If there’s one lingering criticism of our mobile browsers, it’s the sometimes difficult – oft impossible task that is downloading a simple file from the web. While most do manage, fairly easily, to store and open .pdf and .rar files plucked from the internet, it can sometimes be a tidbit hit-and-miss.
Those of you running Android may find some respite from the download woes in the form of AndroGET. This simple, yet effective third-party offering gives you total control over your downloads from the moment you begin the process to the moment you open the file. It caters for larger files, supporting file sizes of up to 2GB, so as long as you’ve got a stable connection, you’ll effortlessly be able to grab most of your download quota though your Android device.
It also includes the many features you’d expect of a download manager such as queuing, acceleration, pause-stop-resume, proxy support and basic HTTP authentication. It supports a number of file sharing sites, and has been tested with both Mediafire and Uploadbaz. With many such services now only offering limited access (Fileserve, Filesonic et al) in light of the well-documented MegaUpload closure, we’re currently at a point where it’s hard to find a reliable service which won’t cave to FBI fear.
It co-operates nicely with the Android’s stock browser, as well as the many popular third-party offerings such as Dolphin, Skyfire, Firefox and Opera. The developer is currently working to resolve the lingering issue of the pause/resume not properly functioning on certain devices and/or proxy servers. With so many Droid-based devices floating about, we’d advise checking the comments section over at the Market before downloading and installing (link at bottom of post).
In the pipeline, dev Salama Akilimali promises FTP support, credentials management for FTP & basic HTTP authentication, batch download support, download scheduling & queue automation as well as improved support for the rapidly declining number of file sharing sites.
Please check the download limitations of your package with your carrier before going on a download binge over 3/4G. The likes of AT&T have been known to automatically upgrade the packages of those exceeding their download allowances, so stick to Wi-Fi wherever possible.
And oh, its free.
Download AndroGET for Android [Market Link]
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