Popcorn Time remains a pain in the neck of Netflix because it still continues to provide PC and mobile device users the opportunity to watch movies and TV shows all for free, something which comes with a price in Netflix.
The controversial multi-platform open source application that features an integrated media player, celebrated its first year as a freeware app in February and the people behind the program, who calls themselves as Time 4 Popcorn, say that the application continues to thrive despite numerous obstacles and hurdles that it is currently facing.
Popcorn Time is a free alternative to subscription-based video streaming services such as Netflix, using sequential downloading to play copies of movies and TV shows of the users’ choices.
Amid its immense popularity, Popcorn Time received mounting pressure from the Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA) because production companies will surely lose money if it continues streaming videos and movies for free. Thus the original developers took it down on March 14, 2014.
To circumvent the legalities of video streaming, Popcorn Time was forked by its original developers to several other development teams to maintain the program and come up with new features.
TechSpot says forking means splitting the main software package into various apps while maintaining the application’s source code. Since the original Popcorn Time is a free and open-source software, its original development team has all the right to fork it without permission and also without violating any copyright or infringement law.
As a result, Popcorn Time now has resulted to several apps for Android, Windows, iOS, Mac, as well as Linux and just like the original software, the resulting apps were still free for downloading by users.
The website for Popcorn Time
TechSpot actually gives major details on the Popcorn Time app and how it can be downloaded to devices or gadgets that run on Windows, Mac, Linux or Android.
According to the site, since Time 4 Popcorn has made the app available for download last year, a total of 321,286 users have downloaded the free movie application, with 9,540 recorded just last week.
The file size of Popcorn Time as an app is 48.4 MB and its latest version is now officially called Time 4 Popcorn 5.2.2, which means that the software has undergone improvements since being launched in February last year.
Why Popcorn Time is a hit
Popcorn Time is such a hit among desktop and mobile device users because it regularly updates its catalogue of movies and TV shows. It does not have restrictions on watching any movie or TV show regardless of how many times the user would like to use it.
The developers of the app also go out of their way to find the best version of any movie for immediate streaming using Popcorn Time.
The good news is that aside from having to watch movies and TV shows that are guaranteed high definition for free, films and TV shows also come with subtitles, which has become an important feature among many of today’s generation of movie fans.
Thus it is no longer a secret, why Popcorn Time continues to thrive despite facing countless obstacles and hurdles along the way.