I’ve previously balanced using corporate tracking platforms like TV Time, Letterboxd, or Trakt against keeping simple, manual records in local tools like Apple Notes or customized Notion tables. Corporate aggregate platforms offer massive global catalog networks and deep user statistics, but they lock those features behind heavily ad-supported layouts, require persistent account tracking, and constantly push annoying social interaction feeds into your screen.
Conversely, maintaining a manual text list in a notes application guarantees absolute data privacy and zero software cost, but it strips away all technical automation—leaving you to manually research where a movie is streaming every Friday night and completely missing out on real-time premiere alerts.
ReelStack carves out a highly compelling, minimalist alternative lane: it serves as a hyper-focused iOS media dashboard that delivers automated release intelligence and streaming routing without the platform bloat, surveillance capitalism, or monthly subscription fees of mainstream tracking utilities.
The Single-Payment Paradigm: Investing in standalone utility tools that store data locally keeps your digital footprint lightweight and completely isolates your personal viewing habits from third-party advertising brokers.
How does it actually know when a new season drops on something like Max or Apple TV+ since neither really exposes that through any public API I've come across?
@mkoramaz32336 Good question. The show and season data comes from TMDB, which is a big community-maintained movie and TV database. When a streaming service announces a new season and a date gets logged there, ReelStack picks it up and notifies you.
So it's not a direct feed from Max or Apple TV+ themselves. It's that once a season has an announced premiere date, the app sees it and pings you. For popular shows that tends to happen quickly. For smaller or more niche shows it can depend on when the date gets announced and added.
The app re-checks in the background so if a date gets added or changed later, you still get caught up.
no-login is the right call for something this simple, but it makes me want to ask the boring question - if I lose my phone or switch to a new one, does the list survive? even just an iCloud-backed local store would do it, but I'd want to know before paying that the list isn't tied to one device forever
@galdayan Great question. iCloud syncing will be enabled in a couple weeks. I have the implementation plans locked and loaded. I'm holding off on the update for a couple weeks to hear initial feedback from others that I might include. Look out for the 1.1 version.
I'm also planning to include an iPad version after the iCloud syncing is enabled so folks can see their one list on either device.
@michael_kort makes sense, holding off to fold in early feedback rather than shipping and patching twice is the right call. I'll wait for the 1.1 announcement, would rather test iCloud sync once than deal with a half-baked version
The no-login, one-time-price setup sounds refreshingly sane, and the cross-service tracking is genuinely useful. One thing that would seal the deal for me is adding a way to mark shows as dropped or finished, so old finished series dont clog up the list forever, maybe with a separate watchlist and history view.
@asiyeenisoczbn Appreciate this. Good news on part of it: finished shows already have a home. When you mark something as Watched it moves out of your Watching list into a separate Watched tab, so old series don't pile up. Watchlist for stuff you want to get to and Watched for your history are already their own tabs, so that separation is there today.
There's also a nice bit tied to the season alerts: when a show you've marked Watched gets a new season, ReelStack automatically moves it back into Watching so it resurfaces in your queue. So finished shows stay out of the way until there's actually a reason to bring them back.
The one part that isn't in yet is a proper "dropped" status for shows you gave up on, as its own thing rather than deleting them or marking them watched. That's a genuinely good idea and I'm putting it on the list. Thanks for the feedback.
Love the no-subscription angle and the unified tracking across all those services. One thing that would seal it for me: let me filter or tag by mood or genre so I can pull something quick when I have 30 minutes and no idea what to watch, instead of just staring at a flat list of titles.
@niyaziktayvflx Really appreciate this. Right now each of your lists can be filtered by streaming service, so you can narrow to just what's on Netflix or Max. Genre isn't a filter option yet, but here's the thing: every show in your library already stores its genres under the hood, so adding genre filtering is a natural next step rather than a big rebuild. It's high on my list.
The "I have 30 minutes and no clue what to watch" framing is a great way to put it. Something that pulls up a quick pick that fits, by genre or even runtime, beats staring at a flat list. I'm writing this one down. Thanks for the feedback.
Quick update for anyone following ReelStack.
iCloud sync is done and heading to the App Store. Your watchlist now stays in step across your devices, still with no account and no login. A few people mentioned they were holding off until this existed, so it felt worth saying out loud.
Also in the same update: browse Trending by genre, recent searches, and a faster way to mark something done straight from your watchlist.
Still on the list from the feedback here: a "dropped" status for shows you gave up on partway, and genre filtering inside your own library. Both are real, both are coming, neither made this release.
Thanks for the notes after launch. They shaped what got built.
Big update for anyone following ReelStack. A lot has shipped since 1.4, and some of it came straight from the comments here.
You asked for a Dropped status. It is in, along with On Hold. You asked for genre filtering in your own library. That arrived in the latest update.
What else is new:
My services. Tell it which streaming services you have, once, and every title says "on Netflix" or "you'd need Hulu".
Continue. What you are partway through, with the next episode and a play button, right at the top.
Pick for me. One answer, from what you saved, on a service you have.
Stats, free for everyone. Hours watched, shows finished, and a year of watching as an activity grid.
Custom lists, and For You recommendations built from what you rate.
Share to ReelStack from IMDb, Netflix or Apple TV, and Siri that knows your library.
A Home Screen and Lock Screen widget that shows tonight's episodes, free for everyone.
Still no account, no ads and no subscription. Your first eight titles are free, then it is $4.99 once. iPhone and iPad.
Thank you for the feedback that shaped all of this. What should come next?