Many Tricks
Hot on the heels of Name Mangler 2.1 comes the release of Leech 2.0. Leech is a lightweight download manager that puts you in control of your downloads, regardless of your browser usage. Version 2.0 has some exciting new features, including:
- Downloads can be selected and acted on using a contextual menu; this makes it simple to move, pause, or resume large number of downloads
- You can set certain domains and file extensions that Leech will not intercept when running in browser-integrated mode. (Works in Safari, Camino and OmniWeb; use FlashGot to fine tune Firefox’s exceptions.)
- URL ranges allow downloading sequences of files. For example, http://some.site.url/file_{1-3}.txt will download file_1.txt, file_2.txt, and file_3.txt
- Reveal currently-downloading files in the Finder by double-clicking on their entries in the window
- Retry All contextual menu item for faster retries
- Automatic updating via Sparkle
- Drag-and-drop support for depositfiles.com. (You must have a valid depositfiles account that is currently logged in using Safari or any other WebKit browser.)
In addition, there are some important bug fixes and operational improvements:
- Browser integration now works in 64-bit mode for users running OS X 10.6
- Leech no longer interferes with other Safari plug-ins that use the Sparkle updating framework (e.g., older ClickToFlash versions)
- Leech no longer interferes with Safari AdBlocker‘s data feeds (requires Safari AdBlocker 1.8.2 or newer).
- Dock icon progress indicator is now more accurate
- Download queue position information is more accurately shown
- In accordance with Mac OS X 10.6’s Finder, file sizes (using units such as KB, MB, etc.) are now calculated using the multipler 1000, rather than 1024. (The latter should only be used for binary prefix units like KiB and MiB, but prior to Mac OS X 10.6, it was customary to describe 1024 bytes as 1 KB in the Mac world)
The price for all this goodness is unchanged from the prior version (except for minor rounding changes in going from prices in Euros to prices in US Dollars): $14. Even better, if you’re a Leech 1.x user, you can upgrade for only $5 (you must have a valid license file to purchase an upgrade license).
If you’re one of those who purchased Leech after March 17th, 2010, you’ll be getting your free Leech 2.0 license via email in the very near future.
As always, you can report bugs, request features, and ask for help on our support site.
You guys made my day. Thank you!
Rob, some typos in the post:
depostifiles.com”>depositfiles.com
supper site.
Also:
ClickToFlash
Thanks Andy – can you tell I drafted that after a very long day? :)
-rob.
> If you’re one of those who purchased Leech after March 17th, 2010,
> you’ll be getting your free Leech 2.0 license via email in the very near future.
Whoa, that was fast, I just got it in my mailbox :-)
Thank you!
Chrome support?
Chrome support is on the list for a future update — we need to write a plug-in from scratch, though. We didn’t want to hold 2.0 back while that happened, given we’re not sure how long it may take.
-rob.
Just noticed that, with 10.6.3, Safari doesn’t seem to put the source URLs in the metadata of d’loaded files anymore … would it be possible do this in Leech? It’s fine to see where I got sth from in Finder’s info panel. OK, Leech’s history makes this almost superfluous, but … I think I’d still like it.
Nice video, BTW. Sound could be a bit louder for people like me, hard of hearing, my iMac was on it’s max., Luckily I knew about the hidden shift-click on Quicktimes’s amplitude knob to set it loud enough for me. Other than that it was an enjoyable and informative video albeit maybe a bit compact and quickly spoken for non-native speakers.
Plus, IMHO it’s nice to see one of the people, one of the persons, one of the individualy behind Many Tricks. No, in reality it’s not an opinion, rather it feels good to see someone real there.
Okay, and now I want to see German, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Hindi, Arabic, Suaheli and Chinese versions—and same for all other apps ;-)
Greetings, Tom
> with 10.6.3, Safari doesn’t seem to put the source URLs in the metadata
> of d’loaded files anymore … would it be possible do this in Leech?
+1
This would be very useful indeed. I use Google Chrome, though.
On preserving a download’s source URL in the resulting file’s metadata: Unfortunately, I’m not aware of an official way to set a value for the metadata field Spotlight and the Finder access via kMDItemWhereFroms, which is what you used to see in “More Info”.
I’m still looking into this, but in the meantime, I’m afraid you’ll have to make do with file comments, which is where Leech does put a given download’s original URL. And there’s actually an up side to doing it this way: You can copy a file’s comment, while you can’t simply copy that other metadata field’s value from the Finder’s inspector.
> I’m afraid you’ll have to make do with file comments, which is where
> Leech does put a given download’s original URL
Oh, this I did not know, and this is all need, great, THANK YOU! (But BTW, I actually was able to copy the info from the “More Info” field )
I must remember always to look closer at your apps, so often there are little goodies, hidden in many places, which can go unnoticed otherwise. Amazing. I must confess that I salivate for every your update and new app.
Good idea might be to offer a kind of subscription to your apps, after all they’re cheap enough, and most of them offer me something I can actually use; I might purchase a life time subscription, not kidding.
This is a bit extravagant, but is there a way to integrate Leech even in the nightly webkit versions. I will not give up on the full screen html5-video feature.
All my other plugins like glims, clicktoflash etc. just works in webkit.
>you can’t simply copy that other metadata field’s value from the Finder’s inspector.
that works since 10.6. for me ;)
Hello – just wanted to say how thankful I am to see 2.0 (and how much I like and appreciate the changes) – I was waiting with bated breath, I tried speed download again recently and it made me remember why I’m such a fan of Leech. A beautiful product.
One feature in SD that I DID appreciate, and would love to see you guys consider incorporating into Leech – the ability to add a login and password for a protected download, such as those from Apple Developer Connection, so rather than opting out sites like that from Leech, Leech would store the site’s login info in the Keychain (if the user chose) and handle the login (or failure if it is unable) within Leech.
@Robert Davis: Thank you! :)
Regarding your request: Leech actually does that, and it does it exactly in the way you’re suggesting. However, our current authentication mechanism obviously doesn’t work for all sites at all times. Needless to say, this is on our to-do list.
Here’s a little update on the source URL meta data issue: While discussing a different problem (setting Finder comments, a.k.a. “Spotlight comments”, on systems where Finder isn’t running), CocoaTech’s Steve Gehrman pointed out a strategy that works for this metadata field, too.
We probably shouldn’t be doing this, as some of the stuff we’re doing is not documented by Apple (i.e., it’s a private API), but oh, what the heck: Expect support for that meta data field in the next minor Leech update, which should arrive pretty soon.
And in the unlikely case that you don’t own a Path Finder license yet, go and buy one now to show your appreciation for Steve’s pointing me into the right direction! ;)