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Popular Show Tracking App TV Time Shutting Down on July 15
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Lab34
macrumors member
Hi, this is what I did, after reading your post (thank you) and after reading this french youtuber website https://korben.info/remplacer-tv-time-alternatives-suivi-series.html
I've registered to SIMKL and SofaTime.
Importing TvTime into SIMKL is currently restricted to vip members due to overload.
So, I've used the SofaTime import functionality.
For this, we need this Chrome extension https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/tv-time-out-by-refract/pmejpdpjbkjklfceogdkolmgclldogbi (eventually in a temporary browser.)
I've logged in to TvTime and export as zipped json using the extension.
I airdrop the zip on my iphone and import the zip into SofaTime.
After that I've Synced Sofa to Simkl
I will try both and choose...
LFO8
macrumors 6502
Aha.. I see. It's all the way down in the bottom. And only one line of horizontal scrolling (unless on the TV app on the phone)... ughhh.. that UX needs work, a lot of work. Don't understand why Apple is making it impossible for us to just have a 'history' section in the left menu pane on TV that we can click into and that then utilizes the whole screen area.
I was confused by this, because I have a “TV Time” app with a different icon that did not appear to be the one discussed here.
TV Time, the popular show and movie tracking app, is shutting down on July 15, with all personal user data set to be deleted after that date.
In a support page update announcing the news, the company admitted that it was "no longer sustainable to continue operating the service as a free app," and said that there was "not enough demand for a paid app."
Come the shutdown date, the TV Time app will be removed from both the App Store and Google Play, and the tvtime.com website will go offline permanently.
Users who want to preserve their viewing history and tracked data can request an export through the app's GDPR self-service tool before the July 15 cutoff. The company says all personal user data will be deleted after that date, but it may retain aggregated, non-personal data for business or legal purposes.
TV Time has operated for more than a decade, and over that period it built a dedicated community around episode tracking, watchlists, and user ratings. In the wake of the closure announcement, users on the Resetera forums have suggested alternatives like Trakt, Serializd, and Simkl – although the latter's servers have reportedly struggled under a sudden wave of new sign-ups.
Article Link: Popular Show Tracking App TV Time Shutting Down on July 15
Turns out that I’ve been using (and quite happy with) l a very similar app, “Television Time” - whose name is abbreviated in Springboard to “TV Time”!
App Store link
sjsharksfan12
macrumors 68030
I think the thing I will miss about TV time (And the other apps I've seen doesn't really have a feature like this) is the comment section that actually was clean and cool for the most part. I just watched the season premiere of Silo and I loved it, but I don't know how anyone else felt. It feels like a part of the excitement of watching a TV show (It was like a digital watercooler) is missing.
heuretyk
macrumors newbie
Founder of TasteRay here, so bias declared. Two practical notes and one suggestion.
Export first, app later: the official tool at gdpr.tvtime.com is overloaded - exports hang, logins fail. Re-submitting the request restarts a stuck job, and the TV Time Out / TV Time Liberator browser extensions grab your library client-side without the queue. Whatever you pick, get the file now; after July 15 there is nothing left to get.
If you want a straight tracker replacement, the recs in this thread are solid - Sequel and Sofa Time are lovely on iOS, Trakt if you live in the Plex/Infuse ecosystem.
TasteRay is for a different job: upload your TV Time export and we build a taste profile out of it, the patterns behind what you finished vs. dropped; then daily what-to-watch-tonight picks, including which of your streaming services actually has them. Free import, no caps, movies + TV, iOS/Android/web. Fair warning: series-level only, no episode checkboxes - if that's your core loop, Trakt genuinely is the better home. Happy to share the link if that's okay here; if anyone tries it with a big library, I'd love the feedback.
Export first, app later: the official tool at gdpr.tvtime.com is overloaded - exports hang, logins fail. Re-submitting the request restarts a stuck job, and the TV Time Out / TV Time Liberator browser extensions grab your library client-side without the queue. Whatever you pick, get the file now; after July 15 there is nothing left to get.
If you want a straight tracker replacement, the recs in this thread are solid - Sequel and Sofa Time are lovely on iOS, Trakt if you live in the Plex/Infuse ecosystem.
TasteRay is for a different job: upload your TV Time export and we build a taste profile out of it, the patterns behind what you finished vs. dropped; then daily what-to-watch-tonight picks, including which of your streaming services actually has them. Free import, no caps, movies + TV, iOS/Android/web. Fair warning: series-level only, no episode checkboxes - if that's your core loop, Trakt genuinely is the better home. Happy to share the link if that's okay here; if anyone tries it with a big library, I'd love the feedback.
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heuretyk
macrumors newbie
That database-gap thing is real and weirdly underdiscussed - a tracker is only as good as its catalog. We hit the same wall building TasteRay (I'm the founder, posted above), which is why we match everything against TMDB; movies and TV in one place. If Trakt keeps missing your stuff, I'd be genuinely curious whether we cover it: tasteray.com/tv-time - upload your export and you'll see exactly what matched and what didn't. Free, and the unmatched list is visible, not silently dropped.
heuretyk
macrumors newbie
The "digital watercooler" is the one thing none of the trackers replaced. Trakt and Simkl are great databases, but nobody's there at 11pm when the finale just wrecked you. It's actually the gap we leaned into at TasteRay: you can just talk about the episode with Ray (our AI) right after watching, dissect the ending, figure out what to watch next because of it. Not the same as memes from strangers, I'll be honest, but it's somebody who's seen it, instantly. Anyway, whatever you land on: export before the 15th.
zarmanto
macrumors 65816
With all due respect... to me, that whole paradigm just feels unsettling. AI can be handy for a lot of things, but I have no interest at all in using it as a substitute for human interaction, particularly wherein anything even remotely emotional is concerned.
Tried it a while back, deleted. Just re-downloaded it. Again, I still don't understand it's purpose over trakt?
sjsharksfan12
macrumors 68030
I was trying Sequel last night and I didn't like the widget options. Showline provides much better widgets, so that was the one I ended up going with.
heuretyk
macrumors newbie
Fair pushback, and I actually agree with the core of it: AI is a lousy substitute for human connection, and I would not want to live in a world where it replaces the post-finale call to a friend.
But let's be precise about what it is actually substituting. The realistic alternative at 11pm is not a warm human conversation. It is scrolling three subreddits, a Discord and two movie databases, reading forty hot takes to maybe pick one title. The tools we already accept are just tedium with extra steps.
And even when you do invest that half hour, they optimize for a single dimension: taste. What to watch tonight also depends on the moment - who is on the couch, how your day went, how much attention you have left. No database handles that, so you end up watching whatever Netflix autoplays anyway, mildly annoyed. That is not cinephilia, that is the paradox of choice with a subscription fee.
This is exactly where a well-built AI product has a huge edge: it can actually learn those dimensions, not just what you like, but what you reach for after a rough day versus a lazy Sunday, without charging you an evening of research for it.
So no, Ray is not a friend substitute. It is a substitute for the scrolling. The film is still the emotional part, and whoever you talk about it with afterwards, I genuinely hope it is a human.
LFO8
macrumors 6502
So SIMKL is free to use I see. What do they do with your data? I can’t find any TOS documentation on their website.
Lab34
macrumors member
Hi, personally, I don't care, I give them an email that I use only for those kind of service.
A little thing that bother me is that the actor profile is under a paywall. But fortunately, you can click on Search on Google, and it's a good alternative.
Same boat here — lost years of history when it shut down. Ended up building my own replacement out of frustration, mostly because nothing quite did the "tell me when it's back" thing simply enough. Happy to share if anyone's curious.