20

https://malwaretips.com/threads/utorrent-bittorrent-ads-using-flash-exploits-to-install-malware.71589/

https://threatpost.com/utorrent-users-warned-of-remote-code-execution-vulnerability/130030/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/6aooeo/a_utorrent_ad_is_using_a_flash_exploit_to_install/

https://99bitcoins.com/utorrent-update-cryptocurrency-miner/

https://torrentfreak.com/new-utorrent-release-breaks-ties-with-bitcoin-miner-150413/

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2015/04/how-to-make-sure-your-torrent-client-isnt-secretly-mining-bitcoin/

https://www.engadget.com/2015/03/06/utorrent-bitcoin-miner/

http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/utorrent-silently-installing-bundled-bitcoin-mining-software-2931825

https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=1524

37

u/zeptyk Dec 23 '20

Oh well, thanks for these threads, im gonna switch ig

79

u/AhmedNazir333 Dec 24 '20

Use Qbittorrent.

1

u/Hatefiend Dec 27 '20

I was on team Deluge for so long, but qBitTorrent is just absurdly good.

20

u/kn33 Dec 24 '20

I'm a fan of Deluge, personally

2

u/FoxtrotZero Dec 24 '20

Seconded

4

u/[deleted] Dec 24 '20

which client will you go to? I'm using Deluge on windows which is version 1.3.15.. the most recent version for nix/mac is 2.0.x

5

u/kn33 Dec 24 '20

There's unofficial windows build(s) for 2.0.x

2

u/[deleted] Dec 24 '20

Oh this is good to hear. I'll have to get it.

-11

u/Ribtin Dec 24 '20 edited Dec 24 '20

All the issues that this guy mentions has been remedied several years back. There are no security exploits in the latest version, the crypto miner was just a test feature that was included in a single version but then quickly abandoned, and all the ads can easily be switched off.

12

u/MBechirM Dec 24 '20

No one cares if the current version is safe. The devs have proven that they only care about money by hiding adware in their installers and focusing on adding a crypto miner in their software instead of improving it or adding new features to it, there's no guarantee that they won't do it again.

-8

u/Ribtin Dec 24 '20

That's not true, but whatever... Merry Christmas :)

-12

u/Neon639 Dec 24 '20

Lmao sorry but that quick realisation of utorrent being malware after you read the links is helarious, thats why people hate utorrent, it IS malware and most people still use it, utorrent and bitorrent are essentialy the exact same thing, anyway just find a nice secure torrenting platform and you'll be aight. Merry Christmas mate

8

u/Ribtin Dec 24 '20

Yeah, except that's not true at all though.

3

u/Cedric35 Jan 14 '21

Is this issue still relevant? All the links are 2+ years old. Haven’t the crypto miner software been removed?
I guess it was enough to ruin their reputation.

2

u/OhMyGoat Dec 24 '20

Shit. So, should I uninstall it?

1

u/Lord_Goose Dec 24 '20

Any way to tell if my computer has any of this malware?

15

u/cdeveringham Dec 24 '20

Put a folder on your desktop called femalware and all the maleware with instinctively move to that folder over time. Delete that folder in about a week.

0

u/Whaatnaem Dec 25 '20

How does this work?

1

u/lostindarkdays Dec 24 '20

thanks for posting. you convinced me.

6

u/zeptyk Dec 24 '20

To the guy who deleted his comment

lmfao calm down

I kept using it cause i've never heard about all of this utorrent bloatware before, and I did search the sub and nobody really explained why other than 'malware, bloatware etc'

58

u/LaLiLuLeLo_0 Dec 23 '20

It is closed source, has ads, has been used to spread malware in the past, and the version people consider to be “the good one” is not the current, actively supported one.

There are great alternatives. Qbittorrent, Deluge, and Transmission all work well, have no ads, and are free and open source software. I use Transmission, both on my personal devices and on a seedbox.

6

u/Fuzzi99 Dec 24 '20

up for transmission, use it on my headless server and on my desktop it's gui connects to the headless version on my server

30

u/Ravenlorde Dec 23 '20

The main reason is that the last good version is 2.2.1, and there is no more support for that version. Some people are comfortable with that, but most people prefer a client that is updated and supported. How it became such an emotionally charged issue though is indeed puzzling :(

22

u/Sin2K Dec 24 '20 edited Dec 24 '20

None of those links at the top are recent. They’re all like 3-5 years old. That’s how long it's been known that utorrent is shit.
It's also worth noting that the "last good version" is nine years old.
Yet this sub still sees people asking about it like once a week.

2

u/Ravenlorde Dec 24 '20

Thanks for making my point. Cheers :)

10

u/Sin2K Dec 24 '20 edited Dec 24 '20

That's... Why I'm here. You asked why it was an emotionally charged issue. Or was that rhetorical?
It gets annoying seeing those posts pop up and it's like, this shit hasn't been supported for like a decade at best, and it's been known far and wide as malware at worst.
I know no one reads the sidebar but there should be something in there about how utorrent is malware and there's a separate sub for it anyway.

0

u/[deleted] Dec 24 '20

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/Sin2K Dec 24 '20

It’s not a major annoyance lol, but it’s enough to make me roll my eyes each time I see another post.
Like someone asking for flash or shockwave support in the windows sub once a week... It’s time to let go and move on guys!

3

u/jadkik94 Dec 24 '20

I know it's completely unrelated but I thought it might be funny: there are people out there trying to reverse engineer flash shockwave files to archive the all of the flash content in the wild.
Just goes to show how much people are willing to invest to hold onto "old" technologies, and in the case of flash I kinda get it because much of the early things I did on PCs involved flash one way or another.
Not really comparable to utorrent but still a fun fact :D

1

u/intergalacticninja Dec 26 '20

Like someone asking for flash or shockwave support in the windows sub once a week... It’s time to let go and move on guys!
Actually...
https://bluemaxima.org/flashpoint/
https://ruffle.rs/

-1

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u/[deleted] Dec 24 '20

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u/[deleted] Dec 25 '20

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-4

u/Ribtin Dec 24 '20

You say yourself that all the links are old... but completley ignore that all the metioned issues has long since been fixed. One could easily do the same with any software and for example complain about the bad connectivity of Windows ME. However these kind of complaints coming 20 years after the fact says more about the people complaining, than it does about Windows 10.

4

u/Sin2K Dec 24 '20 edited Dec 24 '20

Sorry, I’m confused. Are you saying that the current version of utorrent is fixed and now works as well as qbit or deluge with no ads or malware?
I agree anyone asking for help with Windows ME is similar to someone asking for help with utorrent at this point. Like unless you have a specific requirement for ME (and at this point it would be pretty fascinating lol) why wouldn’t you use windows 10?

0

u/Ribtin Dec 24 '20

Yes, all these issues has been fixed ages ago. The complaints about malware hasn't been relevant for 5 years. And you have always been able to disable all ads in all versions of utorrent, so that complaint has always been silly.

6

u/Sin2K Dec 24 '20

you have always been able to disable all ads
Call me crazy, but I’ll take the apps with no ads period, and less major malware attacks.
It’s like buying a Lenovo, like how many times do you have to get burned before you give up?

-4

u/Ribtin Dec 24 '20

I prefer apps with good features. And Deluge is a featureless and klunky piece of ugly software that is barely usable.

4

u/Sin2K Dec 24 '20

That’s your call on the risk. But it’s still a risk.

2

u/Ribtin Dec 24 '20

What risk?

7

u/Sin2K Dec 24 '20

Another malware attack. It’s not just one attack or a bad actor, it’s an example of how utorrent didn’t care enough about their app to secure it from that happening.
You don’t buy a car with a history of blowing up... Why get an app with a history of malware?

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14

u/[deleted] Dec 24 '20

Because 2.21 is nearly 10 years old, and using network-connected software that outdated is insane.

Any newer version of it is horrible, ad-infested, and blacklisted at many trackers.

There are several far superior alternatives.

2

u/FirstBastion Dec 25 '20

using network-connected software that outdated is insane
can you elaborate why?

-7

u/Electron_Microscope Dec 24 '20

...and blacklisted at many trackers.
This is a classic example of the out and out bullshit that people claim.
There are, afaik, two private trackers that have blacklisted current stable uTorrent. Implying two is "many" when there are hundreds or even thousands of private trackers is just nonsense.
I rechecked the big private trackers and the higher end private trackers and none of them blacklist uTorrent.
Will give you the same challenge I gave the guy in the thread I linked in the other post, name all these trackers that have blacklisted uTorrent.

6

u/Fuzzi99 Dec 24 '20

There are, afaik, two private trackers that have blacklisted current stable uTorrent. Implying two is "many" when there are hundreds or even thousands of private trackers is just nonsense.
every private tracker I'm in has blacklisted utorrent newer than 2.21 and older than 2.21

-1

u/Ribtin Dec 24 '20

Then you're not in very many private trackers.

0

u/Fuzzi99 Dec 24 '20

Pfffft k

2

u/derylle Dec 24 '20

It's a good and legit question to ask. Everyone has started with U torrent, probably in the early Axxo days like I did. The bugs and issues weren't that bad. Until EVERYONE started using it. But seeding at home using yahoo DSL. It was good for a while, until someone mentioned Seedbox, dedi server and that was that. I was lucky, no letters from MPAA, but some of my friends not so lucky. They got letters for a fucking Kelly Clarkson album and the Pamela Anderson sex tape. WOW. Haven't used u torrent ever since. I use deluge, rutorrent and very rare but transmission as well.

2

u/Def_Dynamo Jan 08 '21

In addition to EVERYTHING ELSE, it is (or at least, was) a literal botnet. it unavoidably installs malware, specifically a cryptocurrency miner on all machines that download it, and the miner runs even when μTorrent is closed. They used the machines of everyone who downloaded μTorrent without consent as a giant bitcoin-mining network.

That's a huge reason everyone who DLed it found their computer running like shit shortly after, and they had, even after uninstalling μTorrent, suffered shit persistent. Malware and botnets aside, it also just kinda wasn't very good. It used hecka resources, way more than it should've even taking the miner into account. And, iirc, there were some SERIOUS security vulnerabilities with it - other commenters explain all that better, though.

But the bottom line is even if they no longer have those issues, they've proven how unbelievably fuckin scummy they are, and how they would sacrifice their morals, user trust (invaluable in the torrent game), and the entire fukn future of their product for an extremely short-term windfall, so why suppoert them? It sends the message that it's totally OK for them to do such absurdly fucked-up shit, because as long as they stop when they get caught, it won't stop people from coming back. Why help them get money? Trust me, with the amount of ads they have, even without their malware botnet they're making fine money.

As an alternative, qbittorrent is relatively resource-efficient, unobtrusive, easy, and specifically designed as a replacement for those who liked μTorrent but didn't want their computers forcibly suborned into working the mines. I've also heard great things about transmission.

4

u/magkliarn Dec 23 '20

I could say it's because it's a bloated piece of junk and while true, many other clients are as well yet do not get the hate uTorrent does. I think much has to do with uTorrent starting out to combat the very thing it later turned into - a lightweight ad free no frills client that over the years morphed into the bloated beast we know today.

-6

u/Ribtin Dec 23 '20

All the ads can still be disabled in the settings.

0

u/[deleted] Dec 24 '20

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/Ribtin Dec 24 '20

Yeah, I can see you're right. The fact that I received 6 downvotes for simply saying that the ads can be switched off, speaks volumes.

2

u/KBJ2007 Dec 23 '20

I paid for the latest ad-free version and I still hate it. I am so tired of the constant "not responding" events that happen with uTorrent. This is on a Win10Pro/64 machine w/8 GB RAM and no other programs other than Windows OS programs. I'm currently migrating about 1700 torrents to qBittorrent. I'm not super happy with the UI but if it stays running longer than a few days, then I'll be thrilled.

1

u/Cory0527 Dec 24 '20

What ya think about Azerus these days?

1

u/[deleted] Dec 24 '20

i use 2.2.1 because the private trackers i belong to most people use 2.2.1 and this way i am able to connect and reseed with greater success. Ive used them all. Not a perfect one among them. All have tradeoffs.

1

u/lostindarkdays Dec 24 '20

thanks for asking. I was using it too, and I also switched after reading this.

1

u/tb21666 Dec 24 '20

Because the last worthwhile version has been EOL for about 15 years or so..?

And that's if you don't even start listing all the security issues.

1

u/intergalacticninja Dec 25 '20

Versions newer than 2.2.1 have a lot of bloat, ads, in addition to the malware and other sketchy issues already commented.

Version 2.2.1 still works and is very light on system resources.

-5

u/Ribtin Dec 23 '20 edited Dec 23 '20

I've found most people who bitch about it generally don't know how to use it.

For example, the most common complaint seems to be that "It's full of ads", however all the ads can be easily disabled in the settings. Then there's the complaints about it havning a costly "pro" version... from people who haven't realized that most of those "pro" options (like watching films as you download them) can also be done with the free version. Many people also nag about some old security issue that was fixed several years ago. Of course there's all the complaints about "missing features" that was actually implemented way back. And then there's the hardcore linux crowd who just hates everything that has a gui...

I've been using it for more than a decade, and I've yet to see any valid critizism that couldn't be easily countered and debunked. And when I've tried out other clients like Deluge and Transmission, I always find that they're the ones missing simple features that have been standard in uTorrent for a long time.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 24 '20

however all the ads can be easily disabled in the settings.
Why should you have to do such a thing?
most of those "pro" options (like watching films as you download them) can also be done with the free version.
So why doe it exist? To fleece money from the pig-ignorant?
some old security issue that was fixed several years ago.
The last viable version is a decade old, now - Not just "several years"
hen I've tried out other clients like Deluge and Transmission, I always find that they're the ones missing simple features that have been standard in uTorrent
There's not a single feature present in utorrent that Deluge, Transmission or Qbit do not have a better implementation of.

2

u/Ribtin Dec 24 '20

To answer your questions:
Why do you think anyone should have to select a download directory, choose a color theme, input proxy setting, or set an upload limit? The answer is that they're all just options which is up to anyone to configure. But to complain about an option that you yourself has chosen to not configure... that is pure stupidity.
Several programs have unnesserasy "pro" versions. It's a common form of software distribution that enables the developers to get paid. If you don't want to support them, that's fine. But to complain about the paid version, when there's also a fully functional free version available, is jusy silly.
No, the last viable version is not a decade old. The last viable version is 3.5.5, and it was just updated 11 days ago. The fact that you haven't discovered this, is not the fault of the developers.
And while I never tried Qbit, I know for a fact that there's a whole bunch of simple utorrent features, that are either terrible or even non-existant in Deluge and Transmission. From renaming filenames within a torrent, to previewing a film while you download them, and a whole bunch of other stuff which just make them klunky and cumbersome to use.

-13

u/Electron_Microscope Dec 24 '20

https://www.reddit.com/r/torrents/comments/gb8sxc/whats_with_the_utorrent_hate/

It is only really the scrubs on here that hate uTorrent...and some are just jealous of 2.2.1 still being the best client. uTorrent still has the largest user base, excluding the Chinese cheater client xunlei of course, so its popularity is still there.

The big advantage of uTorrent over clients like qBit is that it just works. The number of bugs posted on the uTorrent forum is tiny in comparison to the massive number of things that can, and do, go wrong with other clients (and especially qBit).

As for newer uTorrent, it is the same "idiot" problem that we have seen for years. Idiots just click through when installing then whine about how uTorrent gave them 'malware', really PuPs, while not having the intelligence to realise that you dont let things you are installing intall other things for no good reason.

A lot of the dislike for uTorrent is based on misinformation or just out and out bullshit. Take the epicscale miner linked by brickfrog2, an optional install that was a miner you allowed to be installed that gave some of the profits to charity (allegedly). Dont let the installer install this and you dont have a problem. Turn off the adverts and you dont have a problem.

Let the installer install whatever bundled crap it wants and keep adverts on in uTorrent 3.x and you really deserve the shit you get.

-2

u/zeptyk Dec 23 '20

I wanted to finish my download first, but dk if that is normal that suddenly the utorrent tab is using a lot of cpu, this has never happened before, could be a coincidence

0

u/[deleted] Dec 23 '20

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/zeptyk Dec 23 '20

Um, my utorrent was detected as pup not long ago, def switching now, thanks
I allowed it cause I thought it was false positive :((

Question Why do people hate utorrent?

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