FlashGot

Not to be confused with FlashGet.
FlashGot
Developer(s) Giorgio Maone
Stable release 1.5.6.12 / March 25, 2015[1]
Platform Mozilla Firefox
Type Firefox add-on
License GPLv2
Website flashgot.net

FlashGot is a free and open source add-on for Mozilla Firefox meant to handle single and massive ("all" and "selection") downloads with several external download managers.

Overview

Download managers are software that help downloading files from the Internet faster and in a more organized manner. However, not all these software may recognize or support Mozilla Firefox; even if they do, they may not integrate with Firefox. FlashGot resolves this situation by integrating them into Firefox. As of December 2011, FlashGot recognizes and supports 51 different external download managers for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.[2] When a user chooses to download a file, FlashGot offers to send the file to a download manager that it has detected.

FlashGot supports metalinks for sending mirror and checksum information to supported download managers for faster and more reliable downloads.

Sometimes, a user is willing to download a number of files from a website, such as a number of images from an image hosting website or a blog. Normally, the user must issue a separate download command for each file. FlashGot however can send a list of links selected by user or a list of links for all images found on a certain web page to a supported download manager.

Additionally, FlashGot can detect video embedded in web pages and send their download links to download managers. It supports downloading from the popular YouTube service.

Version 1.2.1.13 included an experimental "Search Refinements for downloadable files and media" feature based on Surf Canyon technology.[3] This functionality, which submitted search keywords to Surf Canyon for processing, was easy to opt out of with one click but enabled by default, prompting criticism equating the feature to adware and spyware,[4] even though no user data was reused, shared or stored.[5] The feature was disabled in version 1.2.1.14 and removed in version 1.2.1.15.[6]

Reception

PC World included FlashGot in its list of “101 Fabulous Freebies” and regards it as “indispensable”.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "FlashGot Mass Downloader". addons.mozilla.org. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
  2. ↑ "Download Manager". FlashGot home page. InformAction. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  3. ↑ "FlashGot's Search Refinements Feature". Retrieved 2010-02-28.
  4. ↑ Evron, Gadi (17 February 2010). "Mozilla's Add-On Policies And Spyware Surprises". Dark Reading. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
  5. ↑ "Surf Canyon Privacy Policy". Retrieved 2010-02-28.
  6. ↑ "FlashGot CHANGELOG". Retrieved 2010-02-23.
  7. ↑ Tweney, Dylan (28 March 2006). "101 Fabulous Freebies". PC World. Retrieved 21 December 2011.

External links