Kanopy

Kanopy is a great resource if your library offers it, giving you access to a ton of free movies and TV shows in all genres, as well as documentaries and kids programming, all with no ads. The video quality is good. the only drawback and the reason I'm giving four stars instead of five is that video playback is in portrait mode only. This is fine if you're watching on a tablet, but absolutely miserable on a phone. Wish they'd fix this, but it doesn't seem like it's gonna happen.

Movie selection is excellent. However, navigation is fairly poor. It resets your position when going back and forth between screens. Android TV and Apple TV apps also don't support frame rate matching, which is vital for movie lovers wanting to watch movies on their TV they way they were intended, without any frame judder. Not only that's, but the Apple TV app no longer plays video. It prompts for an update that doesn't exist! Would give the service 5 stars if all these issues were fixed.

I downloaded the app in order to view Kanopy on my TV via Roku. I watched a few episodes of a series and then didn't come back to it for some time. When I did, I couldn't watch anything except "credit free" videos (there are (6) six). I've been unable to find out where they come from or how they are rationed or anything more about them. There should be a full explanation and instructions in the app itself.

With this app, if you don't watch more than 10 movies per month, you do not need any other online movie service. Has so much, even recent films, that Netflix, Prime, Max and Hulu has, plus a ton of foreign, arthouse, documentary and film history selections that the above DON'T have. Possibly the best repository on the Internet. If you watch a lot of TV shows and movies, then you'll still want Kanopy as a supplement. PLUS, no ads!

Kanooy is doing a public service by providing a catalog of great TV, music and films for free through your local library. UPDATE: Whatever changes have been made for the app prevent adding films to my Watchlist. Whenever I try to add film or TV show now a pop-up appears that simply says 'ERROR". I can browse, but tapping the + no longer works. However, I can go online, as well as to the Google smart TV app via Play, and it works fine. It then appears on the phone app.

It's a nicely laid-out design with a good selection of films and shorts, but video playback on my tablet is extremely glitchy, and never is in HD. Netflix, Amazon and VRV all play fine at 720p or 1080p, so no reason why this shouldn't be able to do it, to. Also, closed captioning and/or subtitles are a mess, with timing off on every movie I've seen so far. Both on this app and the Roku app.

I'm sorry but I cannot give this app more than one star. As some other folks mentioned, I got excited and compiled a huge list of items to watch -- mostly documentaries which was fine. I then connect to my college library and suddenly can't watch half of what I saved. When casting on Chromecast, it constantly freezes and now I have a persistent error despite restarting the app. At this point, I completely give up and will not bother with this anymore.

Great idea, great content, but basic app features don't work. I click the plus sign to add a video to my watch list, but the list stays empty. If I add items using the website in desktop mode those titles will show up in my list in the app, but if I try to remove them on the website I get an error (and none of that works on the mobile site, it just tells you to use the app). Also, the app's back button doesn't work, I have to use the phone's back button. Really basic stuff, can't recommend as-is

Great app for a great service! Tons of options to pick from. Especially if you enjoy art house or foreign films. Even some anime I've been wanting to watch! If your library offers it, definitely snag this service! 4.5/5 since the app does bug out on occasion and require a restart. But this only seems to happen when browsing through categories for a while.

I am sure it's a lovely app, I was really excited to use it, but I've gotten 3 different error messages trying to sign up. Either I'm already registered, which doesn't seem to be the case, or my library card number is incorrect (I copied and pasted it from my library login info that works) or my password is incorrect, but I get yet another error when I try to reset it...

Great app and so cool that I can access NEW movies with just my library card! The movie is wanted to watch was only available through a paid app subscription or as a rental. With this app, I was able to see it for free and with my library card! Very cool! Also, I am able to watch with NO ADS at all! I also have not experienced any glitches or problems like some of the reviews reported. Works great on my phone!

Great number of educational videos. Unfortunately they are not grouped (at least that I can tell) such that you can watch a series. Update: Now I get a DRM error on my phone when trying to watch on the app. Fixes don't work. Update 2: TRASH! Don't waste your time on this as the DRM error persists. Absolutely none of their suggested fixes work.

I like the Great Courses. The "Continue Watching" tab needs improvement. It does not show series I have been watching- only individual episodes I have begun and have not watched all the way through. I struggled to find a course I started watching as it was not listed here, and I couldn't remember the title of the series. One workaround is adding to "My Watchlist", but my list is long. So now I intentionally don't finish an episode or start the next one and stop it so I can remember where I'm at.

This is a great app to watch selected T.V. shows and movies on. However, there should be a list of movies that you watched in a month so you can rewatch them before the month is over. It is nice, though, that the app keeps track of all the movies that you have watched by having a red line underneath them. Unfortunately, there are no provided reviews for the T.V. shows or the movies just a synopse. Red/orange stars indicate ratings of the T.V. shows & movies.

The public library offers 6 free "plays" on Kanopy, but the app is terrible on my Roku. It forces me to watch a movie without any interruptions, because any attempt to pause or rewind makes this app crash, and lose my play token. The interface is very frustrating: there's no sort or filter, there are only pre-defined categories, and scrolling has a lag (I have 75 Mbps downstream speed, and no other devices connected, so my connection is not the problem. Other apps work flawlessly) without any indication such as a wheel spinning that it has not reached the end of the list. In summary, this app is buggy and can't perform even the most basic functionality. Hoopla is way better, also free via the library.

I love the variety of television shows available to watch. I just wish the app had a "due date/time" feature so you'd know how long you have to watch. I had to log on to the website to look, and even then, it just said 24 hours. Sadly, I use up my credits quickly from my library because of this lack of feature.

I'm so glad Kanopy exists. Being able to watch using a library membership is such a great idea. The selection of films is fantastic, with lots of documentaries, independent, foreign and educational films, classics and film noir, etc. They change up their selection often, and let you know when movies will be leaving, so you have a chance to catch them before they do.

The online answers claim that it only uses one credit per month to watch the same video. That is obviously not at all how this is working for me. Also, if you don't rebegin a film as soon as you finish it, it will disappear from your "continue watching" list, and there is no other way to be reminded what you checked out. Also, a credit is used immediately when you briefly click play, even by accident. Hopefully these things will be addressed. This is otherwise quite an excellent tool. :)

Terrible app, barely functions. Two thirds of the way through every film while casting, a drm error message that won't go away and/or drop. Error message persists after resuming. Ruins the experience every time. Search function UI is very bad. UI generally is basic at best. Little to no useful organization of content. Did I mention it drops or gives an error two thirds of the way through every film? Every film. Every single one. I'd be embarrassed if I were the developers.

Great selection of movies and documentaries. Everything is working smooth except for my watchlist. On my phone, when I scroll down in my wishlist, it won't let me scroll to the bottom. Edit: Even with the occasional problem with my list, or being charged two credits for the same video, this is a free source with no ads. I've never had buffer problems 👍, and the selection has a lot of good documentaries, plus a great unlimited viewing kids section. I like that this also shows leaving soon vids.