HTTP Downloader FAQ

NOTE:
HTTP-Downloader has been fully renovated and heavily improved. It has been released as a completely new app on Google play store, namely HTTP-Downloader 2.0. As a part of it the old app and this blog is no longer maintained by Resonance. For the latest app and FAQ please visit our current official open source documentation website https://resonance00x0.github.io/http-downloader/.
HTTP-Downloader 2.0 offers much more features like multiple parallel downloads, multi-tabbed browser, streaming server support, heavily improved UI and optional paid ad free experience.
Download the new app here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=resonance.http.httpdownloader
The following content is intended for old users who are still using old HTTP-Downloader (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ajk.http.downloader [unavailable for new users from 26 April 2020 onwards]).
If you are still using the old HTTP-Downloader, please keep in mind that we will no longer respond to any mails sent to resonancedevelopers@gmail.com. Also, no technical updates will be given for the old app, which might make it vulnerable for download failures and data corruption. 


INTRODUCTION
Assume that you need to download a file of 5.2GB, from your cloud drive. You are probably going to face at least any of the following problems.

• Your daily data limit may be 1.5 GB.
• Most of the cloud servers don't allow you continue download next day; the links get expired.
• You have only 3GB storage space left on your phone
• Your download speed is too low, so you are worried about download failures.
• You wish to download to external SD card, which don't support files more than 4GB in size

HTTP Downloader is a slightly advanced downloading tool which can overcome all the problems above.
HTTP Downloader comes with 2 different interfaces, simple and advanced.
Simple interface presents you almost all important features of the app in step-by-step mode, making it easy for beginners to follow.
The advanced mode allows you to fully customise your downloads. You can even set custom HTTP Headers for requesting file. The following FAQ is mainly oriented towards advanced mode. Make sure you go through it before using advanced mode to fully understand the working.

App download link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=resonance.http.httpdownloader (changed to new HTTP-Downloader 2.0)
HTTP Downloader comes in an intention to help people to download huge files over internet but with absolutely no warranty. Using it in the wrong way can cause corrupted downloads. Resonance is not responsible for any damages or losses caused to you by using this app. Read our privacy policy here.
Please take a minute to rate the app if you liked it. These ratings help us reach more people like you and thereby introduce more such innovative apps.
For feedbacks, suggestions or complaints please mail to resonancedevelopers@gmail.com

FAQ

Where can I get File joiner for PC?
File joiner for PC is available at:

Windows:
    1) Primary link: https://bit.ly/2Mxd79E
    2) Alternative link: https://bit.ly/2IUfTV1
Linux (should have python3 installed): https://bit.ly/2wZNgAn

How to start a download?

Starting a download is simple.

1. Open HTTP Downloader & press on globe () icon to start browser. 
2. Go to the download location by browsing or entering address at top address bar. 
3. Once browser encounters a download link, it automatically goes to main page (unlike first time, the text fields will be filled now). 
4. Press on the icon at bottom center (). 
5. App now fetches details of download (please wait until it finishes). 
6. Now that icon will now change to download icon (). 
7. Touch it to start download.

How to know whether a link is expired?

There are several symptoms of a link getting expired.

• App says 'it seems to be a web page' & download icon gets replaced by browser icon
• App saying 'Server returned error code <some number>'
• Download starting but progress don't change even after long time

How to continue an expired download from HTTP Downloader?

1. Go to browser & restart download going to the web-page from which you started download. 
2. Make sure the file name is same as your first download. 
3. Download will automatically continue from where it left off.

How to complete a failed download from another app using HTTP Downloader?

(We don't guarantee corruption free completion for any third party apps even though the app is tested perfectly with chrome. We don't support UC Browser now as they reserve some extra space at the end of downloaded file)

1. Use some file manager to locate & know exact file size (in bytes) of the failed download file (If you don't have a file manager which displays file size in bytes, click here to know how to use our inbuilt file explorer to know file size). 
2. Go to web page & click on download link from HTTP Downloader. 
3. On next page, enter offset = exact file-size of failed download in bytes. 
4. Start download. 
5. Join the failed file & downloaded file from HTTP Downloader to obtain complete file.

How to download using 2 devices parallelly?

Assume size of download is 5.2 GB. You want first device (A) to download 3GB and 2nd device (B) to download remaining 2.2 GB.

1. Go to the web page & click on download link from both the devices A & B. 
2. On encountering a download, app will go to its first page. 
3. Take advanced options, set limit=3GB and leave offset blank on device A.
4. Set  offset=3GB and leave limit blank on device B. 
5. Press next button & start download from both devices. 
6. When both finishes download you need to join files before you can use it. Please see answer for how to join files before joining files to ensure you do it properly

My device don't support single file size greater than 4GB. How can I download a 5GB file?

Some devices with storage space formatted in vfat or FAT32 don't support files of size greater than 4 GB. To overcome this issue, HTTP Downloader features a splitted download mode, in which app automatically splits file when it reaches a specified size (Splitted download mode is only available when you choose to download to internal storage. Due to android system restriction, we can't provide this feature to External SD Card now). You can fill part size (in MB) at first page to specify the size. App will split file when file size is approximately equal to the specified size (with a tolerance of maximum 500KB). After completion of download, you can use File joiner from PC to combine them to a single file.

How to download a file greater than 4GB to SD card?
Normally all SD cards are formatted to FAT32 format, making it incapable of holding huge files. To worsen the situation, Android has set some restrictions on SD card thereby disabling automatic file splitting feature while using SD card.
But we have a workaround to overcome this situation also. Download the file as parts manually. i.e. use offset and limit features to download file parts instead of using splitted download mode.
For downloading a 5GB file, you can set limit=3GB and offset=blank to download first 3GB part and then set offset=3GB and limit=blank to download next 2GB file. You can later join those parts from a windows PC.

When should I manually split downloads?
You will need to manually split your download in two conditions

1. Your device storage is lower than the file you are trying to download
2. You choose to download a 5GB (or more) file to External SD Card, but file system limits single file size to max 4GB.

How to manually split huge downloads?
Assume your download size is 5GB and your storage is limited to 3GB.

1. Use browser to navigate to download page and click on the download link. App will move to its first page on interfering download link.
2. Change limit to 2.5GB and start download. The download will finish when first 2.5GB of the file has been completed.
3. After download completion move this file part to your PC or any storage medium. Delete this part from your device if needed.
4. Now set offset to 2.5GB, rename the file (as file_part2.zip for easy identification) and start download. This will download the remaining 2.5GB.
5. Now you have 2 file parts. You can join them using File Joiner for PC (link provided above). You can also use inbuilt file joiner if you have sufficient storage space and non-restricting file system.

How to download directly to Google drive?
If you wish to download file directly to any cloud drive online without using your mobile data, visit https://www.multcloud.com/ (Not all files can be downloaded directly to your cloud drive from multcloud. Some downloads are user specific; i.e. you need to be logged in to download the file)
HTTP Downloader does this using your device as mediator. i.e. it download file and transfers it to Google drive without even using 500KB of your device storage. Unlike multcloud, HTTP Downloader can guarantee to download any file to your cloud drive. You can also use our native features like downloading as parts, continue from where it failed etc. even while downloading to Google drive.


Should I manually specify offset of where I left off when resuming a download?

If you haven't moved the file from its original locaion, you don't need to manually specify offset. Whenever you start a download, HTTP Downloader requests file from offset+how much already downloaded (if downloaded file exists) and appends to the existing file (if any). Assume you were downloading 5.2GB file and download was interrupted at 3GB. So if no offset is set, download will be continued from where it left off. If you set 1GB offset, it will skip 3GB - 4GB part due to extra offset. Don't add offset if you don't really need it

How to use built in file joiner?

File joiner is to be used when you have downloaded a file as parts.

1. Go to file joiner page by clicking on bottom right corner icon on first page.
2. Click on add files. This will drive you to our file explorer. 
3. Select files you want to join. Select files in the order you want them to be joined. i.e don't select files in the order 1st-3rd-5th-2nd-4th, select in 1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th order only.  Click on select button at bottom right corner to go to joiner page
4. Make sure the files are listed in the order you want them. 
5. Select check-boxes, append to first file or delete files on joining if needed. Click on join to start the process.

How to use File joiner for PC?

File joiner for PC is a command line tool (GUI version will be released soon).

1. Drag and drop the first file to the File joiner command line tool, file path will be automatically added.
2. Drag and drop next file. Continue until you have added the last file. Make sure you add them in the right order.
3. When all files are added, and program asks for next file, just press Enter (return) key.
4. When program asks for an output file path, type an actual file path of where you want the joined file. If you just type the file name, the file will be created in the folder where program is located.
5. Program will now show number of files added and ask for options. If you would like to append to first file, press 'A' alone, if you want to delete files as they are added, press 'D', if you want both, type 'AD' and if you want none, leave it blank & press Enter key.
6. The joining process will start. 
7. Press Enter key after completion of the process to exit.

Some files don't support HTTP Downloader's features. why?
HTTP Downloader works by manipulating requests to server to return only required part of the download. Even though 95% of all servers support this, some old or security intensive servers return us full file instead. In such cases most of the features of HTTP Downloader fails. Almost all download managers fails to resume downloads from such servers once interrupted.
In such cases we suggest transferring the file to your cloud drive (like Google drive) using multcloud, and then downloading them from cloud drive using HTTP Downloader to gain access to all our features.


Feel free to contact us  (resonancedevelopers@gmail.com) in case of any queries, suggestions or feedback.