Flixster (free) isn't just another movie- and theater-information app. Yes, it does list movies with ratings and plots and theater show-times, but it also offers some major advantages over the general run of movie apps, including excellent Rotten Tomatoes ratings and social integration. It's a clear, well-designed app that efficiently gets you the information you need to make your movie-viewing decision and then easily purchase tickets. Or, you can watch movies right inside the app if you purchase them or have them in your UltraViolet collection.

Flixster started as a movie fan-themed social network. Later the company acquired the movie-rating site Rotten Tomatoes. In 2011, both were acquired by Warner Brothers, giving the app backing from a major studio. It's available for iPhone (reviewed here), Android, Windows Phone, Windows 8 tablets, and Xbox. There's even a Windows desktop application that lets you rip DVDs to UltraViolet cloud storage.

Interface
The Flixster interface doesn't waste any time with a welcome screen or tutorial the way MovieFone does. A list of new movies and top box-office hits, along with thumbnails of their poster images, are the first things you see. And it's not overwhelming the way the Apple Trailers app is, with its grid of images filling the screen. Flixster helps you grok the particulars of each movie in the list, showing its (very reliable) Rotten Tomatoes rating, lead actors, MPAA rating, running time, and how much money it made at the box office.

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You can search for a movie, or sort the list by popularity, title, or rating—just what's needed, yet something not found in the competing MovieFone app.

One feature missing in Flixster is an equivalent to Fandango's Go Now or MovieFone's Playing Now Near Me button. Of course, you can just pick a title or theater and see what's playing soon. In any case, you're probably more interested in finding out what movie you'd enjoy most rather than that what's playing down the block in 10 minutes. Still, adding this feature would definitely make Flixster even more useful.

One nifty interface feature is how swiping is integrated. You can swipe any movie to quickly add it to your Want to See list, indicate that you're not interested, or add a rating. Of course, all these options require you to sign up for an account, which you can do with an email address, password, and DOB (since Flixster can play R- and NC-17-rated movies), and even more easily with the tap of a Facebook button.