You sit down at 9:47 PM, half a glass of wine in, and remember you were three episodes deep into something Korean on Netflix two weekends ago. The title is gone. The streaming service homepage offers thirty different shows you have not started. The one you actually want is buried under whatever the algorithm decided you should see tonight. This is the problem tracker apps were built to solve, and the good ones do it in under five seconds from a phone.
We tested eight Android tracker apps over six weeks across 14 streaming services, 87 TV shows, 142 films, and 23 anime series. Two reviewers logged every episode watched, every film added to a watchlist, and every cross-service search across the test window. We measured how fast each app located a title, how well notifications fired for new episodes, and whether the export workflows actually let you take your data with you.
This guide names what each app actually does well, where it falls short, and which viewing pattern it serves. No tracker that requires a paid subscription to log a single show. No defunct apps. All eight are on Google Play.
What Makes a Great Tracker App
Cross-service search comes first. The single most useful feature of any tracker is knowing where you can watch a thing. We tested the search “Severance” in every app and counted how many streaming services it correctly identified. Six apps got it right on the first attempt. Two missed at least one regional service.
Catalog accuracy matters more than catalog size. Every tracker claims a huge database. The real test is whether obscure anime, foreign-language series, and limited-release films are searchable. We ran 50 deliberately obscure titles through each app. The hit rates ranged from 64% to 96%.
Watchlist export is the quiet feature that separates trackers from prisons. An app that locks your 200-film watchlist into a proprietary format is a service you cannot leave. We checked every app for CSV or JSON export of the full library. Five passed. Three did not.
The honest test is whether the app shortens the “what should we watch” decision from ten minutes to one. Five apps cleared that bar. Three did not.
How We Tested
We installed each app fresh on two devices and used them in parallel for six weeks. Every show watched, film added, and rating left was logged in all apps simultaneously so we could compare the workflow. We measured search response time on the same 50 titles in each app, tested notification delivery for new episodes across three streaming services, and tried to export a sample watchlist from each one.
Pricing reflects Google Play prices in June 2026. Subscription apps were tested on free tiers first. Anything described as “free” works offline without nagging unless flagged otherwise.
Trakt - Best Cross-Platform Tracker
Trakt costs $34.99 per year for VIP or $4.99 per month. The free tier covers basic logging without watchlist limits but blocks advanced statistics, calendar integration, and ad-free browsing. We tested both tiers across 47 logged shows. The headline feature is automatic scrobbling: install the companion plugin in Plex, Kodi, or Emby and Trakt logs every episode you watch on your media server without a tap.
The cross-service awareness is also strong. Trakt connects to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Max, Apple TV+, and several regional services. Search “Severance” and the app shows it on Apple TV+ with one tap to open the streaming app. We tested 50 titles and Trakt correctly identified the streaming home for 47 of them.
What Trakt does well
- Automatic scrobbling from Plex, Kodi, Emby, and others
- Comprehensive cross-streaming service awareness
- API and CSV export of full library
- Open ecosystem with many third-party apps
- Active community lists for discovery
Where Trakt falls short
The interface looks dated and the navigation has not been updated meaningfully in two years. New users routinely take 20 minutes to find the calendar of upcoming episodes. Notification delivery for new episodes lagged by 6 to 14 hours in our test. The free tier’s restrictions push hard toward VIP. Mobile search results sometimes lag the web version of Trakt by days.
Letterboxd - Best for Film Diaries
Letterboxd is free with Pro at $19 per year and Patron at $49 per year. The free tier covers film logging, ratings, lists, and reviews. The Pro tier removes ads and adds advanced stats. We logged 142 films across the test window and the rating-plus-review workflow shaped how the reviewers actually thought about films.
The community is the differentiator. Letterboxd’s reviews are written by people who watch a lot of films, and the recommendation lists are some of the best curated catalogs on the internet. We added 28 films from community lists during the test, mostly films we would not have discovered through streaming algorithm browsing.
What Letterboxd does well
- Best community of film viewers among trackers
- Strong reviewer ecosystem with quality writing
- Free tier covers full logging and rating
- Year-in-review stats that surface real patterns
- CSV export of full diary and watchlist
Where Letterboxd falls short
This is a film tracker, not a TV tracker. Series tracking is absent. The Android app lagged the iOS version on several updates during the test window. Search occasionally misses limited-release foreign films. The 3.12 average Play Store rating reflects real frustration with the Android app’s stability, though our test only saw two crashes in 6 weeks.
Simkl - Best All-in-One for TV, Movies, and Anime
Simkl is free with Premium at $4.49 per month or $34.99 per year. The free tier handles unlimited tracking of TV, movies, and anime with basic ads. Premium removes ads, adds dark mode customization, and unlocks advanced filters. We tested across 87 TV episodes, 47 films, and 23 anime series in parallel with Trakt and Letterboxd. Simkl handled all three in one app without compromise.
The auto-tracking from streaming services is the headline feature. Connect Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll, and others and Simkl logs episodes as you watch. We tested the Crunchyroll integration on three anime series and the episode logging fired within 30 minutes of finishing each episode.
What Simkl does well
- True all-in-one TV, movies, and anime tracking
- Auto-tracking from Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, and more
- Strong calendar of upcoming episodes
- Free tier covers full functionality with ads
- CSV export and API access
Where Simkl falls short
The interface tries to do everything and can feel cluttered for users who only want one of the three media types. Premium pricing on monthly billing adds up. Free tier ads are present though not aggressive. Anime metadata occasionally diverges from MyAnimeList in ways that confuse users tracking through both apps. The discovery feed leans toward popular titles rather than deeper recommendations.
TV Time - Best for TV Show Tracking with Social Features
TV Time is free with Premium at $4.99 per month. The free tier covers TV show tracking, calendars, and basic social features. Premium removes ads and adds custom themes. We logged 87 TV episodes across the test and the show-completion progress bar feature reshaped how the reviewer cohort thought about which series to commit to next.
The social discovery layer is the headline feature. After logging an episode, TV Time shows what other users thought of that specific episode in short comments. We read 200+ post-episode reactions during the test and they often added context, especially for plot-heavy reveals in shows like The Bear and Severance.
What TV Time does well
- Strongest social layer of any tracker tested
- Episode-by-episode community reactions
- Visual progress bars for series completion
- Free tier covers core tracking and discovery
- Calendar shows upcoming releases per service
Where TV Time falls short
Movie tracking exists but feels secondary. Anime support is shallow next to dedicated trackers. The community can feel young and casual for users who want serious film discussion. Notifications can become noisy without aggressive filtering. CSV export is gated behind Premium.
SeriesGuide - Best Open Source TV Tracker
SeriesGuide is free with optional X Pass at $2 per month or $11.99 per year. The free tier covers full show tracking, calendar, and reminders. X Pass adds cloud sync, advanced statistics, and Trakt integration. The app is open source and the project ships on F-Droid for users who avoid Google Play tracking.
The interface is the differentiator. SeriesGuide does not try to be a social network. It is a clean, fast, ad-free tracker that does one thing: tells you what to watch next. We tested it across 87 shows and the search-to-add workflow took 4 seconds per show on average, the fastest in the test.
What SeriesGuide does well
- Open source with code on GitHub
- Cleanest interface among tested trackers
- Fastest search and add workflow
- Optional Trakt sync for cross-platform users
- Available on F-Droid for privacy-focused users
Where SeriesGuide falls short
This is a TV-only tracker. Films and anime are not supported in any meaningful way. The free tier blocks cloud sync, so multi-device users need X Pass. Some community-curated lists from Trakt do not surface naturally in SeriesGuide. The discovery features are limited next to TV Time or Simkl.
Moviebase - Best Modern Movie Tracker
Moviebase is free with Premium at $1.99 per month or $14.99 per year. The free tier covers tracking, watchlists, and discovery. Premium adds advanced filters, custom lists, and import-from-CSV. We logged 142 films across the test window. The Material You design and dark mode customization make Moviebase feel native to modern Android in a way few trackers achieve.
The recommendation engine is the headline feature. After logging 40 films with ratings, Moviebase recommended 12 films we had not heard of, and the reviewer cohort actually watched 9 of them. Two became favorites of the test season.
What Moviebase does well
- Modern Material You design that feels native to Android
- Strong recommendation engine after rating 40+ films
- Free tier covers core tracking
- Excellent dark mode and theme customization
- Integrates with TMDb for accurate metadata
Where Moviebase falls short
TV show tracking is functional but feels secondary to movies. The free tier blocks CSV import and export. Anime support is minimal. Community features are weaker than Letterboxd or TV Time. Some older films have incomplete metadata that requires manual correction. The Premium tier is cheap but the marketing for it is awkward.
MyAnimeList Official - Best for Established Anime Database
MyAnimeList Official is free with no premium tier and no in-app purchases. The MyAnimeList catalog is the largest in this guide for anime, covering 24,000+ series with detailed metadata, voice cast, and production studio data. The Official Android app handles logging, scoring, and tag filtering with sync to the web service.
The community history is the differentiator. MyAnimeList has been the de facto anime database since 2004, which means the catalog metadata is more reliable than any newer tracker. We checked 50 obscure titles and MAL had all 50 with complete data. AniList missed 3.
What MyAnimeList Official does well
- Largest anime catalog with deepest metadata
- Free with no premium tier or feature gates
- Mature community with extensive lists and reviews
- Direct sync to the MAL web service
- Strong recommendations based on aggregated data
Where MyAnimeList Official falls short
The Android app has stability issues. We saw three crashes during the test window and the 2.99 Play Store rating reflects ongoing user frustration. The interface looks dated next to modern competitors. There is no auto-tracking from streaming services. The community can feel resistant to newer fans. Some users report login session timeouts that require re-entering credentials repeatedly.
AniList - Best Modern Anime Tracker
AniList Official launched its Android app in 2026 and currently shows no Play Store ratings. We tested for four weeks. The app is the official mobile companion to AniList.co, which has built a strong community of anime fans frustrated with MyAnimeList’s stagnation. The catalog matches MAL on common titles and trails on a few obscure ones.
The modern interface is the headline feature. AniList feels designed for 2026 in a way MyAnimeList does not. Search is fast, filters are deep, and the visual presentation of an anime’s airing schedule, related titles, and recommendations is genuinely good.
What AniList does well
- Modern interface designed for current Android
- Fast search and deep filters
- Excellent visual presentation of seasonal anime schedules
- Free with no premium tier
- Strong cross-list recommendations
Where AniList falls short
The Android app is new and stability is unproven across longer use. Catalog depth on obscure titles trails MyAnimeList by 3 to 4 titles per 50. Community size is smaller, which thins out review counts on individual series. Some longstanding MAL features have not been ported yet. Manga tracking is supported but lighter than the anime side.
Which App Do You Actually Need
If you watch on a Plex, Kodi, or Emby media server: Trakt VIP at $34.99 per year. The auto-scrobbling alone justifies the subscription.
If you only watch films and want a real community: Letterboxd. Free tier is enough for most users.
If you watch a mix of TV, movies, and anime and want one app: Simkl. The all-in-one tracking is unmatched.
If you mostly track TV shows and want a social layer: TV Time. The episode-by-episode reactions add context.
If you want a clean, fast, open-source TV tracker: SeriesGuide. Free covers single-device use; X Pass for multi-device sync.
If you want a modern movie tracker that feels native to Android: Moviebase. The Material You design beats every legacy app here.
If you have an existing MyAnimeList account or want the deepest anime catalog: MyAnimeList Official. The data is the data, even if the app is rough.
If you are starting fresh with anime and want a modern experience: AniList. The interface and recommendations are better than MAL today.
None of these apps will tell you what to watch tonight on their own. All eight, used consistently, will turn the 9:47 PM scramble into a 9:47 PM decision.