Showbox is one of the very popular movie or TV shows streaming and downloading app. Name a popular show or movie and you can find it there. The collection is huge and doesn’t require the user to pay anything, that’s the reason for such popularity. However, the app is illegal and promotes piracy, so a lot of people have one common question before installing this app or similar apps. The question, “Is it worth installing it” or “Should I install it?”
As a writer, I don’t like my articles to be visible on the internet without them being able to pay my bills. So, why should a producer or director have his movies or TV show being shown to public without them paying? I’ve already written multiple reasons why it attracts a lot of people and still rules the Video streaming market so if you are looking for reasons to install it go there. If you still are looking for answers to not install it, continue reading this.
Contents
1. Content Creation is not Free
Do you know the movie which you are watching has costed huge to make it? Besides paying the cast, there are a lot of other costs such as acquiring licenses, traveling expenses, setup expenses, equipment expenses and a lot. Besides that, making a movie is like bringing out something inside you or from a book in a visual form. There are a lot of costs involved.
The content you see on Amazon Prime, Netflix includes payment by these large companies to the content creators which is not a small amount. That’s why the makers allow you to watch it there, because their costs are covered. However, when you watch it on Showbox, you don’t pay anything and the creators don’t get paid too. However, you do get entertainment, the creators get a little publicity. But that’s all.
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2. You are not paying, But someone else is
Besides not paying the makers, you also enjoy their content free of cost. However, that isn’t free of cost. If it wasn’t for the app, you would’ve paid to watch the movie or show either in theatres or legal copies. So not just are you watching their content free of cost, but you are also making them pay. Wait, did I just write “Making them pay?” But how? So if you wouldn’t have had access to it for free, you might have opted for a legal copy which could’ve brought some business to the makers. So you just stole their potential revenue, which technically means that they paid your share from their pockets.
3. The App Might Take Significant Data of Yours
Above I mentioned that you are not paying. Well, you actually are. When you install an app from an unknown source which is not trusted by Google Play Store there’s a good chance that the owner might be using your data to show ads or sell your data. Either way, you don’t pay using money, but you pay using data. So, it’s just data, why to care? Well, read this post on things a hacker can do after stealing your data. The post I’ve mentioned doesn’t a lot of other things, but they are very basic things that anyone with your data can do.
4. It’s Illegal (Against the Law)
Well, you can be in trouble for using the app. If the cyberlaw is strict in the country you are accessing this app from, there’s a good chance that you can be arrested for violation of the law. However, it’s rare and can be avoided using a good VPN. That’s why a lot of VPN companies have launched dedicated Showbox VPN apps. But imagine getting caught for watching an episode of TV show using it and getting caught? Would you like that? I wouldn’t.
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5. Download Speeds Can Suck at Times
Well, I had to test the app before writing about it. During the test, I found that the app has great collection of movies and Television shows, but the download speeds vary a lot. It depends on the source file, peers, seeding (Torrent) and your ISP. However, When using premium streaming and download services, the speeds are generally high and can help you download your favorite show quickly.
6. UI is not that Great
You might now be thinking that I just added this point for increasing a point against Showbox. But I’m being honest, The UI sucks, just go to your favorite TV show or Movie in the app and click on the back button and again click on Back button from the Movie or TV show category page, instead of taking you to “Home” the app will bring you out of it. If you use this app already then you must have noticed this many times? Did you not?
7. Unreliable for People who Rarely Watch
Imagine you came early from your office or have a holiday. You plan to watch your favorite TV show on Showbox. You open it just to find that its not working. If you are a regular user, you must have experienced this big turn-off. Did you? I know right. It’s because even during the test phase I did experience slow speeds, no show showing up, broken home in the app. So if you are someone who has very less time, I’d consider finding out other apps.
One line Answer: Group buy a family account among friends or family members. I’ve written about it in detail, read the article to find out.
Well, I totally get you. While this app provides everything for free, the other streaming apps require you to pay on a monthly basis and it is not just one app for which you’ll be paying. There are so many apps and each of them has a lot of exclusive shows. You can’t watch Narcos on Amazon Prime, can you? It’s because it’s a Netflix original TV show and is only allowed to people who have a subscription. So what should you do?
This is the part of the answer you might have never tried, Many online streaming apps such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu come with Family subscription which allows around 5 people to use a single account. The subscription is slightly costlier than the individual plan, but if divided among 5 users who are your friends and family, it could bring down the cost to much more. Isn’t it a great idea?
It’ll cost you money, but it’ll cost you a fraction of what you might have paid for an individual subscription. With the leftover money, you can either buy subscription of the other streaming apps, buy something you want or simply save it.