Popcorn Time's Piracy App Now Also Available for iOS Devices

Popcorn Time, the multi-platform, open-source BitTorrent client with its own integrated media player that has been dubbed the  "Netflix for pirates," has today released an installer that lets anyone use the peer-to-peer app on iOS devices without "jailbreaking." All they have to do is download and run an app on their Windows PC and they can start watching streaming pirated TV shows and movies.

Jacob Kastrenakes of The Verge wrote: "We were able to get the app installed and running fairly easily. On the iPad, Popcorn Time looks almost identical to its app on the desktop. It presents you with a big grid of movie posters, and tapping on one will give you more information and the option to start watching it. Pressing play means that you'll begin downloading a torrent in the background, pirating the film as you watch it. The app builds in a VPN to help hide users' identities, though it'll likely result in slowed downloads, too. Like its desktop app, the goal of Popcorn Time for iOS is to make illegally downloading movies as easy as watching something on Netflix - and that's something that the movie industry and Netflix itself have reason to fear."

Of course, the new version of the Popcorn Time software program isn't authorized as far as Apple is concerned. The company closely keeps watch of the software being distributed through its App Store for copyright infringement and it prevents anyone from installing applications that it does not approve of. But as is now apparent, the anonymous developers at Popcorn Time did managed to circumvent the App Store and sneak their app on Apple's closely controlled devices without its permission.

As gathered by The Wire, the Popcorn Time developers have partnered with another team of anonymous developers to create a tool called "iOS Installer for Windows." A purported email from one of these anonymous developers reads: "We've been [wracking] our brains to find a solution that will enable iOS users who don't want to jailbreak their device...to also enjoy Popcorn Time on their iOS device. Our relentless pursuit for a solution led us to a fruitful collaboration with another group of brilliant developers who came up with the awesome solution of making an iOS installer...All a user will need to do to get Popcorn Time on his non-jailbroken iOS device is to download this software called 'iOS installer' to his desktop computer...connect his iOS device to the computer with a USB cable, and then just follow simple instructions that will download the app on the iOS device."