ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

How to Use Popcorn-time SE

Updated on March 28, 2016
Selection is large
Selection is large
Video is high quality.
Video is high quality.

Popcorn-time is the Netflix-like, free, P2P application that allows you to watch current TV shows and recent movie releases totally free. The interface is slick and akin to Netflix looking. Peer-2-peer is a newer sharing app that is nearly impossible to trace. Is it illegal? I think that answer depends on who you ask and your view on the topic. Can you get caught? If you do not use a VPN with the app, your ISP will probably over time, see something suspicious going on and threaten to shutdown service unless you stop. If you use VPN, this will not happen, as the ISP sees only a local IP address.

For the most part, the app works fine and the variety is large – even TV shows that are currently on TV, and movies that are only a month or so old. Since P2P relies on users to share files on the same show or movie, the higher the number of users the better. Along the same rule is speed. The higher the speed the better. You usually need a speed of 400 mbps so that the stream speed stays ahead of the user speed (the speed you are watching). This is shown at the bottom of the screen with a ruler type gauge. The stream speed is the blue line (the rate the show is streaming at) which should always be ahead of the user rate (otherwise, the video will stop). Sometimes, you may have to pause the video stream and allow the blue line to advance ahead much further before resuming play. In this context, the more users watching and streaming the same show increases the streaming speed, which is why as a rule you want at least 100+ users (this is shown on the screen). If you have more than 500 users, most likely the speed will be high. While you can watch the show with only 50 users, you will need to pause the show to allow the stream speed to be ahead considerably before resuming play.

Popcorn-time SE is based in Europe. The American version was shutdown. Many have indicated that malware infiltrates as you watch invisibly. Having used the app for a year, I can confirm this. One time, after I had watched a show using it, my computer acted as if it was being controlled remotely plus my camera was activated!

The remedy to this fear is to use Malware Bytes. The free version is good for removing malware AFTER the infection. However, using the pro version ($25 a year), the software defends from incoming and outgoing malware during operation. When using Popcorn-time, depending on your connection, one can see instantly when malware is blocked going in either direction even with VPN on. In one case, 20 malware bugs had been stopped from entering my computer, while 5 were stopped from exiting it. After watching the movie, I simply deleted the malware that was stopped. Malware Bytes provides the IP addresses of where the bug originated from. Tracing them yielded many came from Asia, India, Europe.

The moral to this story is that Popcorn-time is a great free way to watch current movies and TV shows. It is the Netflix P2P app. It does not matter where you live. But, you need VPN and you should use Malware Bytes pro. Then, you can relax and enjoy without fear from your ISP or malware hackers.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)