BitTorrent announced on Thursday that since releasing BitTorrent Sync Beta 1.2 on November 5, the service has doubled its user base from one million to two million users in four weeks. And in the first eight months, BitTorrent Sync has grown more rapidly than Dropbox at the same stage.
"Concerns about the vulnerability of the cloud have been a contributing factor," a representative said. "The revelations of NSA abuses and dragnet data collection combined with our own awareness campaign for Sync have helped drive adoption. But speed, simplicity and cost savings have also been major contributing factors to rapid adoption of BitTorrent Sync."
According to the rep, internal tests performed over a local network proved that BitTorrent Sync can be up to seven times faster than Dropbox. Users are also proving to be more "engaged," he said, moving 40 times as much data as Dropbox users.
BitTorrent Sync is essentially a P2P client for your local network that can be used to sync files between connected devices for backup and sharing purposes. Folders that sync are connected by a common private key called a "secret" that is unique to every sync folder. Thus, this key can be given to anyone, whether they're local or on the other side of the country.
As an example of how this works, a user can simply place an entire MP3 album into the sharable folder located on the PC, and the files will be uploaded to another PC, an iOS or Android device that has the same key. Want to back up the phone's Gallery? There's an option to move/copy photos into the BitTorrent Sync folder, which will result in those same photos showing up on the PC. To sync files outside the local wireless network, users must turn on "Use Cellular Data" in the Settings menu to enable file syncing on a 3G or 4G connection.
"This is how Sync works. And this is how the Internet should work. A world where your data stays yours," writes Eric Klinker, BitTorrent CEO. "A world where the free flow of information isn't subjected to speed limits. And a world where your information isn't subject to surveillance. Tomorrow's weather forecast is free of clouds. We're for it."
To test BitTorrent Sync, download the PC client here. The mobile apps can be accessed here.
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