Many smartphone browsers ship with an unreliable download manager. You shouldn’t use such a browser for downloading a large file. Imagine you’re downloading a 5GB ISO file over a WiFi connection with a browser that doesn’t support the pause/resume feature. The browser has downloaded 95% of the file.
The remaining battery charge is just 10%, and you forget to connect the phone to the charger or power bank. After a few minutes, the phone shuts down. Before the phone switched off, the browser had consumed 4.75 GB of mobile/WiFi data. As the browser doesn’t let you resume download tasks, the partially transferred file will be of no use. Unfortunately, you’ll have to re-download the file. You can use one of the download manager apps I’ve shared below to prevent this situation.
Best download managers for Android
Advanced Download Manager
ADM is a feature-packed Android app that supports batch download tasks. It can transfer up to 3 files at a time. The app lets users resume and pause file downloading tasks. ADM allows you to specify the number of threads it should run simultaneously and the maximum memory the threads can consume. To ensure that other devices connected to the WiFi router/hotspot are not affected when you’re downloading a file, you can set the maximum download/upload speed in ADM.
Users can configure ADM to transfer files only over a WiFi connection and kill itself once the file transfer task has finished. ADM ships with a site manager utility through which you can specify the folder location, number of threads, transfer speed, user agent for specific websites. The app allows users to filter/sort files by type, status, and download time. It enables you to export the list of files to a file. ADM is one of the best download managers for Android.
Loader Droid
ADM has features that can confuse some users. If you’re searching for a lightweight download manager, try LoaderDroid. To accelerate transfer speed, LD splits downloading tasks into smaller tasks. LD allows you to set the number of parts it should split the task into. You can configure LoaderDroid to prevent downloading files when the mobile data connection is active or when the phone is in roaming mode. You can download many files simultaneously with the free LoaderDroid application. As in ADM, you can sort or filter the downloaded files in LD. If the transfer process stops for some reason, LoaderDroid will try to restore a connection with the server. You can set the value of retry timeout in LD.
Also read: Best battery saver apps for Android
Download Accelerator Plus
DAP supports ten languages and has a customizable tabbed user interface. It ships with a web browser and a QR code scanner utility. It can import links from a text file to the download queue. DAP can automatically resume the tasks that had stopped because of server or connection errors. The app finds downloadable files on web pages you open with its built-in browser. To see the list of these files, the user must tap the download option. By default, DAP considers all media files as downloadable. You can change this behavior of DAP by opening the settings interface and entering the file name extensions you want the app to recognize.
If you’ve mistakenly entered the URL of a webpage instead of a file, DAP will open the page in its browser. DAP will download files in the queue at the fastest possible speed by default. This option is great if you’re not sharing the data connection with other users. If your device is connected to a shared router, you may want to change the download speed in DAP. The option to do so is located in the app’s setting interface. DAP lets users sort files by size, date, and name. It is one of the best Android download manager apps.
Fast Download Manager
FDM has a good rating of 4 and over 50K active users. It supports two modes – simultaneous and queued. In the first mode, the app will download multiple files simultaneously. If you choose the 2nd mode, FDM will receive files from the server in the First In First Out order. FDM allows you to download up to 10 files of various sizes simultaneously. It provides an option to set the buffer size, clear the list of files, and disable push notifications. Like DAP, this app offers a web browser utility. FDM enables you to pause, stop, or resume tasks. It runs in the background and finds links to files you can download. It supports files of various formats. The FDM for Android has an ugly interface. This is its only drawback.
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Download Manager for Android
DMA’s interface has a bookmark section where you’ll find links to popular websites such as Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, etc. It provides a browser and music player utility and ships with a file manager tool with which you can manage the downloaded files. DMA groups files into the following categories:
- Images, videos, audio.
- Documents, APK files, Archives.
DMA can transfer a maximum of 8 files simultaneously. It can save files on ROM/MicroSD card to a folder of your choice. DMA can play a beep sound to indicate that a task has been completed. This app can download password-protected files when users provide valid login credentials. Its main interface boasts a progress bar that displays the file transfer speed and status.
Final thoughts: The above apps are lightweight. They support multi-threading technology and have an easy-to-use UI. If your browser fails to download files, use one of the above applications.
Note: Some Android ROMS have a download manager built-in. If your OS provides one, use it instead of installing one of the above apps.
