Free Download Manager

Free Download Manager is a download manager for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android.
Free Download Manager is proprietary software, but was free and open-source software between versions 2.5 and 3.9.7. Starting with version 3.0.852 (15 April 2010), the source code was made available in the project's Subversion repository instead of being included with the binary package. This continued until versions 3.9.7. The source code for version 5.0 and newer is not available and the GNU General Public License agreement has been removed from the app.
The ability to download YouTube videos was included in the program's functionality until October 16th, 2021, when one of the developers, Alex, indicated that Google had filed a complaint report, requesting the option be disabled. Attempts to download any videos from YouTube currently result in the message, "Youtube downloads are not available" being shown in the download box. A resolution with Google's legal team still has yet to be reached.
It was found that the website freedownloadmanager.org was spreading Linux malware for over three years until 2022. Researchers discovered that the site was intermittently redirecting users to domains that served a malicious version of the Free Download Manager software. This malware included a script that installed a backdoor on Linux devices to steal passwords, browsing history, cryptocurrency wallet files, and cloud service credentials. The infection was uncovered in September 2023 though it had been active since 2020. It is believed to have been a supply chain attack impacting the legitimate Free Download Manager project. The malware went undetected for years due to the stealthy nature of Linux threats compared to Windows. The administrators of the site did not respond to notifications about the campaign.
Features
The GUI presents several tabs that organize types of downloads and allow access to different features in the program.
Download information view that shows each download's progress bar, file preview, community opinions if any are written for that download and a log showing connection status.
Download acceleration
Dropbox for file drag-and-drop
HTTP and FTP download support
Enhanced audio/video files support
RTSP/MMS download support
Batch downloading support for downloading a set of files
Segmented file transfer: Splits large file into parts (specified in the settings of the software) and downloads simultaneously
BitTorrent support (based on Libtorrent), Magnet URI scheme support
Flash video download from sites like Google Video (exclude Android)
Resuming broken downloads, if permitted by server
Zip files partial download, lets users to download only the necessary part of a zip file.
Simultaneous downloading from several mirrors
Support bandwidth throttling via three fully customizable traffic modes: light, medium and heavy.
Import list of URLs from clipboard
Integrates with the browser being used to track URL or Copy functions if downloadable content is found
Remote control via Internet
Smart file management and powerful scheduler
Portable mode, users can easily create its portable version and avoid the need to install and configure the program on each computer.
Active Spyware and Adware protection using active communication among users and also through installed Antivirus software on the computer.
Tabs
Downloads – This is the focal point of the program, which is simply a download manager. Users can also create groups with folders to which files with specific extensions will be downloaded.
Flash video downloads – This feature helps users to download FLV video files from Google Video and many other sites.
Torrents – Allows to download the torrent files
Scheduler – Users can create and manage lists of tasks to be executed at a preset time. Tasks include launching external programs, starting and stopping downloads, and shutting down the computer in all possible ways.
Site Explorer – This feature is an FTP client.
Site Manager – This feature allows users to tell FDM how to act with specific sites, such as websites that require authentication, or how many download connections a website can accept simultaneously from the user.
HTML Spider – This feature can download a website by following and downloading links recursively.
See also
BitTorrent client
Comparison of file sharing applications
Comparison of download managers
Comparison of YouTube downloaders
Comparison of BitTorrent clients
References
External links
Free Download Manager on Microsoft Store
BitTorrent clients for Linux
Android (operating system) software
2004 software
Download managers
Free BitTorrent clients
Free software programmed in C++
Windows Internet software
macOS software
Freeware
Proprietary software
Portable software
Formerly free software
BitTorrent clients
GNU Project software