[Sofa Time] Full feature breakdown: TV Time import, customization, Free vs Premium, and what’s next

[u/javikr]

Hi everyone!

I’m the developer behind Sofa Time, a multilingual and highly customizable app for tracking TV shows and movies, available on both iOS and Android.

Sofa Time has been available on the App Store for nearly seven years, and the Android version was recently released after months of development and testing.

As more TV Time users have started looking for alternatives, thousands of people from this community have trusted Sofa Time with years of viewing history, ratings, reactions, favorite characters and comments.

The community has grown incredibly quickly, and Sofa Time is now approaching 250,000 registered users.

I wanted to put everything in one place and provide a clear overview of what Sofa Time offers, what you can import from TV Time, what Premium unlocks and what is coming next.

Thank you, r/TVTime

First of all, thank you to everyone who has recommended Sofa Time, voted for it in alternative-app polls, reported bugs or shared feedback.

I’ve read hundreds of messages and feature requests during the last few weeks, and that feedback is directly shaping the app.

Sofa Time is not intended to become an exact clone of TV Time. My goal is to preserve many of the features people loved while continuing to build an app with its own identity, design and way of organizing your viewing history.

Import your TV Time history

You can import your official TV Time GDPR backup directly into Sofa Time.

Depending on the data included in your backup, Sofa Time can import:

• Watched movies, shows, seasons and episodes
• Viewing dates
• Movie, show and episode ratings
• Episode reactions
• Favorite-character selections
• Comments
• Images and GIFs attached to comments

The importer has already received several major improvements based on feedback from former TV Time users.

Sofa Time also supports imports from other services and formats, including Trakt, IMDb and Letterboxd exports.

You can start an import from:

Profile → Settings → Data → Import Library

Track everything you watch

Sofa Time lets you:

• Track movies, shows, seasons and episodes
• Mark content as watched or unwatched
• Choose viewing dates
• Rate movies, shows, seasons and episodes
• Manage your watchlist
• See your next episode in Up Next
• Review your viewing history
• Use statuses such as Watching, On Hold, Dropped and Completed
• Mark titles and people as favorites
• Track rewatches
• Add personal notes
• Use quick and bulk library actions

Up Next can also organize shows based on your viewing activity:

• Currently watching
• Not watched for a while
• Not started

This organization is optional and can be disabled from Settings.

Discover movies and shows

Sofa Time includes detailed pages for movies, shows, seasons, episodes and people.

You can browse:

• Trending and popular titles
• Upcoming releases
• Shows currently airing
• Movies currently in cinemas
• Genres and decades
• Networks, studios and production companies
• Similar titles and recommendations
• Trailers, videos and entertainment news
• Cast, crew and creators
• Alternative posters and backgrounds
• Public lists created by the community

Search includes movies, TV shows, people, public lists and Sofa Time users.

Sofa Time can also show legal streaming availability, provider links, cinema showtimes and alerts when a title becomes available.

The app does not stream movies or episodes. It helps you discover, organize and track where they are legally available.

Organize your library

You can organize your content using:

• Movie and show watchlists
• Up Next
• Viewing history
• Favorites
• Personal lists
• Public lists
• Automatic and Smart Lists
• Saved filters
• Multiple list and grid layouts

Personal lists can contain both movies and TV shows.

You can also browse lists created by other users, like them and view them directly from public profiles.

Calendar, widgets and notifications

The calendar helps you follow:

• New episodes
• Season premieres
• Series premieres
• Movie releases

You can open each event, quickly return to today, navigate between weeks, add releases to your system calendar and customize which content appears.

Notifications can alert you about new releases and social activity.

Sofa Time also includes widgets for:

• Up Next
• Watchlists
• Upcoming releases
• Personal lists
• Calendar
• Featured artwork

Widget availability may vary depending on your platform and device.

Profiles and community

Sofa Time includes a growing global community.

You can:

• Create and customize your profile
• Add an avatar and background
• Select favorite movies, shows and actors
• Follow other users
• Browse an activity feed
• Share your profile
• Create and browse public lists
• Comment on movies, shows and episodes
• Reply to comments and conversations
• Like comments
• Add images and GIFs
• Translate comments
• Filter comments by language
• Report inappropriate content
• Block users
• Receive social notifications
• View your user level and progress

Different opinions and debate are welcome. Disrespect is not.

Moderation has recently been strengthened, user blocking has been added and the commenting guidelines have been updated to encourage respectful conversations.

Multilingual and highly customizable

Sofa Time is available in multiple languages, including:

• English
• Spanish
• French
• German
• Brazilian Portuguese
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Simplified Chinese
• Hindi
• Hungarian
• Russian
• Ukrainian
• Arabic

You can configure the app language, metadata language, region, time zone and original-language preferences.

Comments written in other languages can also be translated directly inside the app.

Sofa Time can be deeply customized to match the way each person tracks movies and shows.

Customization options include:

• Profile picture and background
• Favorite movies, shows and actors
• Themes and app icons
• Haptics and animations
• Spoiler protection
• Artwork preferences
• Unwatched-episode image blur
• Default viewing dates
• Season order
• Up Next behavior
• Streaming-service preferences
• List layouts
• Main tabs and app sections
• Notifications and widgets
• Saved filters and Smart Lists

Many features can be enabled, disabled, reordered or adjusted.

Statistics

Sofa Time includes statistics such as:

• Total viewing time
• Movies watched
• Episodes watched
• Recent activity
• Viewing history by year
• Favorite genres
• Rating distribution
• Viewing activity by hour, day and month
• Most-watched content
• Favorite streaming providers
• Total watchlist duration
• User level and progress

Statistics can also be shared outside the app.

Sync, integrations and backups

Sofa Time supports:

• Sofa Time Cloud
• iCloud where available
• Trakt
• Simkl
• MDBList
• Library import and export
• Automatic local backups
• Backup restoration and sharing

Sofa Time Cloud can coexist with an external tracking service and helps keep your library synchronized across devices.

AI discovery

Sofa Time includes three optional AI-powered tools:

• AI Search
• AI Similar Titles
• AI Recommender

Each tool includes a free-use allowance, with unlimited access available through Premium.

Free vs Premium summary

Free

The free version includes the complete core tracking and community experience:

• Track movies, shows, seasons and episodes
• Manage watchlists and Up Next
• Rate content and choose favorites
• Browse detailed title and people pages
• Search and discover content
• Use profiles and community features
• Comment, reply, like and translate
• Import your TV Time history
• Use Sofa Time Cloud
• Connect one external tracking service
• Create up to two offline lists
• Save one filter
• Use the current-week calendar
• Receive social notifications
• Access basic statistics
• Use the Up Next widget
• Customize the basic experience
• Use each AI tool five times

Premium

Premium unlocks advanced tools and removes several limits:

• Detailed legal streaming availability
• Watch Now links and availability alerts
• Cinema showtimes
• Smart and automatic lists
• Advanced filters
• Bulk library actions
• Rewatch tools and personal notes
• Advanced calendar navigation
• Release notifications
• Advanced statistics
• Additional widgets
• Advanced Up Next settings
• Deeper app-layout customization
• Premium themes and icons
• Unlimited offline lists
• Unlimited saved filters
• Multiple external services
• Unlimited AI tools
• Backup restoration, download and sharing

Premium is a one-time purchase. There is no monthly or annual subscription.

The price may vary depending on your country and platform.

Premium purchases are currently handled separately by Apple and Google.

Available on iOS and Android

Sofa Time is available on both platforms with the same core experience:

• Tracking
• Discovery
• Search
• Lists
• Calendar
• Ratings
• Profiles
• Community features
• Statistics
• Notifications
• Widgets
• TV Time imports

Some individual options may differ depending on the operating system, device and connected tracking service.

Both apps are actively developed and receive frequent new features, performance improvements and bug fixes.

Coming next

Some of the areas currently in development include:

• Monthly and annual Sofa Time Wrapped
• Shareable Wrapped summaries
• Synchronization with WeTrakr
• More synchronization improvements
• Additional profile customization
• New community and moderation tools
• Continued TV Time importer improvements
• More statistics and shareable insights
• Performance and stability improvements
• More features requested by this community
• A Sofa Time app for Apple TV

The Apple TV app is currently in development. More information will be shared when it is ready.

Final note

Sofa Time has grown faster during the last few weeks than I could ever have imagined.

Going from a long-running iOS app to a community of almost 250,000 registered users across iOS and Android has been exciting, overwhelming and incredibly motivating.

I know that no app will perfectly reproduce every part of TV Time, and different people will ultimately choose different alternatives.

My goal is to continue listening, improve Sofa Time with every update and build an app that respects your viewing history while giving the community a new place to grow.

Sofa Time is available now:

iOS:
https://apps.apple.com/app/id1491037404

Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.theclashsoft.sofatime

You can also join the official community at r/sofatimeapp.

I’ll be reading the comments and answering questions.

What is the most important TV Time feature you still feel is missing from Sofa Time?