Comparison

Empire Cinemas vs Orca

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Empire Cinemas

Easily book movie tickets and discover showtimes for films playing in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Lebanon. Explore diverse cinema experiences and pre-order food and drinks for a seamless movie night.

Highlights
  • Book movie tickets
  • Check showtimes
  • Discover upcoming movies
  • Pre-order food and drinks
  • Explore cinema experiences
  • Scan e-tickets
  • View movie trailers and info
Features
Read full description

The all-new EMPIRE Cinemas app makes movie booking a seamless and hassle-free experience. Planning a movie night? Check which movies are on and avoid the ticket queues by booking with our awesome app! We’ve made browsing and booking a movie easier than ever, right from your phone. Check showtimes, book tickets, and discover more about movies showing in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Lebanon. Explore from our diverse range of cinema across genres; There is something for everyone! Not only this, to enhance your experience even further by exploring a wide range of experiences in which you can enjoy your movies like DOLBY ATMOS, SCREEN X, IMAX, SPHERA, 4DX, MINIS, PREMIERE, FLEXOUND, and many more! What’s more? - Stay updated with Movie Schedules, Upcoming movies, Show timings. - Save your Favorite Cinema, Pick your Movie, and Book. - Skip the ticket queue and Scan your E-ticket at the cinema ticket podium. - Discover all your movie information, with trailers, cast, synopsis, ratings & more. - You can now pre-order Food & Drinks from the app. - Search for movies or your favorite actors. - Experience all of our Ways to Watch movies. - Enjoy a new and improved booking flow. - Booking History. - Get additional exclusive loyalty benefits (Coming soon). Download our app for FREE and book tickets on the go. Entertainment is at your fingertips. We appreciate your feedback and would love to hear from you. Please email us at care@empirecinemas.com.sa.

About

Orca

Features
Read full description

Welcome to Orca — The Ultimate Synchronized Stadium Sound & Light Engine. Why just cheer when you can control the entire arena? Orca transforms thousands of smartphones into a single, massive, perfectly synced digital sound system and visual tifo. Whether you're a stadium Capo, a festival DJ, or throwing an epic party, Orca lets you drop the beat with atomic microsecond precision across every device in the room. No internet at the moment of the drop? No problem. EXPLOSIVE STADIUM-GRADE FEATURES: • ATOMIC TIME SYNC: Zero echo. Our advanced NTP true-time engine ensures every single phone drops the track at the exact same millisecond. • AGGRESSIVE HAPTICS: Don't just hear the bass—feel it! Phones physically thump and vibrate in your hands in perfect sync with the beat, turning the crowd into a living, shaking organism. • BLINDING STROBE & DIGITAL TIFO: Turn the dark stands into a breathtaking light show. Camera flashlights strobe automatically, and screens pulse with your team’s colors. • CUSTOM SPONSOR MOSAICS (Premium): Upload your club crest or sponsor logo, and watch it flash synchronously across thousands of screens in the dark. • OFFLINE SURVIVAL MODE: Stadium 5G networks always crash. Orca pre-loads the heavy audio files in advance. When the countdown hits zero, it plays flawlessly from local memory—requiring zero bandwidth! • MULTI-ROOM DASHBOARD: Manage permanent QR codes, monitor your live crowd capacity with the Pod Radar, and queue up multiple tracks like a pro DJ. HOW IT WORKS: 1. The Host creates a "Sonar Room" and shares the QR Code. 2. The Crowd scans to "Join the Pod". 3. The Host schedules the drop time. 4. When the countdown hits ZERO, the entire crowd erupts in perfect unison! Lead the crowd. Start a Sonar. Let the stadium ROAR! *Note: This app contains intense flashing lights and strobes. A photosensitivity toggle is available for listeners. --- Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Empire Cinemas4 screens
Orca4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Empire Cinemas at none against Orca's 4. Empire Cinemas also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). Orca's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Orca sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Empire Cinemas asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Empire Cinemas ships an update every 10 days, Orca every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Empire Cinemas versus Orca: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEmpire CinemasOrca
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.3 (201 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews11.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings201 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 9 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size109 MB63 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperBinary Numbers ITZone LLPMeshal Alamri

Bugs and requests

Empire Cinemas

Reported bugs

84 issues
  • Cannot change language
  • Problems with profile, payments, reservations
  • Cannot sign in, OTP not working
  • App never loads
  • App is confusing and badly designed
Show 79 more
  • App doesn't open
  • Unable to scroll popup window
  • Cannot login to account
  • App is very bad, heavy, and slow
  • Verification code rejected
  • White screen on opening, then back to home
  • Cannot buy tickets, agree button not working
  • App doesn't work after update
  • Sad potato image is uncomfortable
  • Stuck on loading screen
  • Phone number limit (9 digits only)
  • App works only 1 time
  • App closes for no reason
  • App is not working
  • Unusable, no proper message display
  • Cannot sign up or verify phone number
  • Freezing 95% of the time
  • Bad connection message
  • App won't start
  • Very bad app, cannot book
  • Cannot complete profile
  • Booking is complicated, Apple Pay/credit card not working
  • Cannot complete registration form, very slow
  • Authentication by mobile number not completed
  • Technical bug with Apple login OTP
  • App asks to complete info already completed
  • Extremely terrible app, slow, buggy, bad UI
  • Worst payment options, ApplePay glitches
  • Cannot verify mobile number
  • Cannot select seats and pay
  • Loading error, nothing loading
  • Process not completed when user number reached
  • Extremely bad experience, poor app
  • App is a disaster, complaints ongoing
  • Phone number not accepted
  • App not for UK market
  • Registration taking too long, no OTP
  • Cannot login through Gmail
  • Cannot check out movie reservation
  • App not working in Iraq, wrong country code
  • App for Middle East only, clunky system
  • Location changed to Saudi Arabia, user in Iraq
  • Ticket prices not listed
  • App is confusing and has errors
  • App is failing, freezes
  • Worst cinema app, wastes time
  • Slow like a turtle
  • Worst app ever encountered
  • App not for UK, useless
  • Complete waste of time
  • Unusable, CEO's stuck on old ways
  • Shame big company can't afford good app
  • Very poor app, difficult registration
  • Payment not connected to app pay, crashes
  • Not friendly use, slow
  • Awful app, no UK version
  • Literally the worst cinema app, slow
  • Worst program for cinema, slow, freezes
  • Takes too long to run, no Apple Pay
  • Worst booking app, made to steal money
  • Cannot get account back, OTP issues
  • Cannot book with Apple Pay, add to wallet
  • Not professional app, slow, poorly designed
  • Useless for UK market
  • Not supported by Apple Pay or wallet
  • Very slow, cannot set nearest cinema
  • Cannot close trailer video, force exit needed
  • Some cinema addresses wrong
  • Reloads all data when going back
  • Price more expensive than at the counter
  • Cannot send message for problems, phone not answering
  • Freezes, payment issues, no ticket sometimes
  • Not helpful for UK film times
  • Payment method takes to website, annoying
  • Every booking requires re-entering info
  • Too expensive
  • App needs upgrade
  • App keeps crashing
  • Not user friendly at all

Requested features

23 requests
  • Add Apple Pay support
  • Add PayPal support
  • Add ticket prices to the app
  • Add time filters for movies
  • Allow setting nearest cinema
Show 18 more
  • Fix trailer video closing issue
  • Improve cinema address accuracy
  • Prevent data reload when going back
  • Add UK version of the app
  • Integrate with Apple Wallet
  • Add gender selection option
  • Improve payment options
  • Add language options (e.g., Kurdish)
  • Allow international phone numbers
  • Fix phone number verification for Apple login
  • Improve UI/UX for better navigation
  • Allow users to set preferred cinema
  • Fix profile edit notification issue on iOS
  • Improve app speed and performance
  • Fix OTP sending and verification issues
  • Allow login via Gmail/Google
  • Fix registration process
  • Support for UK market

Orca

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Empire Cinemas

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Orca

Subscriptions4
  • Wave$9.991 Month
  • Current$49.991 Month
  • Tsunami$199.991 Month
Show 1 more
  • Leviathan$999.991 Month

Questions

Is Empire Cinemas free?
Empire Cinemas is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Orca free?
Orca is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Empire Cinemas or Orca have ads?
Empire Cinemas shows ads; Orca does not.
Which is updated more often, Empire Cinemas or Orca?
Empire Cinemas ships an update every 10 days, and Orca every 9 days. Most recently, Empire Cinemas was updated on November 3, 2026 and Orca on October 31, 2026.

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