RunPee app keeps you regular at the movies

RunPee Urinals

We are in the prime time of summer blockbuster movie season. As we head into the deep of summer, many more movies are headed our way. The worst part about going to the theater is high ticket prices. At a solid $10+ per ticket, make sure you see every important minute of the story, because missing anything is a costly and unfortunate mistake.

The trouble comes when you drank too much of that giant Coke they upsold for $.50 extra to get the grande two-handed version with bottomless refills, that you never really get anyway. In fact, you are using two straws just to make sure you drink it all before the ice waters down the flavor. After watching a solid 15 minutes of previews, you get a sinking feeling. Yes, that’s it. Your giant Coke is working its way through your system. Quickly checking your watch, you realize there are at least two hours between you, the movie, and the bathroom.

The sounds of waterfalls and rivers in the last trailer make it difficult to wait, but the movie might start before you can run to the bathroom and back. Rest assured, because you downloaded RunPee before heading to the movies and it’s going to tell you when you can head to the john and relieve yourself…

Wait, what? Peetimes?

This is one of the best apps ever invented. Okay, it is not the best looking app, quite far from the best looking, actually. However, the content is priceless. It is a travesty this app has not received attention from the blogosphere and I hope this article gives RunPee the overflow action it deserves.

Dan Florio, with whom I have chatted several times over the past months, is the dev behind the app and it is quite a down home family operation. He and his family members go to all major movie releases every single weekend. Stop watches and note pads in hand, they set out for different viewings of that weekend’s hits and take notes, so you can enjoy each film. Using the data collected, RunPee is populated with the notes, plot synopses, and timers to help you, that guy with the small bladder.

RunPee peetimer

At the core, it is a simple app. Step 1, find your movie in the list, sorted by release date, alphabetical order, or search by keyword. Step 2, read the summary of “peetimes,” which are the suggested bathroom breaks. Step 3, start the timer at the instructed time. Step 4, enjoy the movie!

As the timer gets to a peetime, according to user defined settings, your phone vibrates at the two minute mark, one minute mark, and the third time is the peetime. Well, theoretically. Unfortunately during testing, there is currently a bug that sometimes prevents vibrations at the one and two minute markers and only alerts you at the actual peetime. Not the best bug to have, considering the sole purpose of the app is to alert your bathroom nagging bladder it is okay to take the dash.

If you have to go, get up and run for the bathroom, pulling out your iPhone in the process. The team has painstakingly recreated the scenes and plot line for you to read while running down the hallway. Whether you read the plot summary in the bathroom is a personal decision. In fact, according to the WSJ, most smartphones are contaminated with bathroom born germs. All the while, there is another timer that displays your total peetime and counts down the remaining time you have to get back into the theater.  Genius.

Additionally, RunPee will pull in information from IMDb, scores from RottenTomatoes, and lets you connect with Facebook and Twitter.

RunPee Movie Summary

Conclusion

At $.99, it is possibly one of your best movie going investments. You could upgrade to the large, all you can drink jumbo Coke, or spend your dollar more wisely. Make sure you do not miss any of the action, violence, love, plot twists, or scandals using the RunPee app.

As I mentioned earlier, it is not the best looking app. A very rudimentary UI will prevent this app from winning any design awards. The navigation is a little choppy too. All in all, not the best app all around. However, it still vibrates for the peetime, which is the point, regardless of the two and one minute warning bug. Sure it could look better and navigate better, the vibration warning should work better, but the information, peetimes, and plot summary cannot be improved. They are spot on. In fact, Apple listed it as a must-have summer movie app a month ago. If you want a full look, visit the walkthrough on the RunPee homepage.

A big pat on the back goes to Dan and his team of movie loving family members for giving up their weekends. The content in this app is extremely difficult to obtain and it only gets there because of the hours spent at the theater. In light of the negative comments, Dan does development work on his own. I imagine it is difficult to spend much time programming when you are at the movies each weekend. In fact, we have a bunch of devs that read the site. If you want to help the cause, contact RunPee directly. I am sure they would appreciate the feedback.

What are your thoughts on RunPee? Did anyone try it out or will you next time you head to the theaters?

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