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RunPee – Because movie theaters don't have pause buttons
- kken 12y agoI had to laugh
- shekhar101 12y agoAre those celeb reviews for real? Excellent app :D
- cronin101 12y agoI highly doubt that Stephen Fry would miss-spell "Lets".
- facepalm 12y agoGreat idea, but how do they find the good times - simply by watching all movies? That might get old pretty fast.
- surreal 12y agoThat's what it seems like - In the 3-4 years I've used them (usually to see whether there's a scene after the credits, which last time I looked was a paid feature but may now be free again) they've seemed to stay pretty good at it.
- rmason 12y agoA friend of mine knows the guy and both he and his wife do attend all the movies. His Twitter handle is @PolyGeek. I know people who won't go to a movie on opening weekend because it isn't on runpee.com yet. If Hollywood was smart they'd give them advance screening privileges.
- reboog711 12y agoI know the guy behind this fairly well. I think the movie watching is split up between 2-3 people (Creator, his sister, and someone else). I believe they also have a movie critic on board to get the pee-times early for expected blockbusters. For many years he has had very busy Thursday/Fridays.
- kyberias 12y agoHere's a metric for the overall quality of a given film: the relative amount of pee-time.
- oneeyedpigeon 12y agoNot necessarily - the non-pee-time bits might be barely non-peeable, or absolute 'do not pee, even if you're about to wet yourself' moments :-)
- RunPee 12y agoThat's a common comment but actually isn't true. Some great movies have fantastic Peetimes. Take for instance Captain America: Winter Soldier. (Lets not debate how good the movie was. I think it was at the very least a well told story.) At any rate it has a fantastic Peetime. There's an entire 4+ minute span of Steve and Natasha entering the old Army base where Shield began. There's almost no dialog, it's just them searching as the tension builds. As a story telling device it's an important scene - building the tension. But if you need to take care of some urgent biological needs this makes a perfect time to run and pee. :-)
- dajohnson89 12y agoI think you missed his point. He said "relative" amount of Peetime. Meaning if a 2-hour movie has 1 hour of Peetime, you may want to pass on that movie altogether.
- leoc 12y agoJack Warner got there first, basically: http://articles.latimes.com/1990-06-10/entertainment/ca-378_1_warren-beatty/4 http://articles.latimes.com/1990-06-10/entertainment/ca-378_...
- qwerta 12y agoThat is great idea.
- smoyer 12y agoI usually make sure I've emptied myself out before the movie starts, then return to the "loo" sometime after the movie has completed. If the director left a scene in a movie, at least one person thought it was important enough to be watched ... after screening a film, I sometimes think the whole movie was a pee-time.
- bdcravens 12y agoI usually try to go during a scene I've seen online (for example, XMen:DoFP had the airplane scene that was available online well before the movie came out)
- foreigner 12y agoI use this app on Android. It's awesome. My only criticism is it's ad-supported. I would gladly pay lots of money for am ad-free version of this app.
- DanBC 12y agoHow easy is it for devs to release two versions of an app on the various app places? One is free but ad supported; the other has a single upfront cost and no ads.
- foreigner 12y agoThere's plenty of apps that work that way.
- voltagex_ 12y agoI've seen it done three ways on Android: * A link in the app to an "Unlocker" which is detected by the main app and removes the ads * An IAP that removes the ads * A pro vs free version of the app. I can't answer your question directly but I know that the IAP is a few lines of code in Google's billing APIs.
- gpvos 12y agoThis is what smartphones were made for.
- linker3000 12y agoI'd rather have an app that screens all the other moviegoers so that I can arrange to sit in an area where I'm not surrounded by people who have some kind of Pavlovian response that 'movie' = 'feed my face with crunchy popcorn, slurpy drinks and sweets from a noisy plastic bag'. People: You will not die if you go without carbs for a couple of hours.
- randallsquared 12y agoPopcorn or other food makes films more enjoyable. There are theaters that don't have plastic bags, though. The best ones are all 21-and-over, in the US, which cuts down on the noise and crowding considerably. I like CinéBistro, for example.
- maaaats 12y agoFor many, including me, going to a cinema is to treat ourselves and have a good time. If all I wanted was to watch a movie, I could've done that at home.
- linker3000 12y agoYou have a 30ft screen and dts surround sound at home? Wow!
- maaaats 12y agoWhat a weak attempt at an argument. Of course I don't have, what is your point?
- linker3000 12y agoWell, like you, I go to the cinema because it has the facilities I can't afford to have at home - but while I sit there quietly, trying to enjoy a movie and not disturb anyone, all I can often hear is the noise of people around me eating, spilling popcorn, passing trays of food between family members and friends, or rummaging in packaging to fish out more food. Seriously, this isn't worth developing into a long thread, and it's not personal, but it's not my idea of a "treat" to sit passively for an hour or so while ingesting over a thousand calories or pure carbs* - that's a diabetic and heart-crushing, self-harming time bomb. *WebMD: "To save you money (how thoughtful), theaters offer combos. For example, for a mere $12 Regal hands you a medium popcorn and a medium soft drink, and AMC dishes up a large popcorn and a large soda," write CSPI researchers in their report published in the Nutrition Action Healthletter. "Where else can you be so distracted (by the movie) that you don't realize you've just swallowed 1,400 to 1,600 calories?"
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- turnip1979 12y agoI pee right before a movie starts. I try my best not to have any soda during the movie for this very reason. Still, sometimes, I have to go. You realize that bladders get naturally weaker for some individuals as they age right?
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- randallsquared 12y agoThe app vibrates.
- benbristow 12y agoDecent idea but don't cinemas normally frown on people using phones during a film?
- tomphoolery 12y agoWhen they're talking on them...
- lnanek2 12y agoNope, I've definitely been told to put phones away in movie theaters. People consider the bright screens, even at full dimness, a distraction.
- reboog711 12y agoI hate seeing the bright phone screen in the middle of watching a film. [I have no idea if cinemas have a formal policy on that, though] That said, the app had a "low key" design so it doesn't shine bright in the theater. ( Theoretically anyway). When the movie starts you start the timer, and put the phone in your pocket. The the phone vibrates when a pee-time comes up. You don't have to take out your phone [until you're in the bathroom and want to read about what you're missing].
- RunPee 12y agoI've put a lot of thought into that. If you take a look at the app - it's free for now - you can see that it's easy to use without bothering others in the theater. The Timer feature is the most obvious method of using the app unobtrusively, but there are also other ways, like simply memorizing the time/cue for the Peetime of choice and looking for it during a film. We try our best to make the "cues" as memorable as possible. That being said, there's nothing I can do to prevent, how to put this, less than considerate people from abusing the app.
- nizmow 12y agoI work for a relatively major cinema chain and we're experimenting without outright phone bans in a few of our trendier cinema sites. Seems to be going well so far, people respond well to it in general. Hopefully we can push it out to more sites.
- paul9290 12y agoWe created something similar, but it lets you listen to the movies audio on your device using headphones. We have a live demo on our site if interested - http://speakerblast.com http://speakerblast.com. We think 4D movies; movies that gets the audiences' devices involved into the experience could be a way of the future. Similar to the texting PSA in China created by Volkswagen (very effective).
- erikano 12y ago>We think 4D movies; movies that gets the audiences' devices involved into the experience could be a way of the future. That is certainly an interesting idea. I'm thinking, though, that getting it to work and be stable across the many devices we have is prohibitly difficult. If I were to do something like this, I'd look at the Firefox OS phones. I don't think they are ready yet, but crazy cheap Firefox OS phones will come. They target developing countries, but would also be good for something like this. So when people buy their ticket, you also sell them this cheap device which you've prepared so that it'll work out of the box. It'll be similar to the way they currently sell 3D glasses at the cinemas.
- paul9290 12y agoNo, it wouldn't be too hard. Here's a live demo where we turn a small crowd & their devices into the movie's sound system. http://vimeo.com/71647538 http://vimeo.com/71647538
- erikano 12y agoThat's pretty cool. Nice work :)
- StavrosK 12y agoHow do you synchronize so well among so many devices?
- paul9290 12y agoOops just noticed I linked to turning an audience and their devices into a stereo system. Here's the movie clip I speak of above http://vimeo.com/m/93899424 http://vimeo.com/m/93899424 This is new(ish) type of technology that requires solid and FAST Internet. It may or may not work in various countries based on Internet speeds (10Mbps or higher is recommended ... Possibly 5Mbps of higher could work too. )
- stefan_kendall3 12y agoI can't make it through a movie without peeing at least once, if not twice. The app works well.
- RunPee 12y agoVery happy to hear it. I'd love to hear exactly how you use the app and if there's anything you think I can do to improve the experience. It's certainly a tricky situation: making an app usable during a movie without bothering the other people around you. Email me: Dan@RunPee.com if you have any feedback.
- ignu 12y agoyes, please use your bright-ass smart phone in the middle of the movie theater. distract every person behind you while you figure out when would be the most convenient time for you to pee. (this is why i don't go to movies anymore.)
- kedean 12y agoThe idea seems to be that you open it when you go in. The app has settings to vibrate during the times when you are safe to leave, so you aren't taking your phone out to check, it's a push notification to you that you can go.
- daybreaker2 12y agoyes, please dont read the features of the app and instead make a snarky reply full of assumptions that are actually incorrect. (this is why i dont go into the comments section anymore.)
- dang 12y agoPlease don't reply to snark with more snark.
- zwieback 12y agoFor guys, if you use this app too often you might want to have your prostate checked out. I used to leave in the middle of a movie but post-op cancer surgery I luckily don't need this app anymore. I was in my early 40s when I was diagnosed so it's not just old geezers who should be aware. Luckily most cases are benign, though.
- eglover 12y agoEither that, or your just not eating enough bread. Of course.. if you're trying to lose weight, peeing a lot is good. Just sayin...
- eglover 12y agoI laughed when I saw the points on this. That's funny. XD
- collyw 12y agoIs it safe to assume that since I have always peed a lot, I am OK? At university (nearly 20 years ago) I had a friend who was the same (or worse) than me. He was a bit of a hypochondriac, went to the doc, got tested for diabetes, and a number of other things. They shoved an endoscope up his parts (most painful thing ever, he said) and told him he had a weak bladder, deal with it. Since hearing that story, I have basically ignored the problem.
- auvi 12y agoinnovation, at the vanguard
- skrebbel 12y agoI hope that a few movie directors see this app and will make it their next challenge to not allow any convenient pee break. I guess "Crank" comes quite close.
- RunPee 12y agoI don't think that's the case at all. Most good stories ebb and flow. It's important to give the viewer a chance to relax and build up tension before another exciting scene. But you're right, "Crank" is one of those movies that puts the peddle to the metal and doesn't let off. There is of course merit to that type of story telling as well.
- pdpi 12y agoEbb and flow doesn't necessarily mean dead time. Gravity had plenty of changes in pace, yet I don't think it had a single pee break in it.
- untog 12y agoWell even in the screenshots it says you can go pee in the first few minutes of X-Men because it is "just silent exposition". Now I haven't seen the movie, but that doesn't sound unimportant...
- notjustanymike 12y agoSofia Coppola, on the other hand, makes entire movies that you can spend in the toilet
- dallasgutauckis 12y agoI made a mock integration of this for a coding challenge in NYC last week and won a free Android Wear watch: https://plus.google.com/103860840652017295649/posts/5qQ2djiV4AH https://plus.google.com/103860840652017295649/posts/5qQ2djiV... They should implement something similar, given the watch concept is significantly less intrusive and… bright.
- RunPee 12y agoBelieve me, this is something I've been thinking about. Hopefully by year's end I'll have some integration like this. Not that it takes that long to develop, but I have a lot of other things on my plate right now. Also, integration with Google Glasses. #WIN
- dallasgutauckis 12y agoFTFY: Google Glass
- jfoster 12y agoSounds like a good idea on the surface of it, but I think most Google Glass owners would probably take it off during a movie in the cinema. It would probably feel slightly distracting with such a big screen in front of you. Glass does sit a bit above your right eye, but not to the extent that it's completely unnoticeable.
- Brajeshwar 12y agoIn India, we have mandatory breaks somewhere in the middle of all movies. Even for Hollywood Movies, it is just shut off, sometimes right in the middle of a fight or an intense scene. We pee, have snacks and make phone calls. :-) My first reaction when I saw Sin City somewhere in Detroit was, "How long is this movie?" Then I realize why everyone had popcorns and everything before the movie starts.
- swatkat 12y agoYes! We call it "Interval" or "Intermission". For a moment, I was wondering what's the need of this app :)
- hellweaver666 12y agoI remember my local cinema in the UK having an intermission back in the 80's. I remember my dad buying me an ice-cream during Back to the Future 2 from a lady that came round.
- petercooper 12y agoMy local cinema (although it's part of a chain) still does. It's pretty cool, although it does seem to be more for buying a snack than using the toilet.
- GotAnyMegadeth 12y agoWas it Albatross flavour?
- slaxman 12y agoIt also helps in increasing popcorn and coffee sales. I have witnessed many folks buy items at the start and during intermission (break during the movie)
- pavanred 12y agoThis is before my time, but I have heard from a few people that there were a few, at least one Hindi classic movie [1] back in the 70's that had a running time of 255 minutes and this movie was screened with two intermissions, understandably. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mera_Naam_Joker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mera_Naam_Joker
- ChuckMcM 12y agoAt some point these folks: http://www.oneonthego.com/ http://www.oneonthego.com/ will sense a marketing opportunity.
- jbkkd 12y agoI'd love to see an app the combines Popcorn time with this. Instead of just reading about the missed parts, it'll stream the relevant part on your phone. Obviously it would have to be legal, therefore with some kind of partnership with the studios, and should recognize the scene you left the movie. That is, if you're ok with using a phone while peeing.
- codechick 12y agoew! Why do so many ppl use their phone while on the toilet!
- mhb 12y agoOpportunity for integration with Arduino-Based Bathroom Occupancy Detector: http://robots.thoughtbot.com/arduino-bathroom-occupancy-detector http://robots.thoughtbot.com/arduino-bathroom-occupancy-dete...
- mhb 12y agoPrevious discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=626083 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=626083
- drallison 12y agoThere is another, less high-tech, approach. Use Depend(TM)underwear or equivalent and simply pee as needed. Simple and non-disruptive to the movie experience of other patrons in the theater. Seems to me that the urge to solve all problems with an App is not a good trend.
- makeset 12y agoThat's almost as practical, comfortable, and dignifying as the alternative non-App solution of just peeing in your pants.
- zephjc 12y agoYOU try a controlled peeing after drinking a 40oz soda. I'm pretty sure it will... 'overflow'
- jonknee 12y agoOr watch the movie at home like more and more people are doing.
- foxylad 12y agoI'm probably just giving in to my terroristic anti-consumerism pinko tendencies, but... don't buy a soda?
- nnnnni 12y agoYou'd like a small Coke? Okay, that'll be $4.
- kmfrk 12y agoLast I used it, they pushed an update that completely broke the app, because the performance was so bad. I loved it before, but the ratings suggest it's still bricked, so let someone buy the app, before you do.
- RunPee 12y agoWhat? No one told me. Sometimes things get crossed up during updates. Happens to all apps, iOS and Android. Uninstall and reinstall fixes it 99% of the time.
- makeset 12y agoI've been using RunPee for a long time, and it's been fantastic. Yes, they broke it a couple of times, but whatever, seems fine now. If I have to get a new phone, the essentials I need are text, email, maps, and RunPee.
- afterburner 12y agoGreat use for RunPee: finding out if any movie has extra scenes after the credits.
- idlehands 12y agoThis. I've been using it for a couple of years (old version, no timer) and it has saved me so many times from being frustrated later that I missed a scene in the credits.
- seshakiran 12y agoWould this tell where the bathrooms are located and how long will it take you to get there and back? May be that will help to decide to leave or not. Imaginne getting notifications from the bathroom that you have a stall available to Run and Pee :D
- tobych 12y agoIf this app were ever to be wildly successful, enough people would try to leave the theater at the same time that cinema operators would either lock the toilets or start having intermissions.
- comboy 12y agoIt's not their problem. Possibly people would just not leave if too many left already since with waiting in the queue they could not make it back on time. Btw, I think we had startups like this already. Is it the same one with some more sexy domain or something different?
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- sareon 12y agoThis is a great idea but I don't think it's unique. I remember a similar app that was on the iPhone when those apps first came out. I remember looking at it but it had a cost to download it so I never did use it. I just can't remember what it was called.
- brownbat 12y agoI guess we're at the point where each of us carry around sufficient technology to give us subtitles on demand, useful if we missed a few lines of dialogue. (We're probably not socially or legally cool with that, though.) Ooh, a more experimental place like the Alamo Drafthouse might be able to pull off restrooms attached to each individual theater, simulcasting the show onto screens in there. Licensing for extra screens, even tiny ones, might be complicated though... Here's to home viewing I guess.
- patrickdavey 12y agoI went to the movies on Friday, the guy in the seat ahead was looking at his (bright) phone ~ 5-10 times during the movie.. it was pretty annoying. I really hope this sort of thing doesn't become the norm to be honest!
- downandout 12y agoApparently it uses vibration. "The Timer is our ace in the hole. You start it when the movie begins and it will vibrate before each Peetime"
- mbrutsch 12y agoI've been using it for years, and it's awesome.
- Yahivin 12y agoWhy not just stream the scene to you on your phone while you're in the bathroom?
- fiatjaf 12y agoThere should be a category for this kind of project (and a lot of others): "too much work for too little benefit". I really think there are more important things to do with all this technology.
- wmeredith 12y ago>> I really think there are more important things to do with all this technology. Then get crackin' buddy ;)
- cjf4 12y agoI remember hearing Jordan Palmer (Carson Palmer's little brother) talk about this on Hard Knocks a few years ago.
- driftsumi-e 12y agoExactly. It's not new. I'm a little curious why this has resurfaced now.
- kemayo 12y agoI note that the app store reviews[1] mention that it does a lot of forced ad-watching. One says "must sit through a 10 second bright full screen ad for bladder medication upon opening". This seems counterproductive for an app that you may want to glance at during the film, to say the least... [1]: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id450326239?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/app/id450326239?mt=8
- mleonhard 12y agoThe Android app demands permission to access Photos/Media/Files. This app has no reason to read my images, videos, audio, or external storage. :( Not installing.
- reedlaw 12y agoYou could use XPrivacy[1] and prevent access to anything you wish. 1. http://www.xprivacy.eu/ http://www.xprivacy.eu/
- emeidi 12y agoSilicon Valley, saving the world, one app at a time ...
- tootie 12y agoI have to ask: why is this an app and not a web site?
- delucain 12y agoBecause it vibrates during the best times to run and pee. That way you never have to look at your bright phone in a dark theater. At the Alamo Drafthouse in Texas looking at your phone even once can get you removed from the theater if you're noticed.
- meshko 12y agoBut if this app ever becomes really popular it will render itself useless because there will be huge lines in the bathrooms.
- mikestew 12y agoMovies in the U. S. used to have intermissions. _2001_ has been mentioned here. More recently, _Tess of the D'Urbervilles_ and _Ghandi_ in the 80s. (All of these from memory, I'm sure there are other examples.) It seems that after that cinemas just didn't do it anymore. I understand that cinemas want you in and out as quickly as possible. At the same it would seem they can sell more high-margin soft drinks and popcorn if folks are given the opportunity to do so. In fact, there's no way in hell I'm buying anything at all even before the movie starts if I know it's a 3 hour "epic" that won't have an intermission. I'm going into that with a bladder that resembles Death Valley.
- apricot 12y agoI envision an app called "Monkey Pissing" that enables users to reserve their spot at the urinal during specific times. "Get paid $13 an hour just to piss!"
- Jehar 12y agoThis leads to what strikes me as a potentially negative heuristic for determining what moments in a given film have worth. Summer flick drivel aside, would RunPee assign a high pee time to, say, Drive, which has a significant amount of mood-setting long shots without any dialogue or plot-relevant action? Excuse me for probably taking this too far, but this app seems to imply that films are merely the sum of plot-related scenes, and that doesn't sit quite well with me. Would the app consider every establishing shot in Alien to be pee-able?