iPhone App of the Week – OneTap Movies

I've tried a lot of different movie showtime apps!  I do really like the features in Flixter, i.TV and the others. However, recently I went back to the first Movie Showtimes App I ever used. 

 

What do I want in a Movie Showtime App?

All of the good Movie Showtime Apps out there all basically do the same thing. They are location based, they can show you the movie theaters in the area and of course show you the show times of movies playing in a particular theater. Beyond that each one has a feature here or there that the others don't have. For example, some let you buy your tickets right in the app. Some will offer Netflix queue management. Many will let you rate the movie after you've seen it and of course play trailers.

They all miss the point! When I go to look for movie showtimes I've pretty much already decided on what I want to see. I've already decided where I'm going to see it (usually the same theater near my house 99.9% of the time!). So the only thing I'm interested in knowing is WHAT TIME(S) DOES THE MOVIE START? Sadly, In every other app I have tried to date, it's usually 2-3 taps minimum to get to this info. They usually want to start you with an Ad! Then you see a list of movies. Then you have to find the movie you want tap, it to get to the list of theaters. Then you finally get to the times. Of course they are not all this bad, but usually it's two or more taps to get to the one thing I want to know. 

 

 

OneTap Movies – The Name Says It All!

OneTap Movies, like the name implies takes you right to your closest or Favorite theater and shows you what time the movies start at that theater. It's also great in that it doesn't waste time showing you times that have already past for the day. The first time you use the app it will take a couple of taps to acknowledge that you want to use your location and to mark your favorite theater in the area. However, from that point on each time you launch the app it will take you right to your favorite theater and show you the movie times for the movies that are playing that day!

 

Ads yes, but intrusive ads no! Another thing that many of these apps suffer from is that they pay for themselves with ad revenue. Usually that means that the user will have to click through an ad before getting to the listings. I'm happy that while OneTap Movies does have ads, they are banner ads that don't block the user from seeing the listings. Of course it doesn't always work out that the movie I want to see is available at during the time I have to go see it, not a problem because I can quickly scroll through the entire list of movies showing at that theater and make a plan B choice.

Now if I'm out of town and decide to see a movie, no problem the theater that is closest to my current location will come up. I can even see exactly how far it is a way at a glance and click the map to get directions from where I happen to be staying. Since it uses the Maps app to deliver this info I also can tell how long it's going to take to get there so I can know if I have time to make the next showing.

 

How does it work?

Like I said, it's location based. So it will start with the closest theater. If there is a theater that you go to all the time you can tap the Star to mark it as a Favorite. So even if it's not the closest, it will still be listed at the top when you're in the area. The app also remembers where you left off each time you use it. So it really is "One Tap" to see your movie showtimes.

You get Reviews (including Rotten Tomatoes), Trailers, Critic Ratings, Movie Length, etc. 

 

The Bottom Line

There are definitely apps out there that offer more. I have them! However, OneTap Movies is now my default choice (again) when I just want to know "what time does the movie start?" Usually that's what I'm launching the app for and for that it does it in One Tap! Other apps may offer more glitz and glamour, but this app does exactly what I want and the way I want it to.

You can download OneTap Movies for the iPhone and iPod touch here at the App Store . It's FREE!