Showbox is an app that lets you watch movies and TV shows completely free. You can find brand new and older movies or TV shows and enjoy them without ads. Showbox is often glitchy. It is taken down for playing movies illegally and sometimes the servers crash from so much use. If you need a different app to watch movies then try out some of these best apps like Showbox and alternatives.
A Little Legal Announcement!
Showbox and similar apps aren’t exactly legal in every country. Some countries, such as the U.S. do not allow you to share copyrighted material (such as movies and TV shows) without permission from the makers. You might not care about such laws, but you still have to be careful not to get caught. There are a few ways that these apps work and each one has a different level of safety. Knowing about them and how to counter the potential problems is important. Here are the types of free movies apps you will find:
Torrent Streaming Apps: These apps search the whole internet for torrents of the movies or TV shows that you want to watch. Torrents are files that someone else uploaded to share. As mentioned, that isn’t always legal. The apps find the torrents and stream them for you on your device. This can be dangerous because your Internet company will eventually notice and recognize your IP address. You will receive a cease and desist order at first, but if you keep at it you will face a fine.
Protect yourself by using a VPN for Android, iOS, or PC.
Private Server Streaming Apps:These are apps that use their own private servers to stream the torrent files instead of your own. That means your IP address is safe because it is never used. How does an app that uses this kind of method stay working without getting shut down? Usually, the app maker uses servers from a country that allows file sharing. They aren’t breaking the law in their country and you are protected from being seen in your country.
It is still recommended to use a VPN. Just in case.
Ad-Supported Apps:Movie apps that use ads are generally safe and legal to use. They receive permission to stream movies and TV shows from the maker companies. They either pay for the use upfront or pay the distribution company little amounts regularly. Either way, these apps will use ads during the movies and shows. That is how the money is made to either pay for the use or pay the distributor regularly. This means that streaming these movies is legal for you because permissions were given. The bad thing about these types of apps is that the movie choices are usually subpar. You won’t find the newest releases.
Best Showbox Alternatives
Now that you know the legal issues and how to deal with them, here are the best Showbox alternatives for when Showbox crashes or if you want to try out something different.
Terrarium TV:
Terrarium TV boasts itself as the “Showbox killer.” The app claims to be a better alternative to Showbox. Whether or not it actually is better is totally up to you. It is a torrent streaming app that find torrents and uses your own IP address to stream and download them but you can find the newest movies and shows, even movies that are still in theaters.
Streamza:
Streamza is a private server streaming app that uses its own servers to stream the movies to your device. It does not use or track your IP address so you are safe. On the downside, you can’t download the movies to your device but that is part of what keeps you safe. You can stream the most popular movies available as long as someone has uploaded them as a torrent anywhere in the world.
Crackle:
Crackle is an ad-supported app. You can sign up and watch movies without fear or receiving a cease and desist letter from your Internet provider. Crackle is very popular so it has made enough money to at least get some newer and popular movies and shows. You won’t find brand new releases or movies still in theaters, but you won’t have just old B-movies either. It is the best alternative if you want completely legal streaming.
CinemaBox HD:
CinemaBox is a torrent streaming app just like Showbox and Terrarium TV. It has many of the same features and even lets you stream to your TV via Chromecast. Use Cinemabox if Showbox and Terrarium TV have crashed or been shut down. It is the best backup movie streaming app if the others are gone.
Viewster:
Viewster is another ad-supported app like Crackle. It isn’t as good as Crackle because it doesn’t have many newer movies or show. It gets on this list because it does have a fun mix of anime, documentaries, and B-movies. It also has many exclusive and original movies and shorts to watch that you won’t see anywhere else. It’s also completely legal.
MegaBox HD:
MegaBox is yet another Showbox clone. Use it with a VPN because it does stream torrents using your IP address. It is another good alternative if Showbox and Terrarium TV crash or get shut down. You can jump back and forth between Showbox, Terrarium TV, CinemaBox, and MegaBox so you always have an app to watch free movies when one of them is gone.
Using Movie Apps on Your PC
These are movie apps, meaning they work on your tablet or phone. If you want to watch movies on your PC then you can use an app emulator. Emulators mimic a program to use on a different platform. In this case, the emulator mimics a tablet to use apps on your PC. There are two popular tablet emulators are free to download and use on your PC.
- BlueStacks
- Andy
Both will allow you to use the movie apps on your PC so you can watch on a bigger screen.
These best apps like Showbox and alternatives will keep you watching new movies and TV shows without having to pay a single penny.