Movie watching is a fun activity basically no matter where you live. It’s relatively inexpensive to do, you can share the experience with friends, and with the pandemic keeping people at home more often, streaming movies are pretty big right now. Watching movies has also never been easier. You can watch on your phone, tablet, computer, TV, or local movie theater. That means there are a metric ton of movie apps that do all kinds of various things. Let’s take a look at the best movie apps for Android.
We’d also like to give an honorable mention to Letterboxd (Google Play link). It’s a social network for film and movie buffs to meet, talk about, and recommend movies to one another. Social networks are difficult to recommend in general, especially when there are subreddits for this exact thing, but it’s something to think about.
The best movie apps for Android
- CineTrak
- The Criterion Channel
- DVD Netflix or Redbox
- Google TV
- Hoopla Digital
- IMDb
- Movies Anywhere
- Plex
- PopcornTrivia
- Tubi
- Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video
- Your local theater apps
- Fandango, Flixter, Atom Tickets
CineTrak
Price: Free / $3.99-$99.99
CineTrak is a movie and TV show tracking app. You enter all of the movies and shows you watched and the app keeps track of them for you. It also works as a discovery platform for shows and movies you may like. It grabs reviews and information from IMDb, Trakt, Metacritic, and Rotten Tomatoes. The UI is simple enough to use and the app is a fun way to get an overview of your movie experience. The base price is $3.99, but it scales up from there. The $99.99 version comes with a top contributor badge and codes for several other people so you can buy and share if you want to.
See also:The best Android TV apps to get the most out of your TV
The Criterion Channel
Price: Free trial / $10.99 per month / $99.99 per year
The Criterion Channel is a dedicated movie streaming service. It features a bunch of Hollywood blockbusters like you would expect. However, it also has a collection of indie films, international films, and art-house stuff. Thus, it’s a great way to expose yourself to the next several layers below what you find in theaters. The service is a bit expensive and the app needs a bit of work, but we like the core idea a lot, and bugs are usually temporary.
DVD Netflix or Redbox
Price: Free trial / $7.99-$14.99 per month
DVD Netflix and Redbox are movie apps for renting DVDs and Blu-Ray. DVD Netflix has plans as low as $7.99 per month and range up to $14.99 per month. Redbox goes with a per-day rental structure. For those who rarely watch movies, Redbox may be better, but movie buffs will get more out of a DVD Netflix subscription for the price. In any case, you rent the movie, watch it, and then return it when you’re done just like you used to do with Blockbuster back in the day. Both services work well enough most of the time.
See also:Netflix: Pricing, content, and everything else you need to know
Google TV
Price: Free / Movie and show prices vary
Google TV (formerly Google Play Movies & TV) is one of the better movie streaming apps on Android. You purchase movie and TV shows and then stream them as often as you want. You can also download for offline use if necessary. There are several great apps for this, including Vudu, Amazon Prime Video, and others. However, for Android users, we like Play Movies because it’s tied to your Google account, it supports 4K streaming (on some movies), and it’s easy enough to use. However, if you already use one of those other services, by all means, keep using it.
Hoopla
Price: Free
Hoopla is a unique app. It’s tied directly to your local library. You can use your library card credentials to check out movies, TV shows, books, music, and comics. The whole service is free and you can check out as much media as you want to. That makes it great for movie watchers on a budget. The app also includes Chromecast support, Android TV support, and special viewing capabilities for comics. The only downside is your local library has to be a part of the Hoopla network for it to work.
See also:The best websites to legally watch free movies online
See more:
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IMDb
Price: Free
Joe Hindy / Android Authority
IMDb is an excellent all-in-one movie app. You can find reviews, information, trailers, actor info, and other fun content like behind-the-scenes clips. It even supports things like local showtimes, ticket purchases, and more. You can get all of these things from separate services. For instance, most entertainment blogs cover movie news and apps like Flixster sells tickets. However, we appreciate that IMDb can do basically all of it. Some people don’t like the ads but everything else is good. If you want movie news, Feedly, Flipboard, or other news aggregates are probably a slightly better option.
See also:The best free IMDb TV shows you can watch right now
Movies Anywhere
Price: Free / Movie prices vary
Movies Anywhere is an exceptional movie app. It lets you log in to your Google, Vudu, Amazon Prime Video, Xfinity, and other accounts. You can then watch whatever movies you’ve purchased from any of those services. This removes the exclusivity of a single app and lets you play the field when it comes to movie sales or promotional offers. The app is completely free and comes with the basics like Chromecast support. It still has a few quirks to work out and it needs 4K support, but it’s otherwise a great movie app.
Plex
Price: Free / $0.99 / $3.99 per month
Plex is one of the best movie apps for those with a local movie collection. You can turn your computer into a Plex server and watch your movies on almost any device. Plex has an Android app as well as apps for most modern consoles. You also get Chromecast support so you can watch it and control it directly from your phone. This is easily the best method in its genre for this sort of thing. The subscription service adds a bunch of extra content if you want it. Finally, Plex partnered with Crackle in 2020 to provide ad-supported (but otherwise free) movies to its service free of charge. That only strengthens its position as one of the great movie apps.
See also:Plex Arcade announced: Plex gets into the game subscription business
PopcornTrivia
Price: Freemium
PopcornTrivia is a trivia game for movie buffs. It emulates the question and answer style of those cinema quizzes they run in the theater before the trailers start playing. It offers trivia on a bunch of movies across many genres. The questions are of varying difficulty as well. The developers add new questions consistently and it’s a nice companion to a movie night at home or while you’re out in the theater. Plus, the game is just fun.
Tubi
Price: Free (with ads)
Tubi is one of a few 100% legal movie streaming services. It uses ads to drive revenue instead of a subscription model and, thus, it’s great for movie watchers on a budget. It supports both TV shows and movies. Additionally, it adds new content every week. The app also comes with a favorites feature, a queue for a watchlist, and other streaming service mainstays. Most of its users don’t even complain about the advertisem*nts.
See also:Watch lots of free movies and TV shows, like The Masked Singer, on Tubi now
Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video
Price: Free trials / Services vary in price
Traditional streaming services are great for movies. Most of them focus on TV shows since those are a bit more binge-friendly. However, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, VRV, and others have a good selection of movie content as well. Some channel apps like HBO and Disney like to hoard their content for their own streaming services, so if you don’t find something you like on the main video streaming services, try HBO, STARZ, and Disney+.
See also:The best video streaming services: Netflix, Hulu, and many more
Your local theater apps
Price: Free / Varies
Many larger theater companies have apps for frequent guests. Most of these apps have the same features. You can check movie times, watch trailers, buy tickets, redeem tickets at the theater, and most of them also have a rewards program for frequent moviegoers. We don’t care which one you go with and you’re likely stuck with whatever is near you anyway. Still, we found apps for AMC Theaters, Regal Cinemas, Cinemark Theaters, Marcus Theaters, and a few others with a basic Google Play Store search.
Fandango, Flixter, Atom Tickets
Price: Free / Varies
Fandango, Flixster, and Atom Tickets, along with others, represent a secondary ticket sales segment in movie apps. They usually offer the same features, including movie times, ticket purchases, and more. You can also check out movie news, trailers, some behind-the-scenes footage, and other stuff. We think IMDb does it a bit better than these movie apps. We also encourage you to go with a dedicated movie theater app over these for ticket sales. However, these are serviceable, useful apps that work well most of the time. If you want movie news, Feedly, Flipboard, or other news aggregates are probably a slightly better option.
If we missed any great movie apps for Android, tell us about them in the comments! You can also click here to check out our latest Android apps and games lists.
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