However, with innovations and development in Internet technologies as well as improvements in web browser capabilities, the popularity of download managers has come down a bit. But this doesn’t take away the fact that many download manager applications still exist that are extremely useful as they provide a lot of useful and interesting features and are worth using. In this article we will discuss one such application: uGet.
uGet
uGet is a download manager that claims to be “very powerful,” as it provides a large array of features. It is also said to be lightweight and low on resources.
The GTK+ 3-based application is available for Linux, Windows, Mac, and Android platforms. Specifically for Linux, the application’s official download page includes several packages for various distributions including Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, Arch Linux, Gentoo, Slackware, Linux Mint, elementary OS, and Mageia. Keep in mind this article only focuses on Ubuntu Linux.
Download and Install
Ubuntu users can easily download the application through the Ubuntu Software Center. However, it’s worth mentioning that the latest version (2.0) isn’t yet available there. So, if you want to download and install uGet 2.0 on your Ubuntu system, execute the following commands on your terminal: Alternatively, you can also download uGet’s source code (available here) and build the package from scratch.
Features
Some of the useful features that uGet provides are:
It lets you place your downloads into a queue. As a download finishes, the queue will automatically start downloading the remaining files. In case of a connection problem, the download manager allows you to resume the download from the point it stopped. It offers the ability to classify downloads in categories. There’s a Clipboard Monitor feature that monitors certain types of files (specified by you) through their extensions, and any time you add them to your clipboard it prompts you to download the copied files. It lets you add an unlimited amount of files at one time to the queue for downloading. You can also schedule when uGet is allowed or not allowed to download files. There’s a feature that lets you turn off your system after uGet is done downloading the files.
A complete list of features can be accessed here.
Usage
In this section, we’ll discuss how to use some important features of uGet.
Basic downloading
You can start downloading a file by heading to “File -> New Download.”
In the box that appears (shown above), fill in the required information and you’re good to go.
Integration with web browsers
While downloading a file using the above method is certainly not a difficult task, it does require you to leave your web browser and open the uGet application. Thankfully, you can integrate the download manager with popular web browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome. Unfortunately, the solution that integrates uGet with Chrome is currently broken, although the uGet team is actively working to fix it. Meanwhile, Firefox users can achieve the same by using the FlashGot addon.
Clipboard monitoring
As was already listed in the last section, uGet also monitors certain types of files through their extensions. You can take a look at these extensions by heading to “Edit -> Settings -> Clipboard.”
As you can see in the image above, a lot of file extensions are already populated here by default. Should the need arise, you can also expand this list by adding new types and separating them with the character ‘|.’ As for how to use the feature, it’s simple: just try copying the download URL of any file whose extension is there in uGet’s clipboard monitoring list. For example, I tried copying the download link of an Ubuntu ISO file,
and uGet immediately prompted me to download that file.
Download completion actions
You can head to “Edit -> Completion Auto-Actions” to select the action that you want uGet to take when it’s done with downloads. You can select actions like shutdown, reboot, hibernate, and more here.
Conclusion
It’s clear that uGet is a smart download manager that provides a plethora of useful features, and its ability to integrate with web browsers makes it even more convenient to use. If you’re looking for a good download manager for your Ubuntu system, I’d strongly recommend this one.
