From TV Time to Trakt

Carrie and I watch a lot of shows, from major network programs to those on various streaming services. It can be difficult to remember where certain shows are available or where we left off in a particular series. To help with that, I started using an app to track the shows and movies we watch.

The app was called TV Time. I'm not exactly sure when I started using it. The service launched around 2011, but I think I began using it sometime in 2014 or 2015. For years, I used it to keep track of the shows and movies I watched. Unfortunately, in early July, TV Time shut down. The company behind the site and app decided it was no longer worth keeping the service running.

I searched around for a similar app to help track shows. Over the years, I had tried several alternatives but never found one I liked as much as TV Time, so I stuck with it. With TV Time gone, I had to move on and find something else. I landed on Trakt, which offers both a website and an app. I've been using it for a few weeks now, and I'm enjoying it.

Trakt is free if you manually enter the shows and movies you want to track. They also offer integrations with services such as Apple TV and Netflix, but those features require a paid subscription. Naturally, I started with the free option before deciding to see how the automatic tracking worked. The VIP subscription costs $5.99 per month and includes features such as automatic tracking and calendar feeds for upcoming shows and movies. So far, I like it. It makes it very easy to keep track of shows across multiple streaming services.

For shows we watch through YouTube TV, such as those on NBC, CBS, and other networks, I still manually mark them as watched. That process has been working well for me.

You might be wondering why an app is needed to track shows in the first place. As I mentioned, we watch a number of different shows and subscribe to several streaming services. Many times, we can't remember where we watched a particular show, especially when a new season arrives a year or two later. In the past, I would open TV Time to see where a show was streaming and then go directly to that service to start the new season.

Trakt offers a similar experience. When I receive an email or calendar notification about a returning show, I can click through and quickly find where it's available. From there, I can mark it as currently watching or watched. It's a simple process and works really well.

Before long, the regular network television season will be starting up again, so I'm glad I found a new place to track everything. One thing I appreciated was how easy Trakt made the migration process. I was able to transfer my watch history from TV Time without much effort. That meant I didn't lose 10 to 15 years of viewing history, which was nice.

I know I wasn't very consistent about tracking movies in TV Time. I got better about it over the past few years, but I still missed quite a few. With Trakt, I'm trying to do a better job of recording all the movies we watch, especially those that aren't part of a streaming service. It's nice to have a record of what we've watched and to be able to add notes that I can refer back to later.

I'm not sure if I'll continue with the VIP subscription long term, but for now, I'm enjoying the process and the information it provides about the shows and movies we've watched.

Until next time, have a great rest of your Sunday and a wonderful week!

Coming Back to Gaming After All These Years

I am going to write about something that is not necessarily new to me, but something I had not done in a long time. I grew up with the Atari game console when I was little. In 2002 or 2003, I got back into gaming after not having played for years and spent a few years playing games on the PlayStation. After that, I went through a long stretch where I did not play games much at all.

Well, this past week, for some reason, I felt the urge to play games again. We have been using an Apple TV as our primary device for entertainment, and I knew it could support a PlayStation game controller. Over the years of having the Apple TV, I have played a few games here and there, but it was never ideal using the Apple remote. Because of that, I decided to buy a game controller specifically for the Apple TV. It arrived this past week, and I have been playing games each day since.

It is amazing to see the graphics in the games I am playing now compared to what I experienced growing up with Atari and even later with the PlayStation. My favorite games to play are sports games, and the first one I tried with the controller was PGA Golf. I also enjoy action role‑playing games, so I downloaded a few of those and have been spending time playing them as well.

I had forgotten how quickly time can fly when playing games. Granted, I am still learning the controller and how it works with the Apple TV, but there have already been a few times when I completely lost track of time. Before I knew it, it was past my bedtime and I was still playing. It has been a lot of fun, but I realize I will need to set a timer to make sure I do not play too late.

Through this process, I also realized that I can use the Steam app on my computer and play games from my Mac on the Apple TV using the controller. I am still working through this setup and have downloaded a few free games, but nothing too exciting yet. My home Mac does not have a lot of storage space, so I need to try out each game to decide whether to keep it or remove it to make room for something else.

For now, I am enjoying a renewed appreciation for gaming consoles and the ability to use a game controller with the Apple TV. I am sure there will be more games for me to download, learn, and test as I continue this process. I look forward to improving my skills and continuing to learn along the way.

Until next time, I hope you have a great rest of your weekend and a wonderful week ahead. This was a slightly different post for me, but I wanted to share my refreshed enjoyment of gaming and learning something new.