BUCK THE CRITICS
TV Time & Serializd Alternative That Tracks All Media
Update - July 2026: TV Time is shutting down. Parent company Whip Media is closing TV Time on July 15, 2026. After that date the app disappears from the App Store and Google Play, the website goes dark, and all account data is permanently deleted. If you’re here because your tracker is about to vanish, export your data first - TV Time has a GDPR export tool in the app - then read on. This is the migration guide.
People search for a TV Time alternative or an app like Serializd for a few different reasons, and it’s worth being clear about which one is yours. The most urgent, right now, is the one above: TV Time is closing, so for millions of users the choice isn’t optional anymore. But even setting that aside, two evergreen reasons bring people here. Sometimes the app itself has worn thin - the ads, the redesigns, the feed full of strangers. And just as often the app is fine and the scope is the problem: your shows are beautifully tracked while your movies, games and books live in exile across three other apps. This is an honest comparison for all three camps, including our own app - flagged, so you can adjust for bias.
What TV Time and Serializd actually do well
Credit first. TV Time is the best pure episode-progress tracker there is: “where was I in this show?” answered instantly, plus reminders when new episodes drop. Serializd brought Letterboxd’s diary-and-review culture to television - season and episode reviews with a proper writing community. If those are the jobs you need done, neither app is a mistake.
The complaints that send people here are just as specific. TV Time has grown ad-heavy and algorithm-driven, its movie support feels bolted on, and each redesign seems to bury the tracking under more feed - and the ultimate downside now trumps all of those: as of July 15, 2026 it’s shutting down entirely, taking your watch history with it unless you export first. Serializd is TV only, on purpose, with a public follower model - so it’s a second app, not a consolidation. And neither will ever track a game or a book.
1. Buck The Critics - best for tracking TV, movies, games and books in one app
Full disclosure: this is our app. The pitch:
Buck The Critics is an all-in-one media tracker - TV, movies, games and books, reviewed inside a private circle of friends. For the TV side of your life it answers a different question than TV Time does: not “which episode am I on?” but “what should I start next, and says who?” Recommendations come from your actual friends, weighted by how closely each one’s taste matches yours per media type. Your watchlist knows which streaming services you have and floats what’s available to the top, so Friday night starts with a shortlist instead of a scroll.
Around that: an activity feed of what your circle is watching, playing and reading; nested threads for arguing about the finale; creator pages that track how deep you are into a showrunner’s or director’s catalogue; and one-tap AI trivia and “is this for me?” overviews on any title. Free on iOS and Android.
The honest catch - two of them. First, Buck tracks and reviews shows at the series level; if minute-one-of-episode-seven progress tracking and new-episode reminders are the core job, TV Time and Trakt do that and Buck doesn’t. Second, it’s friend-powered, so the calculated scores need a few friends in your circle before they sing. Solo, you get the tracker, watchlist and AI tools - good, but not the point.
Best for: consolidating your whole media life into one app, and choosing what to watch by your friends’ taste instead of an algorithm’s.
2. Trakt - best for deep movie + TV tracking with automation
Trakt is the completionist’s option: episode-level tracking across movies and TV, with “scrobbling” from Plex, Kodi and friends so your history records itself. The stats, lists and calendar are the deepest in the category, and it’s been around long enough to trust with a decade of watch history.
The honest catch: it’s a utility with a follower-style community bolted on, a fair chunk of the best features live in the VIP subscription, and there’s nothing for games or books. If TV Time’s problem was noise, Trakt fixes it; if the problem was scope, it only half does.
Best for: power users, Plex households, and anyone who wants tracking automated rather than social.
3. Simkl - best for TV + anime + movies auto-tracking
Simkl covers TV, anime and movies with strong auto-tracking (browser and app integrations that log what you watch) and unusually good anime support - a real gap in most Western trackers.
The honest catch: the interface is busy, the community is small, and the scope still stops at screen media - no games, no books. It’s a broader TV Time, not an everything tracker.
Best for: anime watchers and auto-tracking fans.
4. If you’re TV-only: where TV Time refugees land
Worth saying plainly: if your media life really is TV-only, you don’t need everything Buck does - but with TV Time closing, you do need somewhere to go. Tired of TV Time’s feed and want to actually write about television? Serializd is the reviews-first version, and the natural home for TV Time users who came for community. Miss the episode reminders and progress bars TV Time was best at? Trakt and Simkl both do that job and aren’t going anywhere. Neither move gets you movies, games or books - but if you don’t need those, don’t install them. Whichever you pick, export your TV Time data before July 15, because after that it’s gone for good.
The quick version
Scope is the real question. TV only: with TV Time closing on July 15, Serializd covers reviews and diary, while Trakt or Simkl cover progress and reminders. TV plus movies: Trakt for automation and depth, Simkl if anime matters. Your whole shelf - TV, movies, games and books - with recommendations from friends whose taste is measurably like yours: that’s Buck The Critics, and it’s the only app on this list that does it. Full feature-by-feature table against TV Time, Serializd, Letterboxd and the rest on our homepage.
FAQ
Is there an app like TV Time that also tracks games and books? Buck The Critics tracks TV, movies, games and books in one app with friend-powered recommendations. Trakt and Simkl extend TV tracking to movies (and anime, for Simkl) but stop at screen media.
Is TV Time shutting down? Yes. TV Time is closing on July 15, 2026 - after that date the app is pulled from the App Store and Google Play, the website stops working, and all account data is permanently deleted. Export your watch history using TV Time’s in-app data tool before the 15th, then move to a tracker that’s sticking around: Serializd for TV reviews, Trakt or Simkl for episode progress, or Buck The Critics to track TV, movies, games and books together.
What is the best Serializd alternative? For TV-only with episode reminders, Trakt or Simkl (TV Time also did this, but it’s shutting down July 15). For reviewing TV alongside movies, games and books in a private friend circle, Buck The Critics.
Does Buck The Critics track individual episodes? No - Buck tracks and reviews shows at the series level, with friend-powered scores for deciding what to watch next. For episode-by-episode progress tracking, Trakt or Simkl are the better tools (and some people run one alongside Buck).
Is there a TV tracker without ads? Buck The Critics and Serializd are ad-free; Trakt limits ads for VIP subscribers. TV Time was ad-supported, but it’s shutting down on July 15, 2026.
Is Buck The Critics free? Yes, free on iOS and Android.
Your shows, movies, games and books - one app
Rated by the only critics who matter. See the full comparison, or grab it free below.