Maltex

A powerful, native download manager for macOS, built with SwiftUI.

Maltex is a native rewrite of the popular Motrix download manager, designed specifically for the macOS ecosystem. By leveraging the power of SwiftUI and the robustness of the aria2 engine, Maltex delivers a fast, efficient, and deeply integrated download experience.

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🚀 Key Features

• Pure Native UI: Built entirely with SwiftUI for a smooth, responsive interface that matches the macOS aesthetic.

• Versatile Protocol Support: Effortlessly handle HTTP, FTP, BitTorrent, and Magnet links — plus ED2K and Thunder links when the experimental engine is enabled.

• High Performance: Powered by a highly optimized aria2 core, ensuring maximum speed with minimal memory footprint.

• Experimental aria2-next Engine: Optionally switch to the aria2-next engine for capabilities the bundled aria2c does not offer:

  • ED2K links (ed2k://)
  • Thunder links (thunder://) with native decoding
  • Decimal units for speed limits (e.g. 1.5M)
  • Share-only seeding control (--detach-share-only) for BitTorrent and ED2K
  • Copy the magnet / ED2K link directly from a task
  • Automatic fallback to the stable aria2 if the engine fails to start

  Enable it under Preferences → Aria2 → Engine Source. Since aria2-next 2.4.x is realigned to the standard aria2 baseline, all other options behave the same as the bundled engine.

• Smart Engine Management: Automatically handles the lifecycle of the download engine—just open the app and start downloading.

• Deep System Integration:

  • Menu Bar Extra: Monitor real-time download/upload speeds and manage tasks directly from the menu bar.
  • Dark Mode & Accent Colors: Full support for system-wide appearance settings.
  • Safari Extension: Integrated Safari Web Extension for seamless download capturing.

• Apple Silicon Native: Optimized for both M-series and Intel-based Macs.

📦 Installation & Development

Maltex is currently in active development. You can build it from source to try the latest features.

Homebrew

You can install Maltex via Homebrew tap:

brew tap SteveShi/tap
brew install --cask maltex

Prerequisites

• macOS 14.0+
• Xcode 15.0+
• XcodeGen

Build Instructions

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/SteveShi/Maltex.git
   cd Maltex

2. Generate the Xcode Project:

   xcodegen generate

3. Open and Run: Open Maltex.xcodeproj and run the Maltex target.

🛠 Technology Stack

• Frontend: SwiftUI & Combine
• Backend Engine: aria2 / aria2-next (experimental)
• Communication: Aria2Kit (RPC)
• Networking: Alamofire
• Project Management: XcodeGen

🩺 Troubleshooting

If you encounter engine connection issues:

1. Reset Engine: Force quit any residual aria2c or aria2-next processes:

   pkill -9 aria2c aria2-next

2. Clear Data: If configuration files are corrupted, try clearing the app data:

   rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Maltex

3. Check Logs:
   • App Logs: ~/Library/Application Support/Maltex/maltex.log
   • Engine Logs: ~/Library/Application Support/Maltex/aria2.log
4. aria2-next Issues: If the experimental engine fails, the app automatically falls back to the stable aria2 engine. Check maltex.log for fallback messages.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions, bug reports, and feature requests are welcome! Please check the Contributing Guidelines for more information.

📜 License

Maltex is released under the MIT License.

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Inspired by Motrix. Reborn for macOS.