FAQ

New-showtime alerts tell you when a theatre adds showings that weren't on the schedule before. They're the least obvious thing SeatDrop does, because you never set one up — they come free with the seat alerts you already have.

What's the difference between a seat alert and a new-showtime alert?

A seat alert watches one specific showing. You pick the seats, and SeatDrop tells you when one of them frees up.

A new-showtime alert watches the schedule instead of the seats. Whenever you're monitoring seats for a movie, SeatDrop also keeps an eye out for brand-new showings of that same movie at that same theatre — showings that didn't exist when you set your alert up. When one appears, you hear about it, and you can set up seat monitoring on the new time if you want it.

There's nothing to switch on and nothing to configure. Every seat alert you hold at an AMC theatre gets this automatically. New-showtime alerts are currently AMC only, and they're delivered by push notification.

Will I hear about showtimes on other dates?

Yes — any date, not just the date you're monitoring. This is the most common misunderstanding.

If you're monitoring seats for a Friday showing, and the theatre later adds showings for the following Tuesday, that's a new showtime and you'll hear about it. SeatDrop looks roughly a month and a half ahead at your theatre.

It also watches further out than that at busier theatres. When a theatre opens up a far-future block all at once — an advance IMAX run going on sale months early, say — SeatDrop notices and sweeps the newly opened stretch of calendar.

What does the notification look like?

The heading carries the date and the film; the body leads with the theatre, then lists each new showing.

• 🎬 New Jul 23 showtimes: Speed Racer — AMC Kips Bay 15 · Jul 23 • 3:45 PM • IMAX · Jul 23 • 10:15 PM • IMAX

Why did four new showings arrive as one notification?

Because they were all on the same day. New showings are grouped by date: everything added for one day arrives as a single notification listing all of it.

New showings across three different days arrive as three notifications, one per day. That keeps a theatre loading a fresh week of schedule from turning into a burst of pushes.

I'm monitoring a standard showing — will I hear about a new IMAX one?

No. New-showtime alerts match the format you're already monitoring. An alert on an IMAX showing hears about new IMAX showings; an alert on a standard showing hears about new standard ones.

That's deliberate — if you specifically want IMAX, a notification about a new standard showing isn't useful. If you want to hear about every format, monitor a showtime in each one.