Close Menu
Technology Mag

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    A Dedicated Hot Dog Cooker Is the Spirit of American Summer

    July 1, 2025

    Nothing Headphone 1 review: head-turning

    July 1, 2025

    The MLS Season Pass is 50 percent off ahead of the All-Star game and Leagues Cup 

    July 1, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Subscribe
    Technology Mag
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    • Home
    • News
    • Business
    • Games
    • Gear
    • Reviews
    • Science
    • Security
    • Trending
    • Press Release
    Technology Mag
    Home » Apple Pulls Popular Movie Piracy App Kimi From the App Store
    Business

    Apple Pulls Popular Movie Piracy App Kimi From the App Store

    News RoomBy News RoomFebruary 14, 20243 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp Email

    Watching pirated movies on your iPhone just got a little harder. After climbing the charts of Apple’s App Store, the trendy Kimi app, with its collection of bootlegged movies, has just disappeared. Pretending to be a spot-the-difference vision-testing game, the widely downloaded app ranked above Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video in Apple’s charts this week for free entertainment apps before it was removed.

    Without having to pay for anything or log in to any kind of account, iPhone owners could previously use Kimi to browse a wide selection of bootlegs for popular movies and TV shows. Many of the movies up for Best Picture at this year’s Oscars were on Kimi, at varying levels of quality.

    Poor Things was included in a grainy, pixelated state, but a high-quality version of Killers of the Flower Moon was on Kimi to stream, although an intrusive ad for online casinos was splashed across the top. That definitely isn’t the viewing experience Martin Scorsese imagined for audiences. Not just limited to movies, viewers were also able to access episodes of currently airing TV shows, like RuPaul’s Drag Race, through the Kimi app.

    Who was behind this piracy app? It remains a mystery. The developer was listed as “Marcus Evans” in the app store before Kimi was taken down, and this was the only app listed under that name, likely a pseudonym. WIRED was unable to reach Evans or anyone involved with the Kimi app prior to publication.

    Apple is known for being meticulous and protective of its “walled garden” for safe-to-download apps, so it’s surprising to see a piracy streaming option, like Kimi, climb so high on the charts before being axed. Kimi received more than 100 user reviews in the App Store, many of which blatantly mentioned the free movies hidden within the app, and it had a four-star user rating. A representative for Apple did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

    This isn’t the first a piracy app that has garnered tons of downloads in the App Store, though. In 2015, WIRED spoke with the developers behind Popcorn Time, a similar app. Security reporter Andy Greenberg wrote, “With Popcorn Time, the complexity of BitTorrent search engines, trackers, clients, seeds, decompression, playback, and storage is reduced to a single click.” It’s unconfirmed how Kimi was providing the streams, but the process of watching bootlegs was definitely simplified for users—just download the smartphone app and press Play.

    The Kimi app’s saga is emblematic of a new resurgence in online piracy. A serious challenge for rights holders and movie and TV studios, piracy is once again on the rise. As streaming services crack down on shared passwords, and budget-conscious users search for cheaper entertainment options, the black market for bootlegs will likely continue to blossom.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleWild Animals Should Be Paid for the Benefits They Provide Humanity
    Next Article Terrorists are allegedly buying blue checks on X

    Related Posts

    Senator Blackburn Pulls Support for AI Moratorium in Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Amid Backlash

    July 1, 2025

    Here Is Everyone Mark Zuckerberg Has Hired So Far for Meta’s ‘Superintelligence’ Team

    July 1, 2025

    Microsoft Says Its New AI System Diagnosed Patients 4 Times More Accurately Than Human Doctors

    July 1, 2025

    OpenAI Leadership Responds to Meta Offers: ‘Someone Has Broken Into Our Home’

    June 30, 2025

    OpenAI Loses 4 Key Researchers to Meta

    June 30, 2025

    OpenAI’s Unreleased AGI Paper Could Complicate Microsoft Negotiations

    June 30, 2025
    Our Picks

    Nothing Headphone 1 review: head-turning

    July 1, 2025

    The MLS Season Pass is 50 percent off ahead of the All-Star game and Leagues Cup 

    July 1, 2025

    Senator Blackburn Pulls Support for AI Moratorium in Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Amid Backlash

    July 1, 2025

    Laptop Mag is shutting down

    July 1, 2025
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • Vimeo
    Don't Miss
    Science

    How to Make AI Faster and Smarter—With a Little Help From Physics

    By News RoomJuly 1, 2025

    What exactly is AI Scientist—just a fancy kind of neural net?It’s not a single neural…

    Xiaomi’s YU7 Is an SUV-Sized Middle Finger to Tesla’s Model Y

    July 1, 2025

    Apple accuses former Vision Pro engineer of stealing trade secrets

    July 1, 2025

    Trump says he’ll look into deporting Musk as fight over bill escalates

    July 1, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of use
    • Advertise
    • Contact
    © 2025 Technology Mag. All Rights Reserved.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.