The Best Sites and Apps to Track Your Books, Movies, Music, and Video Games
In 2024, I made the call the same way I have since 2011: by setting an annual reading goal on Goodreads. I don’t read as much as I used to—blame the kids, the loss of my daily commute, the emotional toll of a global pandemic, etc.—but I still want to set myself a bar to clear, even if it’s a lot lower than before (I’m aiming for 35 books this year, which may or may not seem like a lot, but keep in mind that I’m counting the books I read aloud to my child).
A few years ago, writer Rachel Siji in the Guardian pondered the question of why so many of us frequent sites like Goodreads and Letterboxd to log our media consumption, and gave an answer that, in retrospect, seems obvious: dopamine .
Yes, the same addictive brain chemicals that make our neurons fire every time our phones light up with a notification make us mark our progress in the books we read or assign a star rating to every movie we watch or track. the hours we spent playing a particularly addictive video game. Or (and this is where things get a little tricky) make lists of all the things we want—or feel like we “should”—read, watch, or play.
It’s worth wondering (as Sigi does) whether it’s useful to “gamify” what is essentially a leisure activity in this way, and as a hardcore media journalist, I admit that I sometimes feel a sense of fatigue when contemplating long lists of all the media outlets. that I want to consume but that I will probably never get around to. Unless I find a way to live forever and also give up work and family responsibilities. But I’m also not going to stop doing it. Even before technology introduced methods to make this task easier, I would occasionally keep lists of, say, movies I watched with my then-girlfriend, now-wife. Like scrolling through photos on my phone, just seeing the title of a movie on this list brought back memories of where we were when we watched it, or conversations we had afterward. Much of everyday life is ephemeral; Keeping notes on a given day—even if it’s something as inconsequential as finally watching Weekend at Bernie’s (a surprisingly weird movie)—can give you an anchor to cling to. So, with all that pompous nonsense aside, here are some of the best sites and apps to help you start tracking your media habits: books, movies, video games, and music.
The Best Apps to Record Your Reading
Goodreads is by far the most widely used book tracking tool, but there are alternatives if you don’t want to hand over even more of your data to corporate owner Amazon.
Goodreads. You know this. Goodreads has been around for two decades, and since its acquisition by Amazon in 2013, the site has amassed nearly 90 million readers eager to catalog what they’re reading and provide status updates on what they’re reading. In many ways, it set the standard for similar social cataloging apps, allowing you to display your books on different shelves, write and read reviews, friend and follow other users, create lists of recommendations, and more. It’s not perfect—the UX hasn’t changed much since the site’s inception, the design is cluttered and unintuitive, and the mobile app is incredibly slow—but you’re probably using it anyway.
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Use Goodreads on the web or download the mobile app for Android or iOS .
Library. Founded in 2005, a year before Goodreads, LibraryThing has always been that site’s slightly more bombastic and serious competitor. It originally operated through a paid subscription but has since moved to a free model, but still strives to deliver the goods without flooding you with ads. While it offers many of the same social features as Goodreads, it’s definitely more focused on the serious business of tracking and cataloging your own reading.
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Use LibraryThing on the web or download the Android or iOS app.
Other options to consider: Libib , BookSloth and The Storygraph.
The best apps to record movies you’ve watched
When it comes to tracking your movies, there is a clear winner (which is also one of my favorite sites on the internet). Mailbox. This app- and web-based movie tracking social network has amassed a user base of over 20 million movie lovers, and for good reason: It’s incredibly easy to search for and log every movie (and, more recently, a growing number of TV shows). ) that you’ve ever seen, add viewing dates (I recently found a stack of old ticket stubs and wrote down some movies I saw in the theater 15 years ago), write reviews, and follow other users. You can create lists based on any esoteric, hyper-specific qualifier you can think of . There’s also a view that shows the posters of every movie you’ve launched on one screen, which is very handy. ( Stop and say hi! )
SIMCL. This lesser-known competitor to Letterboxd shares many of the site’s features and strengths, but with one big bonus: its database also includes a ton of TV series and anime (until recently, Letterboxd avoided television altogether, with the exception of a few “event” miniseries like like WandaVision ). You can mark an entire series as watched or keep track of which episodes you’ve seen and how many you have left, making it much easier to manage the glut of streaming series you’re trying and failing to stay up to date with. But the coolest feature is a Chrome extension that integrates with your streaming service’s viewing history , allowing you to log your viewing history to SIMKL without even leaving Netflix.
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Use SIMKL online or download the Android or iOS app.
Another option worth considering: Trakt (originally designed to track your TV consumption, it can also be used to track your movies and, like Simkl, integrate with your Smart TV, phone or computer to automatically log media)
Best Sites to Register Your Video Games
There doesn’t seem to be a viable alternative to video games like Letterboxd or Goodreads—and while I’ll look at comparable options to those services below, none have achieved the same level of awareness. Perhaps it’s because…
Your system will probably do this for you. On most modern consoles, the need to register your games is obsolete as they already keep track of what you play and when, although you may have to dig around in the system menus to find this. The Nintendo Switch, for example, tracks the games played by each user profile, but if you want really detailed information, including exactly how long a specific game was played on a specific day, you’ll need to download the corresponding file. Nintendo Switch Parental Controls App . Here’s how to find out the number of hours played in each game on PlayStation 5 and Xbox .
However, if you need a more comprehensive record than just the amount of time spent on a particular title, you’ll be better off using a separate service.
Lag . Backloggd is the closest thing I’ve found to “Letterboxd for video games” (hence probably the name). Currently only available online (though an app is reportedly in development ), the site allows you to catalog games as completed (along with whether you’ve “mastered” them or “abandoned” them, or some other options), pending ( that is, you have them but haven’t played them yet), games you’re currently playing, or add games to your wishlist. You can log “playthroughs” (the dates you actually played the game), view games you’ve marked as completed, and view and follow other users’ profile pages if you choose. The site is constantly adding new features, but it already offers almost everything I’m looking for.
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Get started with Backloggd online (no app version).
Grovey . This site seems to be inspired by Goodreads. You can mark games as played, currently playing, deferred, or wishlisted; write (and read) reviews; and note the dates of games played. What sets this site apart is the ability to add status updates for ongoing games, which is nice if you want to keep track of when you’ve beaten a certain level, boss, or anything else.
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Get started with Grouvee online (app version not available).
Board game “Geek” . If you’re a gamer but love board games, you need to know about Board Game Geek. It is one of the largest and most respected online board game communities. The site allows you to rate the games you play, read reviews from others, and find new games to play. Each game’s page provides statistics, such as how difficult it is to learn and how to do so. It may take a long time to complete a round.
Other options worth considering: GG , Completionator (which allows you to import your Steam library), and HowLongToBeat .
The best app to record your favorite music
As with video games, the music logging infrastructure isn’t as reliable—again, likely because services like Spotify and Amazon Music mostly track it for you. However, there is at least one social network for music lovers that is worth taking a look at.
Last fm . If you want an easy way to collect and keep track of all the music you stream, Last.fm is a great choice. The app integrates with most major streaming services (including YouTube, Spotify, and Pandora, although you’ll have to go through extra hoops to use it with Amazon Music or Apple Music) to log everything you listen to and when. With desktop and mobile apps, you can view your listening history, track what your friends are streaming, and access weekly and yearly roundups (who needs Spotify Wrapped?).
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Get started with Last.fm on the web or download the mobile (Android, iOS ) or desktop app (sorry Windows users, the desktop app is only available for Mac).
Music board. Musicboard bills itself as “a social platform that allows you to keep track of all the music you listen to and develop your passion for music with friends,” and of course it does that. You can use it to create a profile, track the albums and songs you’ve listened to, write reviews, and follow other users. There are great tools to show off your listening history, track upcoming releases, and (if you’re willing to pay $3.99 a month for a paid subscription) view super-detailed stats about your listening habits.
Discogs . More of a tool to help you manage your personal music collection than a real-time tracking app or social app – although the site does have community forums as well as editorial content designed to help you discover new music – this long-running site is nonetheless is a great way to keep track of all your physical and digital music. Once you’ve created your account, you can start building your collection – and you’ll be able to add not just, say, a specific album, but the exact version of the album you own, so you can keep track of all the colorful versions you’ve accumulated Taylor Swift vinyl releases. The site’s layout prioritizes an abundance of information over ease of use, so it may seem a little overwhelming at first, but once you sign up, it provides a quick estimate of everything you have and how much it might cost.
Or just use a spreadsheet (or notepad) to keep track of everything
The most versatile and easiest way to keep track of everything you read, watch, or play is, of course, to simply write it down manually in a spreadsheet (or a notepad, if you like that tactile, “real” information). objects” crap). This is certainly the right method —we love spreadsheets here —but you’ll be sacrificing the visual and/or social aspects of other app-based options. You might be okay with that—let’s be honest, there’s a good chance you’re the only one who cares about your media habits anyway. Personally, I like incentives like completing Goodreads reading challenges or filling out a Letterboxd journal to keep me on track; past pen-and-paper attempts have failed, resulting in years of data loss. And although sites and applications come and go, your laptop will not stop working.
Updated January 5, 2024: Added new music and game tracking capabilities.