Hollywood Pocket offered early iPhone owners a straightforward attraction: watch a complete classic film through the browser. Our October 1, 2008 listing described a free web app for streaming public-domain movies and highlighted Wi-Fi viewing. The page credited Bretagne Production International and linked to hollywoodpocket.com.
Cinema through Safari
Readers were directed to open the website in Safari on an iPhone or iPod touch. Hollywood Pocket appeared in the site’s Music & Video category, with an explicit Web App label. That identifies the original service as a browser destination, rather than a similarly named modern App Store application.
Its promise centered on full films. For someone interested in older cinema, the attraction was having a viewing destination available on the phone itself. The original description’s public-domain wording explains how the collection was presented; it did not include a complete title-by-title catalogue.
Part of the early web-app era
Browser-based software was part of Apple’s original plan for third-party iPhone applications. Its June 2007 announcement described applications built with web standards, distributed over the internet and updated on their developers’ servers. Hollywood Pocket illustrates the entertainment side of that approach: a small website could offer an experience shaped around the iPhone’s screen and browser.
Browse our Apps section for more iPhone software coverage.
Archive note: This account reconstructs the historical service from the cited sources and retains its October 1, 2008 publication date. Current service availability and video playback have not been verified.