BitTorrent launches iOS app for its Sync file sharing service

BitTorrent has released an iOS app for its file-synchronization service, Sync, which it released to the public in April.

With the introduction of the iOS app, users will be able to use the service to move videos, photos and other files from their iPhones and iPads to their laptops and vice versa. The app also allows users to send photos and videos from their iPhone directly to their friends' iPhone using BitTorrent Sync's mobile-to-mobile sending.

The app also lets users automatically backup photos from their iOS device's Camera Roll to a folder on their computer. To connect the app to the users' previously created folders, they just need to scan a QR code on the other device with the iPhone's camera.

The launch of the iOS app follows BitTorrent Sync's Android app, which was launched last month, coinciding with the service moving to Beta status from Alpha. It had launched with apps for Windows, OS X, Linux PCs in addition to a Web interface. While services like Dropbox, Box, Skydrive and Apple's own iCloud let users backup and sync their files with other devices, they come with limited data transfer capacity and store content on their own servers (which is also susceptible to surveillance).

The Sync service lets users securely sync files and folders across multiple devices. It allows users to experience the functionality of file sync and storage services like Dropbox and Skydrive, but doesn't require them to store their files on a third-party server. So they can access their files across multiple devices via the BitTorrent technology and there's no limit to file size, transfer or storage limits. Also, since a third-party doesn't have access to user data, and data is encrypted during transfers, there are fewer privacy and security concerns.

BitTorrent had mentioned that BitTorrent Sync was specifically designed to handle large files, and encourages users to sync original, high quality, uncompressed files or for remote backups.

In July BitTorrent had said that Alpha users had synced over 8 petabytes (1 petabyte = 1048576 gigabyte) of data. A company spokesperson has now told TechCrunch that users have now synced over 14 petabytes (1 pentabyte = 1048576 gigabye) of data.

While Sync is free to use, BitTorrent also intends to offer paid, premium services aimed at enterprises and power users in the future, as per the report