Inception: App Edition isn't an iPhone app. It's a "fully-loaded, connected viewing experience" according to studio Warner Bros, which has just brought its Oscar-nominated film to Apple's App Store, along with Batman flick The Dark Knight.

Get beyond the corporate flim-flam, though, and the apps are genuinely intriguing. Both went live on the App Store this morning, and offer the whole movies along with bonus content and social features. The apps are free to download, but then charge one-off in-app payments to unlock the actual films, which can be downloaded to the app or streamed.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Warner Bros' App Editions is their price. The studio is charging £11.49 in-app for Inception, and £5.99 for The Dark Knight. That compares to £9.99 and £6.99 respectively for the video-only versions of the films on Apple's iTunes Store, so Inception is cheaper as a video, but The Dark Knight is cheaper as an app.

The apps have been launched in more than 30 countries, with Warner Bros keen to point out that some of those – China, Brazil and the Netherlands, for example – have not previously sold movies through Apple's iTunes Store. For now, the apps are iOS only.

Releasing two movies-as-apps might seem like an experiment, but Warner Bros is pitching it as the start of a wider rollout. "In 2011, Warner Bros will release a full slate of App Editions including new release and catalog films," says Thomas Gewecke, president of the studio's Digital Distribution division.

The advantage of using apps as a distribution mechanism for movies is the ability to wrap DVD-style extras and interactivity around them. The Dark Knight includes a trivia game, a soundboard and art gallery, while Inception bundles in five music tracks from composer Hans Zimmer. Both apps tap into social networks too, allowing fans to post quotes on Twitter and Facebook, while seeing a feed of what people are saying about the films.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Warner Bros' App Editions is their price. Warner Bros is undercutting itself, with Inception costing £5.99 through its app, but £9.99 as a more traditional video download from Apple's iTunes Store. The gap for The Dark Knight is less – its iTunes version costs £6.99 – but still noticeable.

The biggest selling point for the apps is likely to be the streaming feature. The iTunes version of The Dark Knight takes up 1.67GB of space on an iPhone or iPad, while the App Edition is a mere 18.9MB. For people who don't want to watch the films offline, the fact that the apps are cheaper and don't clog up their device is likely to be extremely appealing.

• This article was amended on 18 February 2011. An earlier version of this story stated that the in-app price for Inception was £5.99. It is in fact £11.49.