NFB Films vs Showpass
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NFB Films
Explore a vast library of Canadian films, including award-winning documentaries, animations, and Indigenous productions. Stream content in English or French, with options for offline viewing and personalized recommendations. Discover cinematic classics and new releases without any subscription fees or ads.
- Thousands of Canadian films
- Award-winning works
- Indigenous-made films
- Documentaries and animation
- English and French content
- Offline viewing
- Personalized recommendations
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Access the largest collection of Canadian films online, with no subscription and no ads. Award-winning works with more than 7,000 accolades, including 13 Oscars®. The NFB Films app offers: * Thousands of films, series, and collections * GROUND-BREAKING works by the biggest names in Canadian cinema * 500+ INDIGENOUS-MADE films * Documentaries, animation and auteur cinema, featuring both CLASSICS AND NEW RELEASES * Available in both ENGLISH AND FRENCH * Easily find your WATCHLIST on NFB.ca, mobile, and TV * Sign in to CONTINUE WATCHING anywhere and get PERSONALIZED recommendations * Cast films to your TV through AIRPLAY or CHROMECAST * Download content for OFFLINE viewing * Find NFB Events near you The National Film Board is Canada's public producer and distributor of audiovisual works. Find out more at http://www.nfb.ca/about Enjoying this app? Please write a review for the App Store. Please send your feedback to info@nfb.ca.
Showpass
Discover and purchase tickets for top events across North America. This app allows you to store and present your digital tickets via a QR code for seamless entry, eliminating the need for physical tickets.
- Event discovery
- Ticket purchasing
- Digital ticket scanning
- QR code entry
- Eliminates physical tickets
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Showpass is the leading event management and ticketing provider in North America. You can discover the best events, buy tickets and get them scanned all on this app. You can just show the Showpass QR code to any events and you are all set! So no more printing, finding and keeping physical tickets.
Screenshots
Verdict
NFB Films and Showpass both sit at 4.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 41% of NFB Films's written reviews are positive against 15% of Showpass's. NFB Films also leads on monetization model (free vs ad-supported) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.0 for NFB Films against 4.0 for Showpass. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 16 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 41% of NFB Films's written reviews are positive against 15% of Showpass's.
NFB Films ships an update every 3 weeks, Showpass fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NFB Films | Showpass |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (8 ratings) | 4.0 (16 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 41.0% of reviews — better | 15.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 8 | 16 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 36 MB | 206 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | National Film Board of Canada – Office national du film du Canada | Up In Code Inc. |
Customer experience
NFB Films
Showpass
Bugs and requests
NFB Films
Reported bugs
14 issues- App crashes on launch or during playback
- Blank white screen on startup
- Freezing after pausing for several minutes
- Video plays without audio or audio without video
- Offline downloads lost upon app restart
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- Favorites list deleted after updates
- Crashes when removing favorites
- Language switching doesn't work
- Incompatibility with iOS 9, iOS 11, and older iPad models
- App closes unexpectedly after watching films
- Search results don't match query terms
- Requires local network access permission (iOS 14+)
- Streaming continuously stalls at dark screen
- App won't open on certain devices despite compatibility claims
Requested features
10 requests- Chromecast support
- Language selection for audio tracks
- Watch later/queue list feature
- Cross-device favorites synchronization
- User account login system
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Full-screen landscape mode support
- Better search and sort options
- Improved navigation menu
- More subtitle language options
- Better film descriptions and summaries
Showpass
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
NFB Films
No in-app purchases
Showpass
No in-app purchases
