Published 10:17 IST, April 30th 2020
What happened to Showbox app and will it make a comeback in 2020?
Users have been experiencing issues using the Showbox app to stream free media content. Read on to learn what happened to Showbox app and if it's working now.
Showbox is one of the most popular third-party media streaming services which offers tons of content to users without any cost. It is regarded as a great alternative to subscription-based video streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime where it offers free audio-visual content without any account and advertisements. It also offers a smooth user interface and easy navigation. The service indexes a number of different torrent clients and sites to stream content and features a massive library of movies and TV series.
What happened to Showbox app?
Showbox has completely stopped working as the majority of servers from where it pulls the stream has stopped functioning. When users try to play any content using the app, a black screen pops up displaying an error message. Also, it may give an error when launching the application.
Showbox - Legal issues
As you may already be aware, Showbox allowed users to stream illegal video content which was against the law. A number of production houses and television distributors have filed a lawsuit against the streaming service for providing illegal content over the web. There have also been lawsuits against the websites that particularly promoted Showbox. This has forced the developers and promoters to finally shut down the services.
Will Showbox return in 2020?
As of this year, there hasn't been any news or update on the streaming service, but their latest tweet from last December suggested that it might actually make a comeback, which could be a long time though. However, one should also note that this isn't the first time they have discontinued the service. Two years ago, there were a number of reports from users claiming that they weren't able to use the app, and it was widely noted that Showbox had been shut down at the time. Nevertheless, it made a comeback.
A number of websites that promoted the Showbox app are now displaying a warning message to users stating that the streaming platform is not a legitimate tool for watching copyright-protected content and that the movie studios will be able to see the user's IP address and their entire viewing history which may lead to legal troubles for copyright infringement.
Image credits: Show Box App
Updated 10:18 IST, April 30th 2020