It's getting harder and harder to keep track of Popcorn Time announcements — not because there are so many, but because their sources are always in doubt. Now it's the turn of the version that was apparently pulled from the web by the MPAA last year. The people responsible (new? old?) have announced their return on the PopcornTime.sh blog, and from that site you can already download a copy of the client again, free of charge and without ads.
The most popular version of Popcorn Time (PopcornTime.io) blew up in October last year after a lawsuit from the US MPAA, and the impact was felt across the entire community. The chaos lasted for months, during which we saw accusations about malware, online versions, the search for a more legal profile, and alternative technologies. However, this month, users who had downloaded builds from the fallen PopcornTime.io received an update called "Hail Hydra", whose code is based on the Butter project.
The New Popcorn Time
As the days went by, more information began to circulate, and the old PopcornTime.io Twitter account started pointing to a new address: PopcornTime.sh. If you want to read the official announcement, you can do so here, but what really interests us at this point is how this "new" Popcorn Time works. The site presents it as beta 3.9, though there aren't major functional changes compared to previous versions. The interface, while a bit more polished, keeps its general lines, and the same goes for the category division. In a quick test, I noticed that loading a movie took less than a minute — more than reasonable time given all the technical details.
The Butter Factor
This new client is a clear demonstration of the potential of Butter, since those responsible confirmed that its code comes from there. At the same time, a certain "separation" is established between Butter and this brand-new Popcorn Time. It's impossible to know how long it will last, whether the MPAA will counterattack, or if we'll finally see some stability in the world of Popcorn Time. The key might be the absence of monetization. The official blog mentions that there is no intention to make money with Popcorn Time, nor to accept donations, just as it was in the beginning.
