iPhoneCentral has a review, or rundown really, of Showtimes. The application uses the iPhone’s GPS to find your location, locate movie theaters near you, and then show you movie showtimes and all the specifics.
Developed by Provo, Utah-based Avantar, Showtimes not only can use GPS to find your location, but enables you to save a default location or enter specifics like the city you’re in manually. It also provides a map icon next to each theater listing that when clicked will launch of map with the theater’s location as well as provide you with directions to get there.
For each theater you can access the full roster of movies including their ratings, poster, and times. Plus you can use an in-app browser to access movie review sites like Rotten Tomatoes. Showtimes also has a few user-generated features. You can browse through movie listings in your vicinity by overall popularity, newness, or viewer ratings.
The one thing Showtimes doesn’t provide that would make it much more user-friendly is a way to actually purchase movie tickets from your iPhone. I’m sure in 2009 we’ll start to see payment integration into most mobile handset applications though. Maybe in a future update?
One strange thing about this app is that Avantar produces another application called OneTap Movies offering almost identical features to Showtimes. It’s just marketed differently–the focus is on one-click access to all information within the app.
Showtimes might be worth trying out if you’re a movie buff. Sure, it’s usable in your own city but it’s a godsend if you travel alot. You can download the application from the iTune’s app store for free.
