While we all love the freedom an abundance of streaming services provides, there is nothing worse than endless scrolling on a Friday night. A new service called JustWatch wants to fix that.
Having so many TV shows and movies available can make picking just one difficult (too much choice is a phenomenon actively being studied by psychologists today).
Multiple subscriptions give us more flexibility, but don’t really solve the problem – why isn’t there just one place to find something great to stream this weekend?
To solve this problem, a new wave of apps promises to sort out what’s available to you and deliver top picks based on your preferences. One of the most popular is JustWatch.
What is JustWatch?
JW is a single app that catalogs everything available to you based on your active subscriptions.
Search for television programs and movies and it will identify whether they are available to you and how much it would cost to rent or buy otherwise.
Its major claim for functionality is that it “learns” your watching habits and tastes. That allows the app to begin catering to you.
How does it work?
Begin by accessing via your internet browser and creating a login. Then, tell it which streaming services you’re subscribed to.
Next, download the app on the devices you stream on. JustWatch is available on:
- Amazon FireTV
- Android TV
- Apple TV
- Roku
- LG
- Samsung
- Xbox
Once downloaded, the service serves as a single app to access content across multiple platforms like Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, and more. Over time, the app will make suggestions based on the kinds of TV shows and movies you prefer.
How much does JustWatch cost?
JustWatch has a free and premium version. The free version gives you just about everything feature-wise, but it is ad supported. While most apps have incredibly annoying ads, JustWatch does a good job building them into the experience — the ads are typically trailers for movies it thinks you’ll like.
Note: The free version also has fewer search parameters.
JustWatch Pro is your next step up, coming in at a reasonable $2.49 per month. For that, you get improved search functionality (like the ability to browse by the production company or IMDb fan rating) and ad-free viewing.
Is JustWatch worth a try?
Having multiple streaming services is a blessing and a curse. While more options are great in theory, they can end up ruining movie night. Who enjoys the hour or more wasted every Friday looking for something you might like?
JustWatch does a good job of solving this problem.
And yet, at the end of the day, you still have an enormous list to filter through. Sure, they build a taste profile and learn your preferences over time, but every streaming service already does that. There is still something missing.
Still, the free version of JustWatch seems well worth a try if you have problems picking what to stream next, but it may be a few years away from revolutionizing the entertainment experience without widespread distribution.
Final thoughts
JustWatch’s objective is admirable and the experience is unique and enjoyable; fingers crossed we see some type of industry standardization that JustWatch hopes to accomplish in the coming years.
Are you a JustWatch user? Tell us about your experience below.
Related: Likewise: The Only Recommendation App You Need?