It’s time for another Mini Meme and with this one, we invite you to stop, take a good long look in the mirror and ask yourself: What’s the point of paying for access to hundreds of thousands of award-winning movies if you’re just going to rewatch the same five every few months?
Or maybe you’re always on the lookout for new movies but can never remember the title when you find one or which service holds the rights to air it that month.
Never forget a favourite flick (or accidentally rewatch a lame one) again: these film-tracking apps will help you keep on top of your viewing.
IMDb
If you enjoy watching movies with dozens of strangers (while sitting among their popcorn shards), IMDb lets you dig into what’s on and local showtimes. Beyond that, you can explore upcoming cinematic treats, build a watchlist, and terrify your eyes with an endless stream of movie news clips. The app also attempts to provide streaming info but is rubbish at that, so use something else instead.
Free /Android, iOS
TV Time
When you already know what you’d like to watch, try TV Time: just search for a flick and add it to your list. Unreleased movies then lurk in the Upcoming tab, accompanied by a handy countdown, while available items appear in the Watch List (select an item to see which streaming service it’s on). The app’s good for TV shows
too, making it ideal if you want an all-in-one tracking solution.
Free /Android, iOS
Letterboxd
A social network where everyone thinks they’re Barry Ronge? Terrifying. If you disagree, this app lets you browse films, add them to lists, and grump about them at length by way of reviews. Or you can be a normal human and just use it as a personal film diary and foolproof way to avoid rewatching the Matrix sequels ever again, having suitably rated them all one out of five.
Free /Android, iOS
JustWatch
These days, knowing when a movie is on the TV is largely irrelevant, what with on-demand streaming. How you can actually watch it? That’s trickier. But tell JustWatch the services you can access (paid and free) and it’ll spit out lists of new and popular releases that you can bookmark and track. And if you need a reminder, select a movie’s page and you’ll discover where it’s available to stream, rent or buy.
Free /Android, iOS
Showly
In case those other apps sound like hard work, Showly strips movie tracking right back. Add films to My Movies and you can browse them by various criteria; lob those you’re really keen on at your Watchlist; under Progress, prod a chunky tick button when you’ve watched something; and in Collection, dig into the stats view to see exactly how much time you wasted on that Police Academy all-nighter.
Free or from R8 (IAP) / Android
Movie Tracker
This app doesn’t quite echo developer Simone Montalto’s other Trackers in letting you scan in physical items. But it does give you a way to track collections of shiny discs by way of custom tags – and there’s a notes field for jotting down who has your precious Blade Runner box set. Beyond that, this is the slickest tracker around, with a gorgeous interface and excellent lists system.
R30/m, R200/yr, or R640 (IAP) / iOS