My Streaming Queue Was Out of Control—Here's What Saved Me

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My Streaming Queue Was Out of Control—Here's What Saved Me​

My Streaming Queue Was Out of Control—Here's What Saved Me

Keeping track of all my digital media, from movies to books, is trickier than ever. These apps help prevent can't-miss titles from slipping through the cracks.

www.pcmag.com

Richard

 

[jp10558]

Kinda an ad for the Sequel app. Personally, I think the idea that there's "can't-miss" media is wrong. There's near unlimited media for me that I have about a 30-40% interest in watching, and very little that gets above 60%. So I just let shows organically die for me - if I get somewhere where I don't care about what happens next, I end up switching to something else that's actually entertaining me more in that moment. I used to be something of a completest, but anime like Bleach and shows like NCIS broke me of that habit. You have to be something special to get me to watch 300 episodes of which half are filler, or 15 seasons - especially if actors get bored and leave and now you've not got the same characters so it's basically a different show.

Also, I think a LOT of shows us older people watched were because we had 3 choices at a time, and picked the best one of that. We had one or two stores of books and picked the best from what they had. Now we have practically unlimited content, and more new content created each hour than anyone could watch in a year, or maybe a lifetime.

The idea that people feel the need to spend $99 for a lifetime subscription to an app to track their shows, movies, books, and other media (does it do YouTube and Podcasts too?) feels a little insane to me. Almost NO ONE needs to spend more screen time, nor do they need help to get through it. When my TV watching starts to feel like work - and using a paid app to keep track sure feels that way to me - it's time to just cut a bunch of shows.

 

[Ken555]

There are reasons some want an app like this. I haven't used one before, but I've been wanting one since I will be switching accounts at several streaming services and didn't want to lose my watch list during the change.

It appears that while purchasing a license offers numerous features, the free version of this app is functional.

 

[Ken555]

The idea that people feel the need to spend $99 for a lifetime subscription to an app to track their shows, movies, books, and other media (does it do YouTube and Podcasts too?) feels a little insane to me.

I think that settles it! I've been called crazy before, but now I know it’s official. Thanks so much for sharing your candid, opinionated post!

 

[jp10558]

I think that settles it! I've been called crazy before, but now I know it’s official. Thanks so much for sharing your candid, opinionated post!

I didn't mean to call you out at all. I was more talking about paying for what is IMHO essentially a list app, and there's a million and one free ways to do this (I suppose even with the free version of that app). I just have a plain text file I sync with the name of the show and the last episode I watched, and I update it from whatever computing device I have handy. I'm sure there's plenty of reasons to want whatever other features the app has for free - I just can't currently imagine what the features could be that would make it worth paying for.

EDIT: I also think that if you're avidly consuming enough shows where you strongly want to remember what episode you're on, yet there's enough time or shows for you to forget where you are in the show - I wonder if that might be getting a little unhealthy. I mean, keeping in mind that most streaming services also helpfully remember where you were last watching etc.

 

[Brett]

Kinda an ad for the Sequel app. Personally, I think the idea that there's "can't-miss" media is wrong. There's near unlimited media for me that I have about a 30-40% interest in watching, and very little that gets above 60%. So I just let shows organically die for me - if I get somewhere where I don't care about what happens next, I end up switching to something else that's actually entertaining me more in that moment. I used to be something of a completest, but anime like Bleach and shows like NCIS broke me of that habit. You have to be something special to get me to watch 300 episodes of which half are filler, or 15 seasons - especially if actors get bored and leave and now you've not got the same characters so it's basically a different show.

Also, I think a LOT of shows us older people watched were because we had 3 choices at a time, and picked the best one of that. We had one or two stores of books and picked the best from what they had. Now we have practically unlimited content, and more new content created each hour than anyone could watch in a year, or maybe a lifetime.

The idea that people feel the need to spend $99 for a lifetime subscription to an app to track their shows, movies, books, and other media (does it do YouTube and Podcasts too?) feels a little insane to me. Almost NO ONE needs to spend more screen time, nor do they need help to get through it. When my TV watching starts to feel like work - and using a paid app to keep track sure feels that way to me - it's time to just cut a bunch of shows.

I certainly don't need a $99 app to track my streaming TV shows

 

[Eric B]

I certainly don't need a $99 app to track my streaming TV shows

For just $59, I'll send you an email every day for the next year to remind you that there's not much worth watching on TV.

 

[Ken555]

I didn't mean to call you out at all. I was more talking about paying for what is IMHO essentially a list app, and there's a million and one free ways to do this (I suppose even with the free version of that app). I just have a plain text file I sync with the name of the show and the last episode I watched, and I update it from whatever computing device I have handy. I'm sure there's plenty of reasons to want whatever other features the app has for free - I just can't currently imagine what the features could be that would make it worth paying for.

EDIT: I also think that if you're avidly consuming enough shows where you strongly want to remember what episode you're on, yet there's enough time or shows for you to forget where you are in the show - I wonder if that might be getting a little unhealthy. I mean, keeping in mind that most streaming services also helpfully remember where you were last watching etc.

Wow! You didn't mean to call me out, and then wrote that what I may be doing is unhealthy? What else do you recommend? Do tell!

 

[am1]

If only there was a service that included everything.