‘Popcorn Time’ Released a New Version – But You’ll Want to Avoid Upgrading!

• Popcorn Time v0.4 is out, but there are numerous reports of the application not working properly. 
• On the contrary, the new version seems to be filled with ads and has difficulties loading video content.
• Staying away from applications like this one is always recommended, as this usually leads to copyright infringement. 

The development team, considered the "official successor" to the original Popcorn Time that was discontinued many years ago, has released a new version number 0.4 of their Popcorn Time fork. This is supposed to be a release that would level up the entertainment of people who remain indoors nowadays, so it was codenamed "Love in the Time of Corona." The community got enthusiastic about it, and many websites were quick to publish "Popcorn Time is back from the dead" stories. However, none of this is true, and the enthusiasm fades away soon after people make the upgrade.

https://twitter.com/popcorntimetv/status/1239922137533734921

The problem with the newest client of the most popular Popcorn Time fork is that much of the functionality that was available in previous versions has now been stripped, and there’s some pretty aggressive VPN promotion going on. Some report that the application doesn’t work at all, others say that they no longer have a way to sync subtitles that are out of phase, and many report that they have lost their "favorites." In general, there aren’t many reports of people who were satisfied with what they got, so you may want to stay on version 0.3 after all.

The new version hogs more CPU resources than before, and video files served via the application take ages to load. These are both signs of something else happening in the background. Another explanation could be a poor job of code rewrite, but with so many things missing now, it’s hard to suggest how the developers could have managed that. Even the infobox showing the seeds, peers, and download speed is gone and replaced by ads for VPN tools. So, four years after the previous version release created by this same team, the new client has made a turn towards the cliff.

Whatever the case, we advise you not to install the latest version of the application, or you can just choose an alternative for Popcorn Time as there are plenty of legal options out there. Of course, using software like Popcorn Time is illegal, and their supporting infrastructure is often experiencing technical troubles fueled by legal actions. Although the original project is long gone, filmmakers are still keeping an eye on the activity around the forks of the software and their communities. Could it be that the new client is not only bad but also straight-out dangerous to use? The answer is - absolutely.