Suggest a Feature

[ssss]

Apple TV keeps track of you shows.

My problem is,  I watch multiple shows on multiple channels   I don't always remember where I am in a show and whether it's on Netflix,  Prime, Hulu, Roku channel etc.

Please create a feature on ROKU or an APP that lets me see where my shows are and where I am in them. Plus, how many episodes/season are left AND if new episodes or season are available of coming soon!

This is the digital age and having to keep a notepad by the TV to write down my shows is the opposite of progress.

[Tim_Hare]

Do you use the Roku app on the phone for your remote, or do you use the remote that came with the device?

Basically, you are asking for a "meta-" app that would have to use an API (Application Programming Interface) provided by each company,  IF they supply one,  to request information about what you've watched,  and combine them all into a guide based on shows, rather than channels.  It would be an interesting challenge but I'm not sure all of the data is available to an app

[DnR]

True, but like the OP points out: the Apple TV app does this (mostly, as it doesn’t track Netflix). Google’s updated interface also tracks episodes across apps now, too, and even includes YoutubeTV — a bonus that I doubt they’d extend to their competitors any time soon (though I hope I’m wrong on that since my household uses YouTubeTV as our main cable replacement). 

[BJB]

We really need Roku to do something like this. It would be great!

BJB

[dlerman]

Until Roku does there are phone and tablet apps which are superior to the spreadsheet I used to use. We've been using TVTime {Android but probably for iIS as well) on my phone. It requires you to check a box once you've watched an episode, but once you've identified all of the shows you watch it want to watch, it's easy enough to stay current. The program listings in TVTime include brief episode descriptions, original are date and run length. We've managed to add every show we watch or might want to watch, including some very old one. We have no cable or over the air reception, so everything we watch is streamed via Wi-Fi and our trusty Roku box from 2014.

[BJB]

Thanks for posting this, guess I will have to check it out.  I REALLY WISH Roku would do this.  I love my Rokus.....but Apple users apparently have something like this to use and we do not.

And over on this thread (in detail)

My Feed 

...is why "my feed" just does not work for current shows you are watching that are already out (vs. what is coming out). Also some good reasons as to why this feature is really needed.

BJB

[BJB]

@dlerman I just had to post another thank you!  TVTime is outstanding and does exactly what Roku needs to do.

A bit manual but worth it.

BJB

[wesolee]

There is an App called Watchaid for Apple TV that does this. So it is possible. It uses deep linking. Works with all popular streaming services including a lot of obscure things like EpixNow and Paramount+.

[Tim_Hare]

I think everyone bringing up that Apple TV doesn't do anything other than point out that a competitor does it.  The internal infrastructures for the two systems are different, and probably, as with the iPhone, Apple has more control over theirs by being more restrictive in what their partners can do; the two systems of course have different application programming interfaces (APIs) and without doing a deep dive, technologically, I'm betting that Roku channel developers have more freedom than Apple's - which means that right now that the ways of keeping track of what you watched  on any particular channel on Roku may be different,  making such a tracking application way more difficult.  Maybe this discussion would be more productive if we focused on exactly what we want such an application to do,  which would then inform what needs to be in the RokuOS to enable such a thing, and in turn inform all of the channel developers of the way to do it.

[dlerman]

If all we want is the ability to track what we watch outside of Roku, as opposed to Roku keeping track for us, then there are numerous Android and iOS apps which allow one to do that. TV Time is one such. It requires the user to mark which episodes or movies he or she has watched, something which requires a small amount of effort on the user's part, but it's leaps and bounds superior to the spreadsheet I used to employ to do this. Once you've chosen a series you want to follow, you simply tick off watched episodes of that series. Not quite the automated process that some might wish for but pretty good. TV Time even lists future episodes and airtimes. The database behind the app contains information on an enormous number of TV series, past and present. I've tried several similar apps and TV Time is the best I've found. BTW I have no connection to TV TIme or its developers.