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Rookparcel 1.2.19

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@github-actions github-actions released this 06 Nov 19:11
· 45 commits to main since this release
v1.2.19
867f2ed

Rookparcel 1.2.19 brings a native macOS app. Rookparcel.app is now written for macOS itself (AppKit) instead of being the GTK GUI with its libraries bundled. It is one app for Apple silicon and Intel Macs, it runs on macOS 11 Big Sur or newer, and it takes over the settings and torrents of the GTK app at its first start. On every platform, a magnet that was stopped from its Add dialog now reconnects at once when it is started.

Rookparcel is a lean BitTorrent client in the spirit of µTorrent 2.2.1: small single-file binaries, a native look, low RAM and CPU use, and an interface that stays responsive with tens of thousands of torrents. The engine is our own Rust port of libtorrent-rasterbar 2.0.11; nothing is linked.

New since 1.2.5

Versions 1.2.6 to 1.2.18 were development steps and were never released; this list covers them all.

  • A native Mac app. The same main window, menus and dialogs as on Windows and Linux, built with AppKit:
    • the torrent list with all 24 columns, the sidebar with categories, labels and RSS feeds, the seven detail tabs and the status bar;
    • every dialog: Add, Add from URL, Create, Properties, the RSS Downloader, search with its sources, import from µTorrent and qBittorrent, profiles, Connect to Remote and the Setup Guide;
    • menus with ⌘ shortcuts, Full Screen, light and dark mode, and right-to-left languages.
  • Apple silicon and Intel. Rookparcel-1.2.19-macos.dmg holds one universal app for both, macOS 11 Big Sur or newer. The GTK app ran on Apple silicon with macOS 15 only, so Intel Macs now get the GUI too.
  • Preferences apply at once on the Mac, as is usual there. There is no OK or Apply. A value that cannot be used is shown in red under its field and is not applied.
  • Built into macOS:
    • a menu bar icon instead of a tray icon: a click shows or hides the window, and a right-click opens its menu;
    • closing or minimizing into the menu bar, and a click on the Dock icon to bring the window back;
    • notifications when downloads complete;
    • .torrent files and magnet: links opened from Finder and browsers;
    • "Start Rookparcel on system startup" as a login item;
    • Auto Shutdown's Sleep and Shut Down (macOS may ask once whether Rookparcel may do this).
  • From the GTK app to the native one. At its first start, the new app renames ~/Library/Application Support/Rookparcel/gtk to mac, every profile's folder included, and corrects the paths inside, so settings, torrents and profiles carry over. A login item the old app made keeps working.
  • Portable on the Mac. An empty rookparcel.ini beside Rookparcel.app keeps everything in that folder. macOS's own open and save panels still note their last folders in ~/Library/Preferences, so the app puts its entry there back as it found it when it quits.
  • Fix (every platform): a magnet added with "Start torrent" unchecked fetches its metadata and then stops. When it was started later, it waited a minute before reconnecting to the peer it came from. It now reconnects at once.
  • Windows and Linux are otherwise unchanged. The GTK GUI is now for Linux and BSD only.

Downloads

SHA256SUMS has every file's checksum.

Platform File What is inside
Windows 10 / 11, x64, installer rookparcel-1.2.19-windows-x64-setup.exe rookparcel.exe (the GUI) and rookparcel-nox.exe (the headless daemon), installed with a Start menu entry and an uninstaller
Windows 10 / 11, x64, portable rookparcel-1.2.19-windows-x64.zip the same two programs; statically linked, nothing to install
macOS 11 or newer, Apple silicon or Intel Rookparcel-1.2.19-macos.dmg Rookparcel.app, the native macOS GUI, one universal app
macOS, headless rookparcel-nox-1.2.19-macos-<arch>.tar.gz rookparcel-nox for Apple silicon (arm64, macOS 11+) and Intel (x86_64, macOS 10.14+)
Linux desktop, x86_64 or aarch64 Rookparcel-1.2.19-<arch>.AppImage the GTK 4 GUI with its libraries bundled (needs glibc 2.39 or newer: Ubuntu 24.04, Fedora 40, Debian 13 or later)
Linux desktop, Flatpak Rookparcel-1.2.19-<arch>.flatpak the GTK 4 GUI on the GNOME 51 runtime (installed from Flathub)
Linux, plain binaries rookparcel-1.2.19-linux-<arch>.tar.gz rookparcel-gtk, rookparcel-nox, the desktop entry and the systemd units; they use the system's GTK 4 (4.12 or newer) and OpenSSL 3, as on Ubuntu 24.04
Linux server, headless rookparcel-nox-1.2.19-<arch>.AppImage rookparcel-nox with OpenSSL bundled

Updating

  • Windows installer. Rookparcel 1.2.5 offers the update itself: Help > Check for Updates, then "Download and install". Settings and torrents are kept.
  • macOS, from 1.2.5. Quit the old Rookparcel first. Then drag the new Rookparcel.app to Applications over the old one, and start it. While the old app is still running, the new one says "Another Rookparcel is already using this folder" and closes.
  • Everything else. Replace the program, the AppImage or the bundle as before. Settings and torrents are kept.
  • Remote control. The remote protocol is unchanged (16), so 1.2.5 and 1.2.19 GUIs and daemons work with each other.
  • From PaTorrent. PaTorrent does not offer this update. Install Rookparcel by hand, as in 1.2.5's notes.

First run

  • Windows installer. Run the setup. It is not code-signed, so SmartScreen shows "Windows protected your PC": click More info > Run anyway. "Install for anyone using this computer" asks for administrator rights and shows "Unknown publisher". Settings and torrents are in %APPDATA%\Rookparcel.

  • Windows zip. Unzip anywhere and start rookparcel.exe; SmartScreen warns as above. An empty rookparcel.ini next to the exe keeps settings and torrents beside it (portable mode).

  • macOS.

    1. Open the disk image and drag Rookparcel.app to Applications.
    2. The app is ad-hoc signed and not notarised, so Gatekeeper refuses it the first time. Right-click (or Control-click) the app, choose Open, then click Open. If macOS offers no Open button, open System Settings > Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway. Or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Rookparcel.app in Terminal.
    3. macOS may ask whether Rookparcel may find devices on local networks. Allow it for peers and a Rookparcel daemon on your own network; downloads from the internet work either way.

    Settings and torrents are in ~/Library/Application Support/Rookparcel/mac.

  • Linux AppImage. Run chmod +x Rookparcel-1.2.19-x86_64.AppImage, then start it. Without FUSE 2 on the system, start it with --appimage-extract-and-run. Settings are in ~/.config/rookparcel/gtk, torrents in ~/.local/share/rookparcel/gtk.

  • Linux Flatpak. The bundle holds the application; the runtime comes from Flathub:

    flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists --user flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak install --user Rookparcel-1.2.19-x86_64.flatpak
flatpak run io.github.balls0fsteel.Rookparcel

  • Headless. rookparcel-nox run --webui 8080 --webui-pass PASS starts the daemon with its Web UI and a qBittorrent-compatible Web API on port 8080. DAEMON.md describes services: systemd, FreeBSD rc.d, --daemon and Windows, one per profile if you like.

Known limitations

  • Everything in 1.2.0's limitations and 1.2.5's still applies.
  • The Mac app was tried by hand only in an Intel Mac virtual machine with macOS 15, so not yet on a Retina screen. On Apple silicon it was started on GitHub's macOS 15 machines only. Versions 11 to 14 are supported by the build but not yet tried.
  • Completion notifications may be switched off on the Mac. If none appear when a download completes, turn them on under System Settings > Notifications > Rookparcel. Once allowed, they show with Rookparcel in front and behind.
  • Hibernate in Auto Shutdown is greyed out on the Mac. macOS has no way for an app to ask for it.
  • Going back to 1.2.5 on the Mac starts the GTK app without your settings and torrents: it does not read the mac folder.
  • Do not use it on private trackers yet. The client ID RP is not whitelisted anywhere.

Reporting problems

Open an issue with your platform, the file you used and what happened. For a crash or a stuck torrent, include the Logger tab or rookparcel-nox run --verbose output. On a Mac, Console.app's crash report for Rookparcel helps too. For security problems, see SECURITY.md.

License

Rookparcel is free for noncommercial use under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0. Code ported from libtorrent remains under its BSD-3-Clause license; every download carries LICENSE.md and THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md. Rookparcel is an independent project, not affiliated with libtorrent, qBittorrent, µTorrent or BitTorrent, Inc.

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