Movie Showtimes Finders

Where and when are you going to catch the latest film?

Overview

All of the following apps will allow you to get movie listings by theater or by movie. You get a description of the movie, rating, and length. You can map the movie theater of your choice. Each of the following has slightly different additional features, and you’ll need to decide which is most important to you in order to decide which app to keep on your iPhone. They are all free, so why not try out a couple and see which you like the best?

Essential Apps

  • Free

    Movies by Moviefone with Theater Showtimes, Trailers & Tickets

    by AOL Inc.

    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. With the update, you can purchase tickets right from the app, if your theater offers that. You can watch trailers, 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. For the most features packed into a single app, you'll want Movies by Flixter, but for my purposes, Moviefone strikes the right balance between features, speed, and convenience.

  • Free

    Movies by Flixster - with Rotten Tomatoes

    by Flixster

    This universal app has a ton of features. You can connect to social networks and share reviews. Connect to the Rotten Tomatoes movie review website. Watch trailers. Rate movies. Connect to Yelp for nearby restaurants. Get a list of the movie’s stars; click on an actor’s name and go to a biography of the actor, complete with photos and filmography. The DVD option tells you about new releases, coming soon, or simply browse DVDs by category. The one big drawback to this app is the large number of ads, both pop-up and banner style. At least they are ads for movies.

Notable Apps

  • Free

    Fandango Movies – Times & Tickets

    by Fandango

    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). In addition to the typical features, you get a GoNow option: it shows you which movies are starting soon within 15 miles (of current location or location of your choice), sorted by distance or time. There are small banner ads, and Fandango does load a lot more slowly than the others.

  • Free

    Wigglehop Movie Showtimes

    by Plastic Trophy

    With its simplicity and clean user interface, this app has gained a huge following in a short period of time. Personally, I find it a bit TOO spare, but it does have most of the features you expect in a Showtimes finder. An interesting/different feature (which may be a plus or a minus for you): nearly everything is turned off by default; you must turn on your theaters and movies of choice to see the showtimes. I personally don't love that, because it just took too much "doing" to get the information I wanted, but I must be in the minority, because this app is so highly rated in the app store. What the heck, it's free -- if its unusual look and features intrigue you, give it a try!

Decent Apps

  • Free

    Movies by OneTap - Listings, Trailers & Tickets

    by Avantar LLC

    Watch trailers. Connect to Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb. Sort movies by ratings. It’s a bit slow to load and it does contain banner ads. Not a bad app, just nothing to recommend it over the others. Virtually identical to Showtimes.

  • Free

    Showtimes - Local Movie Times & Tickets

    by Avantar LLC

    Watch trailers. Connect to Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb. Sort movies by ratings. It’s a bit slow to load and it does contain banner ads. Not a bad app, just nothing to recommend it over the others. Virtually identical to OneTap Movies.

  • Free

    Movies Now HD

    by APPSPARK UK LIMITED

    I suppose this app is decent, but the developers have pulled some shenanigans that make users unhappy. First it was free, then it became a paid app. Now it is back to free, but with large ads. For the folks that bought this when it was a paid app, it's an unpleasant experience.

TV App That Also Includes Movie Showtimes

  • Free

    i. TV

    by i.TV LLC

    Really a TV guide app, it also contains a full-featured movie app within it. Play trailers, link to actor biographies and filmographies. Find links to reviews, Wikipedia, and Bing. There are also links to iTunes and Netflix. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of ads, both pop-up and banner style. If the ads (and the extra time they take to load and click through) don’t bother you, then you probably don’t need a stand-alone movie app -- i.TV kills two birds with one stone.

  • Free

    What's On TV?

    by NapkinStudio.com

    Much like i.TV, this TV listings app also contains a perfectly decent movie showtimes finder within it. With fewer and less obtrusive ads, but slightly fewer features than i.TV, it's a trade-off I can live with. What tips the balance for me is that this app is universal, and looks even better on the iPad.

IMDB

  • Free

    IMDb Movies & TV

    by IMDb

    The Internet Movie Database is the top movie reference website. And now IMBD has a fabulous app! It’s a huge database of everyone and everything in Hollywood. Movies, TV, actors, and more. In addition, you get a serviceable tv listings app AND a nice movie showtimes app as well. If you don’t need to buy your tickets on your phone, you really don’t need a separate movie listings app. Here you can watch trailers, read reviews, the latest news from Hollywood, and more.

iPad Version

Other Apps