Movie Showtimes Finders

This app is easy to use, quick, and has minimal ads. Updates to this app have pushed it into the Essential category. Browse by theater or by movie. Sort movies alphabetically, by release date, or by MPAA rating. You can purchase tickets right from the app, if your theater offers that. You can watch trailers and read the latest Hollywood news. Invite your friends to join you at the movies via SMS or Facebook within the app. There is a separate, also free, iPad version which gorgeously takes advantage of the larger screen. SessionM Rewards has been recently added to this app, allowing you to earn points and get rewarded for watching trailers and opening the app daily. Moviefone strikes the right balance between features, speed, and convenience.

This universal app has a ton of features. On top of getting movie showtimes, you can connect to social networks to share reviews, connect to the Rotten Tomatoes movie review website, watch trailers, rate movies, and even connect to Yelp for nearby restaurants. This is a great app that packs a ton of useful features into one app for movie fanatics.

Fandango does have some cool features not offered in other apps. You have the option of opening a Fandango account, which allows you to purchase your tickets right from your phone (if available at your theater). You can browse showtimes by movie or theater, rate movies, and even create a wish list of movies that you want to see. Fandango will then notify you when they start playing at a theater near you. Sadly there are small banner ads, even a few pop-ups, and Fandango does load slower than the essential apps.

With its simplicity and clean user interface, this app has gained a huge following in a short period of time. While it does have most of the features you expect in a Showtimes finder, it doesn't have nearly as many features or added bonuses as the essential apps. It brings you listings of the local theaters, their showtimes, and if you click on the movie poster, the trailer will play. That is it. The interface is classy and can be quite stunning, it loads relatively quick, and there were no ads to be found in this free app. This is a must-have for the movie-goer that doesn't care about which actors star in the movie or what rating others have given it.

Showtimes is another simplistic app, not to be confused with another app by the same name. There isn't much to this app. Simply input your preferred theaters and the app generates the movie listings and showtimes of each one. Simply swipe left or right to switch between theaters.

If you prefer going to the Regal theaters, the official Regal Cinemas app is quite notable. You can browse by theaters or by movie title, watch trailers, view photos from the movie, purchase tickets, and even view your purchase history. If you are part of the Regal Crown Club, you can sync or activate your account through the app. The interface is crisp and very responsive. If you frequent this theater chain often, you may want to give this app a try.

If you're the kind of person that would like an app that not only keeps track of movie showtimes, but also can search for nearby restaurants, gas prices, and events then Poynt may be the app for you. As far as finding showtimes, this app will display them by theaters nearby, movies nearby, top 10, and by genre. You can buy tickets from theaters that allow it, watch movie trailers, visit movie websites, and connect to several social networks. This is a recommended app for anyone that likes to go out before or after their movie.

A sharp looking showtime finder is iTunes Movie Trailers. The app mainly allows for you to watch movie trailers of upcoming and released movies, but it does include an "In Theaters" tab. From that tab, you can view showtimes by theater or movie title. You can't purchase tickets from the app, but it's still an efficient and fast loading showtime finder.

The Movietickets.com app is somewhat similar to the Fandango app minus a few features. You have an option of creating a Movietickets.com account which allows you to purchase tickets directly from your phone if your theater allows it. You can also browse showtimes by movie title and theater. When you browse a movie, you are able to watch the trailer, view the poster, write a review, and find some general knowledge about said movie. This does contain banner ads.

Movie Night Out offers the same features as most of the other apps in this genre. You can search for showtimes by title or theater, see what others have to say about the movie, invite friends, check in to the movie, and rate the movie. One thing different from the rest is that this app has a feature called "Plan My Night." You simply tell the app what kind of night you are having such as a family night or date night. It can also recommend an activity that pairs perfectly with your night such as restaurant ideas or live music events. If you are indecisive or feel like taking a chance, you can always hit the "Surprise Me" button and the app will automatically choose your movie and activity for the night. While this feature is neat and eclectic, the app needs a moderate amount of work and loading times can get somewhat unbearable.

Movies by Onetap allows you to watch trailers, connect to online movie databases, and sort movies by ratings. It’s a bit slow to load and it contains banner ads. It is not a bad app, but it takes significantly longer to load and there's nothing special about it to recommend it over the others.

Showtimes is virtually the same app as Movies by Onetap. All offered are exactly the same, the interface looks almost identical, and it loads just as slowly. Again, this is not a bad app, but nothing special about it either.