Popcorn Time lives on, even if it's not as popular as it once was

[Shawn Knight]

Editor's take: Popcorn Time, once viewed as the Napster for movies, has reached the end of the road... or kind of. The entertainment landscape has changed significantly since 2014 when the app first launched. Just like with music, the public has exhibited a willingness to pay for content when affordable, convenient and legal alternatives exist. The current market affords consumers with a deluge of streaming video services to choose from, resulting in the decline of Popcorn's popularity.

Is Popcorn Time dead? Although Popcorn Time was presumed dead by early 2022, many months later and the service is still up and running. The original story hit when one of the various forks closed shop, supposedly stopping Popcorn's development. But as an open source P2P project, there are several forks whose activity never stopped and remain up to date with the latest TV and movie releases. Popcorn Time is somewhat of a software hydra and even though it's not as popular as it once was, there seems to be more than one group willing to pick up the pace where others had lost interest.

The original story follows below:

The application arrived on the scene in February 2014 with the goal of simplifying the process of watching pirated movies and television shows online. In an interview with Torrentfreak shortly after launch, one of the product's developers said everyone that worked on Popcorn Time was a big movie fan and most had Netflix accounts. The dev believed that going to the cinema was the best way to experience a movie, but that's not always an option which is where Popcorn Time came in.

"We hate that we don't have the chance to watch some movies at home. Popcorn Time is an experiment to show that you can do something better for the users, and that you can do it with BitTorrent," the dev said.

Naturally, Hollywood wasn't high on this idea, and the original app was quickly taken down. Supporters persisted and soon enough, multiple forks were developed that kept the concept alive. Plenty of legal challenges would follow, but that wouldn't be the service's downfall.

The Popcorn Time team told Torrentfreak that decreased interest from the pirating community led them to shut the service down. "It's time to say goodbye," the team noted. "The world doesn't need Popcorn Time anymore."

Image credit: Pavel Danilyuk

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/92873-popcorn-time-shuts-down-due-lack-activity.html

 

[cliffordcooley]

Lack of activity because it no longer functioned correctly. They broke it and then wondered why people quit using it.

They stopped updating the client and was directing people to use a browser instead. That seemed more sketchy than using the client to me. I now get the feeling I was not alone.

 

[Matt12345170]

From what I gather Cinema HD, is a popular alternative that can be installed to a fire stick, or any old android box - and only streams it from the web, instead of using torrents, which avoids any copyright problems that you would have needed a vpn to avoid issues from your isp. I hear there are a lot of ads tho, so a pihole or something similar is probably required.

 

[Bl00dyMinded]

I just torrent HD movies behind a VPN and place them on my Plex Server for family and friends to enjoy.

 

[RudyBob]

Too many really BAD movies to worry about movies at all

 

[Jyrkz]

Rip
iv been using https://primewire.mx/home
0 ads with firefox+ublock

 

[defaultluser]

Too many really BAD movies to worry about movies at all

So freaking true!

I only add the top 1% of all the crap that I watch to my movie library! But I'm too lazy to torrent these days (just rent the ones not included on Netflix or Prime)

 

[NightAntilli]

It's still working for me.

 

[VaRmeNsI]

There are many forks of PT.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Never even heard of it.

But I spend very little time watching shows or movies.

PSA: There is life beyond screens.

 

[cliffordcooley]

PSA: There is life beyond screens.

I'm sure there is life beyond whatever it is you choose to do as well. You've chosen a strange moniker for someone that doesn't watch TV.

Advanced search

www.imdb.com

Buy SoapBox - Microsoft Store

Download this app from Microsoft Store for Windows 10 Team (Surface Hub). See screenshots, read the latest customer reviews, and compare ratings for SoapBox.

www.microsoft.com

 

[Solace50]

Its more along the lines of morons trying to monetize the hell out of people and charging 30$ a month for "VPN" services that you can pay 5$ for in order to "support" the product which requires next to nothing for development.

Another example of script kiddies trying to get on easy streak and whining about it not working out for them. Other forks or the sourcecode of the latest release will likely go public and someone else will just take over. Hopefully learning not to put obnoxious ads into the client on every click. The demo-graph of people that use the client are clearly not donating nor wanting to pay for a movie, why would they even consider paying for something that is nonessential?

 

[Eldritch]

Too many really BAD movies to worry about movies at all

Just look at The Matrix 1998 and compare it with Matrix Resurrections 2021.

I understand remakes are not as good as original but DAMN!

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Honestly after the first shutdown I stopped hearing about it. There are plenty of free alternative websites and forks of the popcorn TV app that the original faded into obscurity pretty quick.

Just look at The Matrix 1998 and compare it with Matrix Resurrections 2021.

I understand remakes are not as good as original but DAMN!

Movies and TV are on a serious streak of being nostalgia bait that regurgitate previous movies, with scripts written by children who dont understand villans or narrative structure or themes, all spurred on by The Force Awakens making $2 billion.

Ironically the original Matrix touched on this, everything in the future being a remake or a reboot, wallowing in nostalgia and feels, stagnating or outright regressing.

 

[zaku49]

People have moved on to using better methods like Fmovies, if you go there just make sure you have an adblocker and popup blocker ext installed.

 

[Bl00dyMinded]

Just look at The Matrix 1998 and compare it with Matrix Resurrections 2021.

I understand remakes are not as good as original but DAMN!
d as original but DAMN

Boy was that movie bad. Like really really bad. I was excited for it and 30min in I was already getting disappointed.

 

[Crinkles]

It's not surprising to see that people who relentlessly complain about the price of graphics cards are pirating movies. /s

 

[Mister_K]

Streamio is miles better anyway.

 

[Uncle Al]

And I thought it was because they didn't add enough butter .....

 

[cliffordcooley]

It's not surprising to see that people who relentlessly complain about the price of graphics cards are pirating movies. /s

Yeah people who throw their money away. Don't care how badly they are screwed.

*not meant as sarcasm

 

[ScottSoapbox]

I'm sure there is life beyond whatever it is you choose to do as well. You've chosen a strange moniker for someone that doesn't watch TV.

Advanced search

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https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/soapbox/9nblggh0dfvl#activetab=pivot:eek:verviewtab

soap·box
/ˈsōpˌbäks/
noun
a box or crate used as a makeshift stand by a public speaker.
"a soapbox orator"
a thing that provides an opportunity for someone to air their views publicly.
"fanzines are soapboxes for critical sports fans"
- (from https://www.google.com/search?q=soapbox+meaning)


Actually, I've chosen the perfect moniker for my accounts where I air my views publicly as a spontaneous, informal speech or appeal.

Like when I encouraged people to consider living their lives in a way that something better than 'watched the most TV' is fitting for their epitaph. And you are right there are many ways to live that way. (But considering that you thought of a small company no one has heard of that makes B-films rather than the common English expression, my suggestion probably hit too close to home to be heeded.)

 

[Crinkles]

https://I.pinimg.com/originals/cb/45/d0/cb45d0ebe8bd4c26513b87a7dfb12b4d.jpg

 

[Ludak021]

I just torrent HD movies behind a VPN and place them on my Plex Server for family and friends to enjoy.

VPN just helps with clicking the torrent, the rest of the traffic towards you from other peers is not masked by VPN.

 

[BobHome]

I mainly get our movies through our local public library. They have 30,000+ DVDs and streaming (Kanopy).

 

[cliffordcooley]

(But considering that you thought of a small company no one has heard of that makes B-films rather than the common English expression, my suggestion probably hit too close to home to be heeded.)

Actually what I thought of was my grandmother back in the 80's. She referred to Soap Opera on TV as a SoapBox. I posted a couple of links that broadly projected my thoughts. As for your view of what soapbox means. Well I really don't care. I still find it strange you use that term as a name and then suggest you don't watch TV. Especially after searching the term and finding links to strengthen my thoughts.

But then my opinion of your choice in moniker has nothing to do with the topic. I just found it to be contradicting your comment.