Showbox not working: Movie and TV streaming app down amid suggestions it's been deleted

'Connection error. Check your internet connection!'

Showbox, an app that offers a free way to watch the latest films and TV shows, appears to have broken.

And some have suggested that the mysterious app could have shut down entirely, never to return.

People trying to open the mysterious – and potentially illegal-to-use – app are simply seeing a message that the app has broken and cannot be accessed.

Instead, they see a message reading: "Connection error. Check your internet connection!"

As such, there appears to be a problem with the servers used to deliver the free, Netflix-style subscription have broken. There has been no clear suggestion whether that will be permanent or not.

Showbox could only be accessed through the company's website, where it was possible to download an "apk" file onto an Android phone and then load up the app or use it on their PC. That download is still online, but the app will not work once it is removed.

A host of other sites are offering downloads of the app, but cannot be verified. It is possible those downloads are ways of exploiting the people trying to download them and attack their phones.

Like other apps before it such as Popcorn Time, Showbox appears to be sharing videos that it does not necessarily have the rights to but presenting them in a far easier to use way than illegal downloading tools such as torrents.

Popcorn Time was shut down after intense pressure from Hollywood over its sharing of videos. But it has repeatedly popped back up at different addresses.