Comparison

Award Expert vs It's Starting!

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

Head to head
About

Award Expert

This app allows users to predict the winners of major movie awards like the Oscars and Golden Globes. Users can track friends, create watchlists, and analyze award races with community rankings and charts. Compete with others on leaderboards and track your prediction history.

Highlights
  • Predict Academy Awards, Golden Globes, BAFTA
  • Follow friends and track updates
  • Add films to watchlist
  • Analyze award races with charts
  • Compete on leaderboards
  • Track prediction history
Features
Read full description

The largest social awards predictions platform in the world • Predict Academy Awards, Golden Globes, BAFTA, and more • Follow friends, track their prediction updates • Join the conversation with active social feed • Analyze the race with aggregate community rankings and detailed charts • Compete in leaderboards, compare your performance to your friends • Automatically track your updates history Auto-renewing subscriptions available: - Award Expert Plus - monthly 5.99/mo USD (1-week free) - yearly 49.99/yr USD (1-week free) By using this app, you agree to the standard Apple Terms of Service (EULA) https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy policy: https://sites.google.com/view/oscarexpert-predictawards/privacy

About

It's Starting!

This app helps you know the actual movie start times at theaters, factoring in preshows and trailers. It also provides ratings for auditoriums based on user feedback regarding screen quality, sound, and seating.

Highlights
  • Real preshow time estimates
  • Auditorium ratings for quality and comfort
  • User-contributed data for accuracy
  • Apple Wallet integration for ticket sharing
  • Arrival reminders
  • Post-credit scene information
Features
Read full description

Never miss the opening scene. Never settle for a bad screen. It’s Starting! is the crowdsourced movie theater intelligence platform that reveals what theaters and ticketing apps won’t: actual trailer runtimes, real feature start times, and room-by-room presentation quality, logged directly by moviegoers in the seats. Tired of sitting through 25 minutes of commercials? Want to know if an auditorium has dim projection, blown speakers, or a broken recliner before you buy a ticket? It’s Starting! takes the guesswork out of movie night. What You Get With It’s Starting! Real Feature Start Times (Plan Your Arrival) • Showtime isn’t when the movie starts. See typical trailer runways for your local multiplex so you never rush or sit through endless ads. • Live preshow countdowns give you a clear estimate of when the feature will hit the screen based on real community logs. • Know when special events, fan screenings, or indie films have shortened trailer packages. Room-by-Room Auditorium Intel • Don't rely on a single 3-star rating for an entire multiplex. Evaluate each auditorium individually before you book your seats. • Check verified presentation quality: picture brightness, sound balance, room temperature, and cleanliness. • Uncover granular seat-level warnings: spot tight legroom, sightline barriers, worn armrests, or broken recliners. • View technical hardware specs: track laser projection, 70mm and 15-perf film capability, 1.43:1 IMAX aspect ratios, and Dolby Atmos audio setups. Start a Screening Report in Seconds • Tap once when the studio logo hits to log the actual start time and help the next moviegoer. • Enjoy the movie with zero distractions: we calculate when the credits roll and prompt you to audit the screen and sound after the show. • Join a passionate community where over 75% of movie check-ins include a verified room audit. Seamless Ticket Import & Sharing • Share your ticket directly from Apple Wallet or scan a ticket image to auto-fill your movie, auditorium, showtime, and format. • Receive arrival alerts, lock-screen countdown timers, and post-movie reminders. • Check post-credit scene details before getting out of your seat. Real Accessibility & Facility Updates • See firsthand reports on wheelchair spaces, companion seating, assistive listening, and step-free access. • Stay ahead of out-of-order elevators or auditorium maintenance issues before you leave home. A Shared Record for Cinema Lovers It’s Starting! is built by moviegoers, for moviegoers. Whether you are a casual viewer planning concessions or a film purist seeking out the best laser projection in town, every log makes the theater experience better for the next person in line. Download It’s Starting! and know before you sit.

Screenshots

Award Expert4 screens
It's Starting!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Award Expert at 4.8 against It's Starting!'s 4.0. Award Expert also leads on ratings volume (251 vs 4). It's Starting!'s advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and ads (none vs shown). On price, review sentiment, 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. Award Expert sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. It's Starting! asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Award Expert holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Award Expert has 251 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 93% of Award Expert's written reviews are positive against 100% of It's Starting!'s, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Award Expert ships an update every 6 days, It's Starting! weekly. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Award Expert versus It's Starting!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAward ExpertIt's Starting!
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (251 ratings) — better4.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews92.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings251 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterWeekly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB25 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperJustin JaegerMichael Kazanjian

Customer experience

Award Expert

All ratings251 ratings
Positive95.6%
Neutral0.8%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews67 reviews
Positive92.5%
Neutral1.5%
Negative6.0%

It's Starting!

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Award Expert

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • App crashes
  • No live updates
  • Cannot access account (Twitter login removed)
  • App closes almost at random on iPad
  • Predictions not saving
Show 2 more
  • Ineligible films in selections
  • App crashes within seconds of opening

Requested features

11 requests
  • Add music award shows
  • Add casting section
  • Add stunts/choreography section
  • Create a 'personal awards pick' list separate from official predictions
  • Add a 'next' button to move to the next category
Show 6 more
  • Ability to make predictions for next year's films
  • Improve elimination of ineligible films
  • Add a search function for movies
  • Add TV award predictions
  • Notification system for new followers
  • Add 'Peaches' from the Mario movie to Original Song

It's Starting!

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Award Expert

Subscriptions6
  • Award Expert Pro - Monthly7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Award Expert Pro - Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Award Expert Pro - Monthly7 Days trial$5.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Award Expert Pro - Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • Award Expert Pro - Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Award Expert Pro - Yearly7 Days trial$49.991 Year
None

It's Starting!

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Award Expert free?
Award Expert is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is It's Starting! free?
It's Starting! is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Award Expert or It's Starting!?
Award Expert is rated higher. Award Expert averages 4.8 out of 5 from 251 ratings, while It's Starting! averages 4.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Award Expert or It's Starting! have ads?
Award Expert shows ads; It's Starting! does not.
Which is updated more often, Award Expert or It's Starting!?
Award Expert ships an update every 6 days, and It's Starting! weekly. Most recently, Award Expert was updated on October 24, 2026 and It's Starting! on October 24, 2026.

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