Progressive Downloader 0.7

Progressive Downloader is a download manager for the Mac. It allows you to bypass your browser's download manager completely and use a more customizable manager instead.

Progressive Downloader should automatically detect when you are trying to download a file and add it to your download queue. There are extensions available for some browsers that let you add a button to download any file with Progressive Downloader by right-clicking on a link.

I use Chrome and I couldn't get the application to automatically open new downloads for me. I then tested Firefox and that didn't work either. I downloaded the extension, and it worked, but it is not automatic.

So, to test the app's other features, I simply copied the URLs and added tasks manually. Luckily, Progressive Downloader is smart enough to know that you have a URL on your clipboard, and it launches the "Add task" window automatically. From here, you can tell the app how many simultaneous connections you want to use, set your authentication settings, activate checksum verification and establish what happens after you add a queue (enqueue, suspend, or start immediately). When the download starts, you will see the speed on the dock icon, and when it is done, a Growl notification will appear, and a sound will be played.

Despite the not working downloads capture, the app did perform well after the task was added. It has lots of interesting features, like a mirror file search utility, a password manager and checksum verification.