Popcorn Time APK for Android: What are the risks?

The Popcorn Time APK for Android is a TV and movie streaming app gaining lots of popularity. Originally a program for Windows, you can now use a Popcorn Time Android app to stream the latest releases on your phone or tablet. It’s not available on the Play Store, but you can download the Popcorn Time APK in other places online. Users are installing it in the millions.

There are a few things worth noting about how the Popcorn Time Android app works. The movies or shows you are streaming are torrent files. It’s pretty much the same as downloading the torrent file using a torrent client, and playing the video using a media player.

The Popcorn Time APK  just cuts out the middle part and plays you the file directly in the app. This means you are actually downloading the video file to your device, at least temporarily.

Downloading almost any TV show or movie via a torrent is likely to be illegal in your region, due copyright infringement. If you’re not paying money for a movie that’s just been released, you’re effectively stealing it. Android Authority doesn’t condone such actions and urges you to proceed at your own risk.

We suspect a few of you may feel like taking the risk and downloading Popcorn Time for Android app. If you decide to indulge in such behavior, it’s important you understand the risks.

What are the risks of using Popcorn Time APK?

As torrenting relies on peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing, your IP address can easily be discovered by any of the users to whom you are connected. This could be dozens, or even hundreds, of random people. Your ISP keeps a log of your activity too. Obvious privacy issues arise from this, it’s very easy for a whole host of people to snoop on you. 

Also, because your IP address is out there, using the Popcorn Time APK Android app can easily be traced back to your device. Your ISP can also take particularly unkindly to you abusing the service they’re providing and throttle your connection speed or even cancel your contract altogether.

Popcorn Time for Android is aware of these risks. The best prevention here is to steer away from services that may infringe the law, but if you really want to go down this path — just understand there are risks. The best way to hide your IP address is to connect to the internet via a Virtual Private Network (VPN). Some variants of the Popcorn Time Android app actually prompt you to use a VPN when you attempt to stream something, and offer you one in particular.

The problem is that there are many VPN providers out there and they vary greatly in quality. The one offered by the Popcorn Time Android app could be next to useless for all you know. If you are going to download the Popcorn Time apk, you would be wise to source your own VPN instead.

What makes a good Popcorn Time APK VPN?

You’re not going to find a suitable Popcorn Time VPN free of charge or built-in the app that is reliable. There are free VPNs out there, but they’re unlikely to be suitable for use with Popcorn Time for Android. Most will be hugely oversubscribed and therefore not fast enough to download torrent files or stream video. Many will have a download limit, which you will exceed almost immediately by downloading video files. Some may not support P2P downloading at all. 

To use Popcorn Time for Android effectively you should be looking for a VPN with these features:

• High speeds.
• A policy of not keeping activity logs.
• P2P downloading.
• A kill switch.

There are many other desirable attributes for a Popcorn Time APK VPN, like ease of use, good customer support, strong encryption protocols, and having a high number of servers in many different locations.

We regularly review VPN providers, and a few meet the criteria. Possibly the best example would be ExpressVPN. It’s regularly cited as one of the best all-round VPNs, and did well in all categories when we put it through its paces. It has all the characteristics to make a good Popcorn Time VPN, including thousands of servers and excellent download speeds. It also has super strong encryption, and 24/7 customer support.

If you want to give ExpressVPN a try then follow the link below.