The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Trakt is the best single iPhone app for most serious movie-and-TV tracking because it combines watchlists, watched history, episode progress, calendars, notifications, recommendations, imports and statistics. Choose JustWatch instead if your main question is where a title streams, Letterboxd if you primarily log and discuss films, or Reelgood for broad streaming-service browsing. A two-app setup is often better than forcing one service to do everything.
What “tracking” should include
Apps use “watchlist” to describe very different products. Before choosing one, separate the jobs you actually need:
- Watchlist: save titles and filter them by genre, service, release date or status.
- Watched history: record films, seasons, episodes, dates and rewatches.
- Progress: identify the next unwatched episode and handle paused, dropped or incomplete shows.
- Availability: distinguish subscription streaming from free-with-ads, rental and purchase options.
- Notifications: receive episode-airing or streaming-arrival alerts.
- Discovery: use recommendations, ratings, trailers, lists and friends’ activity.
- Portability: import an existing library and understand whether your data can be exported or deleted.
- Statistics and privacy: review viewing totals while considering accounts, advertising, trackers and offline operation.
A film usually needs a watchlist, watched date, rating, rewatch history and availability. Television adds seasons, individual episodes, specials, hiatuses and a next-episode state. An app can therefore be excellent for films while being mediocre for TV.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Movies | TV episodes | Watchlist | Watched history | Streaming availability | Notifications | Imports | Free/paid signal | Main drawback |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trakt | Detailed movie and TV tracking | Yes | Yes, episode-level | Yes | Yes | Links powered through JustWatch | Episode and calendar alerts | IMDb, Plex, Letterboxd and TV Time | Free app; US App Store showed VIP purchases of $5.99 and $59.99 on August 16, 2026 | More complex and account-dependent |
| JustWatch | Finding where to watch | Yes | Basic tracking focus | Yes | Less detailed | Subscription, free, rental and purchase options | Provider and release discovery | Not stated | Free download advertised | Not a full viewing diary |
| Letterboxd | Film logging and social discovery | Excellent | Not its core strength | Yes | Film diary and statistics | Paid-member filters and alerts | Film availability alerts | Not stated | Free membership plus paid tiers | Weak fit for episode-level TV tracking |
| Reelgood | Browsing existing streaming services | Yes | Yes, with service tracking | Yes | Tracking offered, consistency varies | Claims more than 90 services | New-episode and movie alerts | Not stated | Free download; current subscription price not verified | Catalog and date accuracy vary by region and provider |
| Up Next | Private, minimalist library | Yes | Next-episode focus | Yes | Yes | Not its primary purpose | Countdowns and notifications | Letterboxd, Trakt, IMDb and Cinephile | Developer listing describes no account, ads or third-party trackers | Newer product; longevity and catalog depth need verification |
“Best” here means best fit for the stated job, not the highest App Store star rating. Ratings do not establish metadata accuracy, export quality, privacy or large-library performance.
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#1 Best Overall
Best overall: Trakt
Trakt is the strongest one-app choice when you want a serious record of both films and television. Its [US App Store listing](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/trakt-tv-time-to-watch/id1514873602) describes watched history, watchlists, custom lists, ratings, recommendations, social activity, an Up Next view, a personal calendar, episode-air notifications, statistics and imports from IMDb, Plex, Letterboxd and TV Time. It also links to providers through a JustWatch partnership.
Why it works for television
You can mark individual episodes, seasons or shows, see what comes next, preserve a history and receive calendar or episode notifications. That hierarchy is much more useful for a weekly series, a long-running show or a rewatch than a simple “watched” checkbox.
Where it is less convenient
Trakt exposes many lists, social features and settings, so casual users may find it busier than a basic library. Important functions can also depend on an account or VIP plan. The US App Store page checked August 16, 2026 showed the app as free, VIP in-app purchases of $5.99 and $59.99, and an iPhone requirement of iOS 18.6 or later. The listing does not establish whether those prices are monthly, annual, introductory, regional or legacy offers; confirm the subscription screen before buying.
Best for finding where a title streams: JustWatch
Use [JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/apps) when your first question is “Where can I watch this?” Select your services, then browse new releases, popular titles, price drops and provider catalogs. Results can separate included subscriptions from free-with-ads viewing, rentals and purchases.
Rank #2
- Moleskine Passion Film and TV Journal: This structured notebook features 3 tabbed sections with customizable pages for you to curate your watchlist, as well places to record key info, ratings, and reviews
- Passion Planner: This hardcover journal helps you plan and document your film and tv viewing; Comes in a decorative box with and the intro pages include film festival listings, a glossary, and cinema history
- Gift Quality Notebooks: Moleskine hard or softcover journals, and notebooks come in colors like black, red, blue, green, and brown; Durable binding and cover for daily journaling, writing, and sketching
- Deluxe Pages: The thick, ivory paper pages in our hardcover notebook, softcover notebook, cahier or volant journal, or planner are perfectly textured for writing with a ballpoint pen, fountain pen, or pencil
- Moleskine Quality: We're dedicated to culture, travel, memory, imagination, and personal identity, both physical and digital; We bring this commitment to our notebooks, bags, apps, and smart pens and notebooks
What it does not replace
JustWatch is better understood as a streaming guide with tracking features than as a detailed personal journal. Readers who need rewatch dates, episode-by-episode history, sophisticated statistics or a social viewing record will usually want Trakt or another tracker alongside it.
Availability is country-specific and can differ by subscription tier, advertising plan, video quality and whether a title is included, rentable or purchasable. Catalogs change, and a notification is not a guarantee that the provider has updated at the exact moment a title arrives. Open the provider link and confirm inside the streaming service before subscribing or renting.
Best for movie logging and discussion: Letterboxd
[Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/apps/) is the best fit for a film-first viewer who wants a diary, ratings, reviews, lists, annual statistics and a large film community. It is particularly good at recording what you watched and why you liked it, rather than simply telling you which service has it.
Streaming alerts require paid membership
Paid members can filter by favorite streaming services and receive alerts when watchlisted films become available. Letterboxd explains that these alerts use JustWatch data and may lag by up to 24 hours; they do not warn you in advance that a film is leaving a service. Details are documented in its [paid-feature page](https://letterboxd.com/about/pro-apps/) and [streaming-alert FAQ](https://letterboxd.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/15178655699471-Can-I-get-notified-when-films-in-my-watchlist-are-ready-to-watch).
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- Movie Themed Cover Design: this movie journal log book features a classic black cover with film reel and vintage projector graphics, paired with [MOVIE JOURNAL/LOGBOOK] text for a retro cinema feel; The design works as both a practical movie log book and a desk decoration for movie lovers who enjoy tracking their film watching history at home or in a home theater room
- Ready to Use Movie Journal Set: this movie lovers gift comes with a black ballpoint pen included, so you can start writing right after opening the box with no extra tools needed; Simply open the package, pick up the pen, and begin your first movie review entry; This movie review journal makes a convenient gift choice for film enthusiasts who value simplicity and want to capture their thoughts without any setup time
- Large Capacity with Portable Size: this movie log book offers 200 pages (100 sheets) of recording space, enough to log hundreds of films over weeks or months; The size of 9 x 6 inches (22 x 15 cm) provides ample writing room while still fitting easily into a backpack or handbag; This movie journal log book becomes your mobile film archive that travels with you to the cinema or stays on your desk for nightly writing sessions
- Multi Dimensional Recording Templates: inside this movie critic notebook, the inner pages include multi dimensional evaluation options with a star rating column; You can select film genre, choose viewing experience, and rate performances, music, cinematography, costumes, and props; This structured movie review journal helps you quickly review what you watched, clearly organize your viewing preferences, and build your own personalized movie guide page by page
- Growing Value Gift for Film Fans: this movie log grows in value as it fills with memories of hundreds of films, from classic movies watched for the first time to new releases seen with friends; Each page becomes a unique marker of time spent watching and enjoying cinema; The value of this movie lovers gift increases with use, turning into a companion that becomes more precious over time; An ideal present for birthdays, holidays, or any special occasion
Letterboxd should not be presented as a full Trakt replacement for viewers who need season completion, next-episode tracking, TV calendars or detailed television history.
Best streaming-service browser: Reelgood
[Reelgood’s US App Store listing](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/reelgood-streaming-guide/id1031391869) describes provider filters, tracking, new-episode and movie alerts, free-to-watch discovery, ratings, trailers, cast information and curated collections. It claims coverage of more than 90 streaming services; that is a changing marketing and catalog claim, not an independent audit.
App Store reviews include reports of crashes, slow performance, lost sign-ins, tracking that does not display consistently, incorrect episode dates and seasons being added instead of individual episodes. These are user reports rather than verified defects, but they justify checking a provider’s own page when a date or alert matters.
Best private or minimalist option: Up Next
[Up Next](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/up-next-tv-time-movies/id6786803491) presents itself as a local-first tracker for films and television, with offline use, iCloud sync, next-episode tracking, release countdowns, widgets, Live Activities, Dynamic Island support and imports from Letterboxd, Trakt, IMDb and Cinephile. Its developer listing says it has no account, ads or third-party trackers.
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Useful two-app combinations
Trakt plus JustWatch
Trakt keeps episode history, calendars, lists, ratings and statistics; JustWatch handles provider availability and rental or purchase discovery. This is the most capable combination for a power user, but it can create duplicate watchlists and mismatched watched states.
Letterboxd plus Trakt
Use Letterboxd for film diaries, reviews and community conversation, and Trakt for television progress and calendars. You will maintain two accounts and may need to import or update overlapping film history.
JustWatch plus Letterboxd
This pairing suits film fans who want accurate service discovery from JustWatch and richer logging from Letterboxd without adopting a full TV-tracking workflow.
How to choose
- Mainly need to know where a title streams: choose JustWatch.
- Need episode-level history, a calendar and broad statistics: choose Trakt.
- Mostly log, rate and discuss films: choose Letterboxd.
- Want to browse several existing subscriptions in one place: try Reelgood, while verifying important dates with the provider.
- Want a private, low-friction library: consider Up Next after checking its catalog and migration options.
Checks to make before migrating a large library
- Confirm whether imports preserve ratings, dates, rewatches and episode progress, rather than only matching titles.
- Look for export, deletion and account-recovery controls. Complete export behavior for the leading apps is not verified here.
- Test remakes, duplicate titles, anthology episodes and television specials.
- Check performance with hundreds or thousands of entries and whether search supports year, actor and exact episode.
- Review notification controls, region selection, widgets, iPad, Mac and Apple TV support, accessibility and offline behavior.
- Separate the tracker’s price from the separate subscription, rental or purchase cost for the content it lists. No tracking app grants access to every service it displays.
Important limitations
Region and changing catalogs
A US result is not universal. Services, seasons, subscription tiers and prices vary by country and can change without notice. A film, series and individual episode may each have different availability.
Release dates
Regional launch times, weekly versus batch releases, specials outside the main season and schedule changes can produce conflicting dates. Select the correct region and services, and verify an unusual or high-priority release with the network or provider.
Privacy and social friction
Comments, public ratings and activity feeds can improve discovery but add spoilers, notification noise and profile requirements. If you want a private record, prioritize account controls, data practices and local or offline behavior rather than social reach.
Bottom line
Choose Trakt as the best single app for comprehensive movie-and-TV tracking. Choose JustWatch when availability is the central problem, and Letterboxd when film logging and discussion matter most. Add a second app only when the benefit of richer availability or film-community features outweighs the duplicated watchlists and maintenance.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
