PopcornTime aka basically “Netflix for Torrents” is a wonderful piece of software, but it’s been impossible to use it on an iPhone or iPad without jailbreaking the gadgets. Now, the crafty devs have figured out a way to load unauthorised software on a regular iOS device.
The original, open source PopcornTime project has gone through a lot of ups and downs over the last year. That first project, which allows you to stream torrents from a Netflix-like interface — shut down voluntarily under legal pressure almost immediately after launching. Development of the software was carried on by a number of different groups, most notably notably the anonymous coders who have a new closed-source version and now call Popcorn-Time.se home. Their original domain at Time4popcorn.eu was seized last fall.
Despite adversity, the subversive coders have developed the software at breakneck speed, overcoming technical hurdles like ISP throttling and implementing useful features like built-in VPN. Apple’s walled-off iOS ecosystem, however, remained the lone platform the rogue devs couldn’t conquer. But you had to know it was only a matter of time before they cracked the fortress. Sure enough, tomorrow you’ll be able to download special software that slips a PopcornTime build past Apple’s lockdown.
To get PopcornTime without jailbreaking you need to download a special “iOS installer” onto your desktop. Connect your iPhone to your computer and follow the instructions to load the the streaming torrent gateway onto your iOS device. At launch there’s only an installer for Windows, but the PopcornTime.se folks tell us there should be one for Mac in few weeks.
Now, I’ve used PopcornTime on other platforms without any issue before, but there are always risks associated with forcing Apple gadgets to do things Apple doesn’t want them to. It would be a bummer if you bricked your phone by accident. Also, not that anyone who has read this far cares, but this is piracy, which some people find morally objectionable. Wrong or not, PopcornTime sure is damned impressive. [Popcorn-Time.se]