Bittorrent.am

Introduction

Bit Torrent AM is a public torrent tracker. It is open and free for anyone and everyone to use – so long as you have a torrent client that utilizes the Bit Torrent protocol (such as uTorrent, Deluge, or, well, Bit Torrent itself). However, just because Bit Torrent AM is free and open for anyone to use does not necessarily mean that everyone should use it … is Bit Torrent AM worth your time and energy?

What makes for the best torrent tracker in 2020?

There is a lot of stiff competition these days in the world of torrent trackers and torrent search engines. Finding the best torrent site, then, depends on a great deal of factors. In order to be crowned the best torrent site of 2020, every single standard for every single category from which we evaluate torrent trackers must be met. And, let me be the first to tell you, winning the title of the best torrent site for 2020 is not going to be an easy task … not by any means.

Safety is key – The first thing that I tend to look at when I am evaluating a torrent tracker is how many safety measures are in place. The best torrent sites will make you feel 100% safe and confident in downloading torrents. How does a torrent tracker accomplish this goal? Well, there are a few different ways. And, ideally, every safety measure will be taken in order for a torrent site to be crowned number one, at least according to me.

Verified Torrents – This is a great way to ensure that torrents are safe. Either a human or a bot will go through every torrent uploaded onto the tracker’s server and scan it to check that the file contains the content that the uploader claims, but also that the file contains no hidden malware or trojans or anything like that. If your torrent tracker has a system of verified torrents in place, this is a great sign for your personal and digital safety.

Comments make for a trustworthy community – If your go-to torrent tracker does not have comments enabled on every single one of its torrent pages, it might be time to reconsider, to find a new one. Comments bring a few crucial elements to a torrent site. For one thing, torrent file comments add to a sense of safety. This is because, so long as the community is active and engaged, users will tip others off to file issues or potential malware detected in the comments sections. A torrent site, after all, cannot verify every file, but that doesn’t mean that every unverified file is unsafe. Comments sections will help to police the torrents that the verification system could not catch.

Also, comments are essential for making installation and downloading as easy and smooth as possible. This is especially important for more complex downloads, like highly sought-after software. There can be a lot of steps to follow in order to successfully install a torrent download. Comments enable uploaders and fellow users to help each other out, adding to a site’s overall sense of community.

Anyone thinking of torrenting should also invest in an antivirus program. Some torrent clients come with built-in antivirus protocols. But if you are not using one of those clients (or if you cannot afford the premium memberships required), an antivirus program can help protect you against potentially malicious files when you torrent.

Bit Torrent AM – Now that we have gotten all of the preliminary stuff out of the way, it’s time to see whether Bit Torrent AM has got what it takes to be in the running for the best torrent site of 2020. Let’s dive in and take a look, shall we?

Design

Let’s face it, torrent sites are not particularly well known for stellar web design. This is probably due to a few factors, including the data-heavy nature of torrent trackers (doesn’t exactly lend itself to sleek or clean site design), as well as the fact that torrent sites tend to be grossly underfunded compared to other industries. For most, torrenting is nothing more than a labor of love.

That being said, there are torrent trackers whose site design far outshines that of Bit Torrent AM. The site has an overall somewhat sloppy look to it. It is little more than just a list of torrent files. There are also Flash elements of the site that are broken or not loading, giving Bit Torrent AM a rather unprofessional feel.

Home Page – When you land on the site, you will be greeted most prominently by a sky-blue background peppered with data points being linked and triangulated (likely an imagistic representation of how P2P file sharing works). This part is nice enough; however, where the site design takes a hit, for me, is in its layout and functionality. There is a search bar, which is a necessity, but the site menu bar is somewhat awkwardly situated to the left-hand side of the page (whereas it is usually at the top of the page).

Below the site menu bar, you’ll find a menu that allows you to browse Bit Torrent AM’s most popular torrents. Here, you can search the most popular torrents of today, the week, or the month (regardless of file type or genre).

Inner pages and torrent info pages – The torrent info pages are probably the worst aspect of this site’s design. They are filled with purely torrent file info. This is a problem because, ideally, torrent info pages will also contain some useful information on the content (such as a rating, credit info, screenshots, etc.). Bit Torrent AM, however, has neglected to include this.

There are also no comments sections within the torrent info pages. When you pair this with the fact that Bit Torrent AM does not have a system of verified torrents in place, the tale of a rather subpar torrent tracker begins to take shape.

Content and Features

Although Bit Torrent AM does not have comments enabled or torrent verification, to its credit, it does have a system of “torrent checking.” It is not clear, however, if this is meant to be interpreted as torrent verification. Either way, this ‘checking’ process seems to be rather slow, taking nearly a full year sometimes, as I have seen, to check a file.

Multiple file types available, one is more prevalent than the rest – Although Bit Torrent AM offers just about every kind of free indie torrent file imaginable, Bit Torrent AM’s userbase does seem to prefer one type of content over the rest. It may come as no surprise, but the kind of content in question is adult content. It is the most prevalently featured category, for instance, from the moment you land on the site. And it is clearly the most uploaded form of content. So, if you are looking for a more family friendly torrent tracker, Bit Torrent AM is probably not for you.

Mobile and Desktop Experience

Bit Torrent AM is optimized well enough for mobile devices. You will definitely be able to download torrents from your smartphone with no issues on this site. However, the ads will probably get a bit annoying. Trying to tap onto a torrent for the first time, for instance, will issue the opening of a popup. And dealing with popups on smartphone browsers is especially annoying,

Suggestions that I have for Bit Torrent AM

Bit Torrent AM needs to redo their web design. A more intuitive and experiential site is necessary to compete in 2020. I would also like to see them start taking donations if it means that they might be able to cease using annoying ads.

I have also noticed that Bit Torrent AM does not make it possible to see how many seeds and leeches are associated with a given torrent. This is going to be the site’s first order of business. Along with instituting comments on each torrent. I’m afraid this site has a lot of work to be done.