There are apps you install because you need them, and then there are apps that quietly become part of your routine without you even noticing. For me, TV Time was one of those apps.
I think I joined sometime around 2015, and looking back, it’s probably one of the oldest apps that managed to survive on my phone. That’s saying a lot because I’m constantly installing new apps, trying them for a few weeks, and deleting them. TV Time somehow stayed.
More Than Just a Tracker
Every time I finished an episode, I’d automatically open the app before doing anything else. Not to mark it as watched, that only took a second, but to read what everyone else thought. Sometimes people loved the episode, sometimes they completely hated it, and sometimes I’d accidentally spoil the next episode because I scrolled just a little too far. It happened more times than I’d like to admit, but somehow that became part of the experience.
What made TV Time special for me was never the tracking itself. Plenty of apps can tell you what episode you’re on. It was the community that made it feel alive. It felt like a place where TV show nerds gathered after every episode to celebrate, argue, complain, or make jokes. Even if the comments weren’t particularly useful, they made watching shows feel like a shared experience.
The Stats I Actually Miss
Then there were the statistics. I loved them. Seeing how many days, months, and eventually years I’d spent watching TV shows was both impressive and slightly concerning. It was one of those completely useless statistics that somehow felt important. I still remember taking screenshots and sending them to friends just to compare who had wasted more time watching shows.
When Things Started to Change
I didn’t stop using TV Time because it was shutting down. I had already left about a year or two earlier. Not because I wanted something different, but because it slowly stopped feeling like the app I remembered.
Everything became slower, loading took longer, and sometimes it felt like the app was fighting me just to mark an episode as watched. It wasn’t one major problem. It was dozens of small annoyances that slowly added up until using the app simply wasn’t enjoyable anymore.
Looking for a New Home
When I stopped using TV Time, I didn’t immediately find another app to replace it.
For a long time, I didn’t really have a tracking app anymore. I’d install something, use it for a few weeks, then move on when I found something that annoyed me.
I tried more tracking apps than I can remember. Some looked better than TV Time, some were faster, and some had more features, but none of them ever felt right. Every app seemed to solve one problem while creating another, so I never really settled on one.
Eventually, while scrolling through Threads, I came across a post from the developer of Showline. The app was still in beta, so I decided to give it a try.
I ended up sticking with it. When Showline officially launched, everyone who had joined the beta received a lifetime Premium membership, and I happened to be one of them.
Today, Showline has both a free and a Premium version. Even though I have lifetime Premium, I honestly think the free version is enough for most people.
It isn’t perfect, and there are still things I miss from TV Time, especially the community. but after years of jumping between different apps, it’s the one that has stayed installed on my phone.
What I Still Miss
Even after switching, there are still things I miss about TV Time.
Showline is the app that stayed on my phone, but TV Time had something that no tracker I’ve tried has managed to recreate: the community.
Reading people’s reactions after every episode became part of watching the show itself. Sometimes the comments were insightful, sometimes hilarious, and sometimes they spoiled the next episode because someone couldn’t keep it to themselves.
I still haven’t found another app that captures that feeling.
Side Note
This isn’t sponsored. I don’t know the developer, and I’m not getting anything for writing this.
I simply wanted to share what worked for me after trying dozens of tracking apps.
