The Best Sites and Apps to Track Your Books, Movies, Music, and Video Games | Lifehacker

I rang in 2024 the identical means I’ve ever since 2011: By setting my annual studying objective on Goodreads. I do not learn almost as a lot as I used to—blame children, the lack of a each day commute, emotional fallout from a world pandemic, what have you ever—however I nonetheless wish to give myself a bar to clear, even when it is lots decrease than it was (this 12 months I’m aiming for 35 books, which could sound like lots or a bit, however bear in mind I’m counting the books I learn aloud to my child).

Just a few years in the past within the Guardian, author Rachel Sigee contemplated the query of why so many people frequent websites like Goodreads and Letterboxd to log our media consumption, and got here up with a solution that appears apparent on reflection: It’s dopamine.

Yes, the identical addictive mind chemical compounds that trigger our neurons to fireside each time our telephones gentle up with a notification are what hold us marking our progress within the books we’ve learn or assigning a star score to each film we’ve watched or monitoring the hours we’ve poured into a very immersive online game. Or (and that is the place issues get barely insidious), to construct lists of all of the issues we wish to—or really feel we “should”—learn, or watch, or play.

It’s value contemplating (as Sigee does) whether or not it’s wholesome to “gamify” what is basically a leisure time exercise on this means, and as a hardcore media logger, I’ll admit to typically feeling a way of exhaustion at considering the prolonged lists of all issues media I wish to eat that I’ll most likely by no means get round to. Unless I determine a solution to stay ceaselessly and in addition abandon my job and household obligations.

But I’m additionally not going to cease doing it. Even earlier than expertise introduced strategies to make it simpler, I intermittently have saved lists of, say, the films I watched with my then-girlfriend, now partner. Like scrolling by means of images in my telephone, simply seeing the identify of a movie on that listing would set off my reminiscences of the place we have been after we noticed it or the conversations we had afterward. So a lot of each day life is ephemeral; conserving a report of a given day—even when it’s simply one thing as inconsequential as lastly watching Weekend at Bernie’s (a surprisingly bizarre film) may give you an anchor to cling to.

So with all that high-falutin’ nonsense apart, listed below are a number of the finest websites and apps round that will help you begin conserving monitor of your personal media habits: books, films, video video games, and music.

The finest apps to log your studying

Goodreads is by far probably the most extensively used e-book tracker, however there are alternate options in the event you don’t wish to serve up but extra of your information to company proprietor Amazon.

Goodreads. You learn about this one. Goodreads has been round for occurring 20 years now, and since its acquisition by Amazon in 2013, the location has amassed a membership of some 90 million readers wanting to catalog what they’ve learn and supply standing updates on what they’re studying. In some ways, it set the usual for these kind of social cataloguing apps, permitting you to customise your books into numerous cabinets, write and browse opinions, befriend and comply with different customers, make suggestion lists, and extra. It’s not good—the UX is mainly unchanged from the location’s infancy, the design is cluttered and unintuitive, and the cellular app is extremely sluggish—however you most likely use it anyway.

LibraryThing. Founded in 2005, a 12 months earlier than Goodreads, LibraryThing has all the time been that web site’s barely stuffier, extra critical competitor. Originally run through paid subscriptions, it has since switched to a free-for-all mannequin, however nonetheless goals to ship the products with out inundating you with advertisements. While it affords lots of the similar social options as Goodreads, it’s undoubtedly tilted extra towards the intense enterprise of conserving monitor of and cataloging your personal studying.

Other choices to think about: Libib, BookSloth, and The Storygraph

The finest apps to log the films you’ve watched

When it involves monitoring your films, there’s a transparent winner (which additionally occurs to be considered one of my favourite websites on the web).

Letterboxd. This app- and web-based film monitoring social community has amassed a person base of greater than 20 million movie followers, and with good motive: It’s extremely straightforward to look and log each film (and, extra lately, a rising variety of TV reveals) you’ve ever seen, add dates watched (I lately discovered a stack of previous ticket stubs and logged a bunch of movies I noticed within the theater 15 years in the past), pen opinions, and comply with different customers. You can construct lists primarily based on any esoteric, hyper-specific qualifier you possibly can consider. Plus, there’s a view that reveals you the posters of each film you’ve logged on one display screen, which is neat. (Stop by and say hello!)

SIMKL. This lesser-known Letterboxd competitor has a lot of that web site’s options and strengths, with one massive bonus: Its database additionally features a ton of TV collection and anime (till lately, Letterboxd typically eschewed TV totally, save for just a few “event” miniseries like WandaVision). You can mark a whole collection as watched, or hold monitor of which episodes you’ve seen and what number of you could have left, making it that a lot simpler to handle the glut of streaming collection you’re attempting and failing to remain on high of. But the best function is the Chrome extension that integrates together with your streaming service watch historical past, permitting you to log your viewing historical past in SIMKL with out ever leaving Netflix.

Another possibility to think about: Trakt (initially geared towards monitoring your TV consumption, it will also be used to trace your films and like Simkl, combine together with your good TV, telephone, or laptop to log media robotically)

The finest websites to log your video video games

There doesn’t appear to be a definitive online game different to the likes of Letterboxd or Goodreads—and although I’ll talk about comparable choices to these companies beneath, neither has reached the identical degree of consciousness. Perhaps that’s as a result of…

Your system most likely does it for you. Most fashionable consoles make the necessity to log your video games out of date as a result of they already monitor what you play and when, although you could have to fiddle round in your system menus to seek out it. The Nintendo Switch, for instance, retains tracked of the video games performed by every person profile, however if you would like the actually granular particulars, together with precisely how a lot time a specific recreation was performed on a specific day, you’ll have to obtain the related Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app. Here’s find out how to see your hours performed per recreation on PlayStation 5 and Xbox.

If you need a extra full accounting than simply the period of time sunk right into a given title, although, you’re higher off with a separate service.

Backloggd. Backloggd is the closest factor I’ve discovered to a “Letterboxd for video games,” (therefore the identify, most likely). Currently solely accessible through internet (although an app is reportedly within the works), the location means that you can catalog video games as accomplished (together with whether or not you “mastered,” or “abandoned” them, or just a few different choices), backlogged (which means you personal them however haven’t performed them but), the video games you’re presently enjoying, or add video games to a wishlist. You can log “playthroughs” (the dates you really performed a recreation), assessment video games you’ve marked performed, and browse different customers’ profile pages and comply with them in the event you select. The web site is frequently including new options, but it surely already affords most every part I’m in search of.

Grouvee. This one appears to have taken Goodreads as its inspiration. You can mark video games as performed, presently enjoying, backlogged, or wishlisted; write (and browse) opinions; and mark your dates performed. What units this web site aside is the power so as to add standing updates for video games in progress, which is a pleasant contact if you wish to hold monitor of if you beat a specific degree or boss or what have you ever.

Board Game Geek. If you are a gamer, however of the board recreation selection, you want to learn about Board Game Geek. One of the biggest and most established board recreation communities on-line, the location means that you can price the video games you play, learn others’ opinions, and discover new video games to play, with every recreation’s web page providing stats like how difficult it’s to be taught and the way lengthy it would take to complete a spherical.

Other choices to think about: GG, Completionator (which lets you import your Steam library), and HowLongToBeat.

The finest app to log the music you like

Like video video games, there isn’t almost as strong a music-logging infrastructure on the market—once more, most likely as a result of companies like Spotify and Amazon Music largely hold monitor of that for you. Still, there may be at the very least one music-lovers social community on the market value contemplating.

Last.fm. If you need a no fuss solution to mixture and monitor all of the music you stream, Last.fm is a superb selection. The app integrates with most main streaming companies (together with YouTube, Spotify, and Pandora, although you will have to leap by means of additional hoops to make use of it with Amazon Music or Apple Music) to log every part you hearken to and when. Via the desktop and cellular apps, you possibly can see your personal listening historical past, monitor what your mates are streaming, and entry weekly and yearly roundups (who wants Spotify Wrapped?).

• Get began with Last.fm on the net or obtain the cellular (Android, iOS) or desktop apps (sorry Windows customers—the desktop app is Mac-only).

Musicboard. Musicboard payments itself as “a social platform that allows you to keep track of all the music you listen to and grow your passion for music with friends” and, positive, it does that. You can use it to create a profile, hold monitor of the albums and songs you’ve listened to, write opinions, and comply with different customers. There are cool instruments to indicate off your listening historical past, monitor forthcoming releases, and (in the event you’re keen to pony up $3.99/month for a paid subscription) view tremendous granular stats about your listening habits.

Discogs. More a instrument that will help you handle your private music assortment than a real-time monitoring or social app—although the location does embrace group boards, alongside editorial content material geared towards serving to you discover new music—this longstanding web site is nonetheless a good way to maintain monitor of the entire bodily and digital music you personal. Once you’ve got created your account, you possibly can go about constructing your assortment—and you will not simply be capable of add, say, a specific album, however the actual model of the album you personal, so you can hold monitor of the entire different-colored variations of Taylor Swift vinyl releases you’ve got amassed. THe web site’s format favors an abundance of data over ease of use, so it may be a bit overwhelming at first, however as soon as your onboard, it should present an at-a-glance evaluation of every part you personal, and what it could be value.

Or simply use a spreadsheet (or a pocket book) to trace every part

The most versatile, low-effort solution to hold monitor of something you’re studying or watching or enjoying is, after all, to simply log it away manually in a spreadsheet (or a pocket book, in the event you’re into that tactile, “real objects” shit). This is definitely a legitimate methodology—we love spreadsheets round right here—however you’ll sacrifice the visible and/or social sharing elements of different app-based choices.

Maybe you’re OK with that—let’s be sincere, there’s an excellent likelihood you’re the just one who cares about your media habits anyway. Personally, I like the motivation of issues like maintaining with a Goodreads studying problem or filling out my Letterboxd diary to maintain me on monitor; previous pen and paper makes an attempt have failed to stay, leading to years of misplaced information. And whereas websites and apps come and go, there’s no likelihood your pocket book goes to cease working.

Updated on Jan. 5, 2024 so as to add new choices for monitoring your music and video games.