While more choices are better, it may become a headache to keep track of TV shows and movies across platforms. That’s more evident since many popular TV shows come with several seasons. It requires a special dedication to remember to watch a show on a particular channel and when the new season will arrive. Some online services such as Trakt offer TV and movie tracking, but the experience is best served on iOS and Android apps. We have already listed out top apps to track TV shows on Android and iOS, and in this post, we will compare two of the best apps on the market, Hobi and TV Time. The comparison covers the user interface, features, cross-platform, price, and more. Let’s jump in.
Cross-Platform Availability
It’s even here. Both Hobi and TV Time are available on iOS and Android. You can create an account on one platform and keep the data sync when switching between devices. Download Hobi for iOS Download TV Time for iOS Download Hobi for Android Download TV Time for Android
User Interface
Hobi and TV Time offer a pretty straightforward user interface. All the major options are laid out at the bottom four tabs. Hobi uses a dark theme with a gradient accent color scheme while TV Time lets you switch between white and dark themes from the Settings. Overall, I liked Hobi’s approach here. The My Shows tab shows the upcoming episodes in a nice bubble UI, and the stats tab is also better looking than TV Time’s stats page.
Discover New Shows
Let’s get one thing clear — Hobi only offers the ability to track TV shows. It doesn’t support tracking movies. TV Time provides tracking of TV shows and movies. That’s a big advantage over Hobi. Both apps offer a neat way to discover new shows through a discover tab. By default, Hobi shows trending shows, new season returning this week, new shows coming in the current month, popular shows, and more. It also categorizes the shows based on a genre like Drama, Action, Horror, Comedy, Adventure, and Food. You can also browse through shows provided by the leading cable providers such as HBO, Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, and Netflix. I expect to see Disney+ and Apple+ in the list. TV Time takes a simple approach. In the discover menu, the top section recommends the shows based on your watchlist. Rather than that, it only displays the top TV shows and movies at a time. You can use the bottom filter menu to sort out the shows based on genre, most added by others, and more. I like how TV Time displays a streaming platform on which the mentioned show is available.
TV and Movie Tracking
Both Hobi and TV Time display the added TV shows in the Watchlist menu, which opens up by default when starting the app. Hobi lets you manually check every show and season. It shows the progress bar at the bottom which indicates where you have reached in a show. My Shows tab displays the upcoming episodes of the subscribed shows with the date and also lets you watch the trailer of it. The Statistic tab is perfect for nerds. It shows the total time you have watched all the shows, categories the stats by genre, your favorite type of shows, and more. TV Time is more advanced in this regard. When you open an episode of a show, it asks you to rate it, allows you to enter your mood, asks the streaming service you used, your favorite character, and a random poll regarding that episode. If you haven’t watched an episode, then the app will provide a list of the streaming services on which the show is available. The Upcoming tab shows the next episodes with the remaining days. The Statistics page is as rich and in some ways better than Hobi. It shows the data in graph style too. You can access it from the Profile > Stats menu.
Social Sharing
Both the apps offer two different experience. Hobi lets you sync the data with Trakt service. So you can log in on the web and explore the similar community there. Besides, the app offers the basic sharing menu in every episode to quickly send the info to others. TV Time has nailed the social integration here. You can follow other users on TV Time, see their details, watching habits, and talk about a particular episode in comments. The app also shows what your followers are watching and suggests the shows in discover menu based on that. You can also view comments on a single episode from the TV Time community. It also lets you add a screenshot from the show, which is nice. You can see how TV Time is aiming to become better IMDb alternatives through superior social integration.
Price
TV Time is completely free to use. The major functions of Hobi are also free. However, you need to pay $12 as a one-time payment to access an ad-free version and unlock stats tab.
Track TV Shows in Style
Both Hobi and TV Time give multiple reasons to choose one over the other. Hobi looks better and has a functional discover menu. TV Time’s social integration and free price tag give it edge over the rival. Next up: Are you a fan of law-centric TV shows, check out the latest list from the post below.
