TheaterEars
reviews and complaints

I haven’t tried this in a theater yet but I have tested it at home. I didn’t know what to expect but It was okay. The movie and audio did sync. I have parents that only speak Spanish and want to take them to the movies. Im uneasy since the time schedule on this app are mostly unmatched to the time schedule of when the movie actually starts. Like let’s say I want to watch the Batman at 1:30pm, this app would give the option at 2:30pm and nothing for 1:30 pm. I read that the audio downloaded only works at that scheduled time that it was downloaded for.

Is that true?

I went to see the Batman movie yesterday at AMC at 10 PM, by mistake around one hour into the movie I closed the app and when I wanted to reload or pick the same time it wouldn’t let me do it I couldn’t keep listening the rest of the movie.On the answers on the app it says it can be done but I guess after a certain time into the movie it won’t let you reload the movie again I mean this sound. Is it because it’s the free version ? I also want to know what’s the difference in between the $20 subscription and the $30 one? Thanks. Otherwise you guys have a great app !

I was excited to use this app for my parents, but when I tried to make an account it was going fine but then it asked for me to input my number to send me a verification code to complete the process. I put in my correct number, and waited. There was a timer going off waiting for me to put in the code I would be sent. I NEVER GOT A CODE. Tried it again maybe I put in the wrong number, no that wasn’t it. IT NEVER SENDS ANYTHING. Downloaded on my moms phone to see if the same problem occurred. Sure enough same thing. Its a shame, I was excited to try this out so my family can enjoy the movies with me.

Comenzaron muy bien con muchas películas que estaban en cartelera y ahora No es así, bajaron demasiado la cantidad de películas en cartelera que están traducidas.
También demora mucho tiempo en descargar la traducción asi tenga buen internet.
La verdad estoy desilusionada de la aplicación, cuando todo comenzó iba al cine hasta 3 veces por semana, ahora solo una vez al mes.
Le doy dos estrellas porque si funciona muy bien cuando existe la traducción de la película y ya la tienes descargada, es decir si fuera mas rápida la descarga y traducieran peliculas como cuando comenzaron les daría 5 estrellas

La aplicacion funciona perfectamente. La he usado una sola vez (Jurassic Park), fui con otra persona, al principio a mi me sincronizo a destiempo pero en cuestion de segundos se autosincronizo de nuevo y funcionaba a la perfeccion. Nunca tuve problema durante la pelicula, todo perfecto como si el cine estuviera dando la pelicula en espanol. Consejo para usuarios: No hablen mientras tienen los audifonos, recuerden estan en una sala de cine donde debes hacer silencio, y cuando tienes audifonos habla mas duro de lo normal.
Consejo para la App: Hagan este recordatorio al momento de darle play al audio

My mother-in-law is visiting from Brazil and doesn't speak English.. We took her to the movies a couple of times and she had a hard time.. Just imagining the storyline.. Although she doesn't speak Spanish.. It's much closer to the Portuguese.. When I discovered TheaterEars and took her to the movies to watch with the Spanish track, she was so emotive that she even cried after the movie ended.
Thanks TheaterEars for helping us bring this joy to a very dear family member!

Already used it twice.. And worked very well both times! Definitely recommend the software!

And.. Pls! Bring Brazilian Portuguese track! Specially for animations!

I purchased/reserved tickets to watch it on Tuesday, April 30th with my mom and sisters only to barely find out the translation on the app comes out on May 3rd. The tickets I purchased are non refundable so it’ll be really difficult for my mother to enjoy the movie without watching it in her native language and that makes me feel bad. I would give this 5 stars had I been notified sooner about this as I didn’t know it would take longer to go see. It works great but the situation I’m in is difficult. It’d be appreciated if you guys could push the date closer, my mom’s really excited to watch it but she won’t understand a thing if it’s not in Spanish :(

The first time I contact them they answered pretty quick and fixed my problem. The second time I was rather surprised because they completely ignored me and my family was stuck watching the movie they wanted in english and I had paid their ultra subscription. They didn’t even bother to contact me telling me they can’t help me. They don’t seem to care to help after they help once. Plus they don't have all the movies playing in theaters. You shouldn’t have to contact them to add your movies and showtimes when they are the ones advertising the CHOOSE ANY MOVIE ANY THEATER AND TIME PLAYING. But they’re pretty quick on charging for subscription. That’s awesome

Tried it for the first time with my parents who are Spanish speakers. We watched Top Gun and I couldn’t rave enough about how amazing this app was. Recommended it to all my family members because I was in disbelief with how amazing it had worked. Fast forward to today when I tried to download the audio for Elvis to take my dad to watch, and the app wouldn’t let me login. Tried different methods to access the app (forgot password, different login methods, resetting the app, deleting and redownloading…etc) nothing worked. I’m grateful I didn’t give one single cent to this app because I would’ve been infuriated. Don’t download it…it’ll only get your hopes up.

Why bother introducing a subscription service when the main service doesn’t actually work? Every time I try to use the app I either get a message saying that there was an error while trying to sign in or when I go to download a track it simply hangs, buffers as if doing something, before giving me an error message without actually downloading anything. I see a lot of great reviews, and I would love nothing more than to have the same experience so I can get to give the stars that this app should get, particularly because it helps enable me to spend time at the movies with my grandparents who don’t speak English and that is a truly great reward. When it works, of course.

Nice app. You do have to create an account and give your phone number to get an authorization code. But it works! We live in a small rural town in Southern California near the border. We just used it today at our local theater to see a family movie. We have a family member who doesn’t understand English so we decided to try the app! Happy she was able to follow along with the synchronized Spanish audio track! You simply allow the app use your location and when you’re in the theater choose your theater location and movie & show time. The audio track then downloads. Press play a minute before the movie is about to start & let it synchronize & it starts playing to match the movie!

This is exactly what I’ve been waiting for a long time! My mother was never able to fully enjoy watching a movie with us at the theater unless it was already in Spanish, since she can’t read or write at all. But now with this app she can come along with us to watch movies and understand everything being said! The only thing I see that would make it better would be if every film in the theater would be available to be translated or how there could possibly be an add on of languages. But I understand how it might be difficult to get that done so I appreciate at least being able to understand the few (great selections by the way) that are already there. I am super grateful to everyone who helped create this app!

I have a son with Cerebral Palsy who is Spanish Speaker only, we moved a few years back to the US but he does not understand english and always missed out on going to the movies here because he cant understand nor he can read subtitles. He really wanted to see Fast & Furious 9 and asked me if there was a way he could see it in Spanish on a movie theater, so it got me researching until I found this wonderful application. I really didn't know if it was going to work until we went to see the movie and he was so excited he was Jumping on the theater chair! I cannot stress enough how this will change his life! Now we can see all the movies he wants to see in the Theater! Whoever made this app is a Genius! Thanks So Much!

I went to the movies to watch Jurassic World, I was really nervous about it, wasn’t really sure if it was going to work. It took me 2 tries to make it work at the begging of the movie, i also believe that you need and internet connection in order to play the audio in the movies, which it was probably why did not worked on my mom’s phone. I also believe it was because the beginning has not dialog and maybe had some troubles recognizing the audio. I also used Bose Quit Comfort 35 to cancel as much noise as posible, it worked great because the audio from TheaterEars also includes sound effects and voices. This is truly great. My mom is really happy that I found this app, now she can go to the movies with me and understand everything about it! Thank you!

Best thing ever! Can’t believe this app is available and the theaters don’t tell you. I called several theaters to ask for Spanish accommodations and all told me they didn’t have any for Jurassic World. We found this app and we took our cousin who was visiting from Mexico to the movies and she was able to enjoy the movie with us! We watched Jurassic World and it synced perfectly with the movie. We were worried that the audio would be off but it synchronizes with the audio once you’re in the theater and the movie begins.

Tip*** Make sure to download the audio when you have good Data Service or in WiFi. You can download the audio one day before (at least that’s what I did).

Recommend it for everyone who has family or friends that only understand spanish.

Was invited to their premiere and was amazed at the app. It sounded like the movie was only In Spanish and that I was the only person listening. No one around me was disturbed by me listening in Spanish and the noise from the movie in English wasn't heard. The Spanish version had all the sound effects and was as good as the English version. It will be the perfect app for people who want to enjoy the theater experience but either doesn't speak English or it's not their primary language. It will be great that all families will be able to go to a movie together in America and enjoy the experience. I can't wait for this to become available to all viewers it's going to be amazing to see people enjoy the movies no matter what language they speak. Once again, all I can say is that it's amazing.

This is the first review I’ve ever made because I hope the app owners start adding more options. The app works great, and if there is a movie you really want to see actually listed, it’s amazing. But my husband uses this app because he doesn’t speak English and going to the movies is a perfect date night option we haven’t been able to really experience. We have seen one movie with the app and everything worked great. It was the first time my husband had ever been to a movie theater. But we want to go back and the movies we want to see aren’t options and they don’t look like they are coming anytime soon. So please, add Toy Story and Lion King to the app so we can enjoy. I have told all my friends about the app and everyone I know that doesn’t speak English. The app could really take off if they invest a little more.

I used this app with success for my wife many times before COVID-19. Yesterday (11/24) was our first movie after COVID-19 started, and I took her to watch Encanto at Touchstar Cinemas Southchase 7 in Orlando, FL. I downloaded the audio file like 4 times. However, it never synched. I got several times the message that said no synching at any theater. One screen within the app was showing things related to my downloads as if the movie we wanted to watch was on the 25th. Can you imagine how I felt taking my wife to have fun by watching a new release, and realizing that she couldn’t watch it? I still have a few screenshots of what was going on. It was heartbreaking, and I felt miserable. Very bad for the app. Horrible. I don’t know what happened with the app between before the pandemia and now. Shame shame. I think my wife and I deserve an apology from the developer, and something to make it up to my wife.

The fact that this exists is just so wonderful. I love sharing movies with my family but we used to always have to wait for movies to be released on DVD or HBO in order to enjoy them together with SAP. This is the perfect solution! We’ve used it several times before and worked great.
Unfortunately tonight to go watch Encanto it really failed us. 2 people downloaded the track on their phones and one of them wouldn’t start because there was no internet— I don’t understand why you would require internet after the track has been downloaded, considering it’s usually hard to get any signal in a movie theater. The second person’s track worked up until the halfway point of the movie. Not sure why it stopped. It was a real shame.
If the issue is money, first of all, all production companies should contribute to this service. It makes it possible for so many more people to pay for tickets to watch movies live. And if need be, I’m sure many of us would be willing to pay a dollar or so for each track.
I’m really rooting for the developers to keep this going and work out the kinks. This really is a very valuable tool for a growing population in America. Thank you!

Went to try this app the other day before recommending it to my mom and it worked great! Watched Solo and it synced perfectly, never buffered or stopped. I was worried that I wouldn’t hear over the loud movie sound but I did- in fact I couldn’t hear the English version in background and there’s no need to, as the audio track contains everything, not just dialogue. I was worried other ppl would be able to hear the sound from my earphones, but that didn’t happen either. I took off my earphones a couple of times at different volumes to check and nothing. I was also pleased to hear LA Spanish as opposed to the Spain accent I had heard previously in a video advertising this app (nothing wrong with it, my accent just happens to be LA) anyway. I’m looking forward to more movie and language options! As a polyglot, I’d definitely appreciate the fun option to hear my favorite movies in different languages! Great job so far :)

Actually one question: why do we need to “download the track” every time? Can’t we just do it once and then unlock it by choosing the movie showtime or something? I kept changing plans and while at home it downloaded in seconds, when I did it at the theater before the movie it took around 10mins. Not a deal breaker because I was early just something that could be better.

Mal funcionamiento. Se pega, no corre. Genera errores. No descarga los horarios. No descarga las pistas. En plena reproducción se borra la pista y si ya ha pasado 1 hora de haber empezado la película no puedes descargar la
Pista de nuevo. Es un fiasco. Un fraude de aplicación

Nunca he podido conectar a pesar que localizo en la aplicación el cine, el horario y primero pone algo así como “cargando audio” y después comienza a reproducir anuncios de otras películas que duran 4, 5 y hasta 6 minutos pero nada del audio de la película que estoy viendo...

La primera vez que la usé me funcionó en un cine después emocionado que ya servía fui a otro cine y me quedo muy mal porque no funcionó y hasta me salí de ver la película así que no la recomiendo mucho porque no funcionó como yo esperaba así que si la usan solo vayan al mismo cine

Muy buena idea de app y muy útil. El problema es que la app es muy inestable. Se cae constantemente. Se cierra y te pide iniciar sesión. Además yo pague la suscripción para supuestamente mejorar la calidad de audio, y no es así, la cálida es exactamente la misma de la versión gratuita.

Beware of entering your real phone or email. I wrote them an email stating that i have opted out but it never seems to work. They gave me a $10 gift card, but yesterday I even received a PHONE call advertising new releases. I am so fed up. This app works well but they really harass you.

Me dijeron por email el 29 de Mayo luego de preguntar sobre si iba a estar disponible hoy 9 de junio jurássic park y me meto a revisar desde ayer y hoy ya 9 día del estreno y no está, pues que mal por su culpa perdí 11 entradas porque muchos no hablan inglés. Tengo fotos de los correos.

I had this app for months before they uploaded a new movie. Now it looks like they might translate one movie every few months. And it is always the ONE movie that’s out that I’d never want to see. Not even a very popular movie. This app is such a wonderful idea but just terribly executed.

Muchas veces he tenido q ver la película cuando están por quitarla de cartelera porque no suben el idioma a tiempo si hay q pagar para eso entiendo pero me parece que no sacan provecho a este app que es muy bueno y pudiera ser mejor si sacaran mas audios de las películas que están en el cine

Una mala experiencia, ya tenía los tickets comprados y al tratar de bajar la aplicación fue terrible, primero casi no la deja descargar, decía error, error; y después de hacerlo logrado, decía que mi película no tenía horarios THORy por másque trataba de actualizar el horario, fue imposible

My brother has a galaxy s10 and I have iPhone X and we going to the theater to watch the same movie at the same time and I can connect with the movie. And my brother do in minutes... you need to fix or check this problem. And is not the first time. I will try with other movies and is the same problem.

No Me gusto por que solo una película se pudo escuchar pero no están todas las películas muy tristes por que no hay las que quería ver incluso las de toy story ya salió hace tiempo y no está la traducción y la película sigue en el cine
Tengo cuenta pague y ni así puedo escuchar ni ver las películas en la aplicación

I was excited to try this app out today for a Spanish speaking family member to go to the movies with me. I thought it would be super easy to have it sync up but the app crashed and froze twice while at the theaters. I re downloaded the audio twice and in the end it froze again so I gave up trying to make it work. Don’t waste your time with the app.

You never know if it’s going to work or not. Great when it works. But often it will give an error that it can’t download the movie or find showtimes near you even though the movie and showtime you wanted and just bought tickets to were there a few minutes or hours before. Also often glitches during the movie when it is working. I have plenty of bandwidth so that isn’t the issue.

La idea está excelente pero la implementación es horrible. La app presenta muchos errores. Muchas veces el audio está desincronizado y otras veces ni siquiera es la película correcta! La interfaz es lenta y poco amigable. Te quieren vender una membresía premium sin ofrecer un servicio de calidad. Se aprovechan de ser la única app de ese tipo y por eso dan un servicio tan mediocre.

There is no way to opt out of providing a phone number for some reason. Even if you turn off notifications and delete the app, you will still get text messages at 12:30 am about some random movie. I’ve already blocked 5 numbers from TheaterEars and there’s no way to delete your profile or account.

Do not download or setup this app unless you want to get spam text messages forever.

Watched Aladdin, the app didn’t sync after like 6 tries, then asked me to download the audio file again, it didn’t sync 3 times after that... finally it did sync after 15 minutes the movie started and last just connected for half an hour. Tried to sync for other 10 min and gave up.

The app worked just fine last 3 times I used it but this time it was useless and frustrating trying over and over again. Terrible experience this time!

Antes yo usaba esta aplicación y era excelente, se sincronizaba perfecto, se escucha muy bien los diálogos, el fondo, la música, era rápida… ahora la volví a usar y al ver la película solamente pude escuchar los diálogos, solo podía escuchar algo cuando hablaban de resto toda la película parecía estar en mute, no pude escuchar la música de fondo ni los sonidos de puertas o pasos, también se me desconectaba muy seguido, terrible, no se que paso!

We used to love this app as it allowed my fiancé and I to see most any movie in the theater that we were interested in. Unfortunately, it is currently not showing any theaters or movies available and there are many. We received one reply to our email a week or so ago and they fixed it partially fir one day but since that time, no responses to multiple inquiries through the app. We would be willing to pay for use as it has been that enjoyable for us in the past.