Useful apps for a trip to the cinema
The best apps for the cinema each do one small job well. Your chain’s own app handles the booking, and The Bit You Missed catches you up after you step out. A couple of phone settings matter as much as any of them.
Your cinema chain’s own app
If you go to the same chain most of the time, start with its own app. Chains build their apps for their own cinemas, and what each one offers varies. Read its store listing to see what it does before you install it.
Two habits help whichever chain you use. Install the app and sign in at home, not in the queue. And open your booking before the lights go down, so you aren’t searching your inbox in the dark.
The Bit You Missed: for catching up after you step out
The Bit You Missed is for the exits you didn’t plan: a child who needs the toilet, a call you have to take, a drink that caught up with you. You start nothing before the film. On the way back, you open it and do three things:
- Pick your film from the list. A find field filters it by title or by the two lead actors.
- Drag the dial to roughly how far into the film you are, and let go. It never asks when you left.
- Read down. The log opens at its newest line. Scroll up to the last thing you remember, then read down.
Each line is short and describes one scene, like “Nedry shuts the fences down and drives for the east dock.” The log prints no times. It stops roughly where the film is, give or take a scene. If a line hasn’t happened yet, tap the line, then Hide, and it hides that line and everything after it. The screen stays dark with dim amber text, and the app never uses your camera or microphone.
It covers a small set of current cinema releases, and its own line is “Recaps land within 24 hours of release.” It runs as a web app in your phone’s browser. The walkthrough of how it works explains each step.
Phone settings worth changing before the film
No app helps if your phone lights up the row. Before the film starts, silence your phone and turn the screen down as far as it goes. Our guide to making your phone screen as dim as possible walks through the settings for iPhone and Android.
When you do need your phone, keep it low and keep it brief. Our guide to using your phone in the cinema without annoying anyone covers what the people behind you see and when it’s better to step out.
Which apps should you have on the night?
You don’t need all of them. If you book with one chain, keep its app. If you know you’ll need a break, our guide to the best time to go to the toilet during a film helps you choose when. And if you get called out at the wrong moment, The Bit You Missed fills in the gap.
For every way to get back into a story you stepped out of, see our main guide to what to do when you’ve missed part of a film. Then open the web app before your next trip, so you know where to find it.
Stepped out mid-film?
Pick your film, drag the dial to roughly how far in you are, and read what you missed. Open the web app