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Cara Canellas
Amazon Prime Instant Video and Netflix both provide a wide variety of movies and television shows on their video streaming services. But finding the show you want to watch can be frustrating. Why? Both services suffer from inept TV-screen interfaces that make it hard to search their video catalogs. And for both you must use your streaming video player's remote to hunt and peck each letter of the movie that you want to watch. If the title you want isn't available, you have to start all that hunting and pecking again. Amazon Prime and Netflix also let you search through a home page of movie icons representing each video, but that process is just as user-unfriendly.
Fortunately, there's a better way to sift through the thousands of titles they offer. InstantWatcher is plugged directly into the databases of both Amazon Prime and Netflix and offers a much more efficient, easy, and comprehensive video title search engine.
InstantWatcher gives you the power to search in many different ways. For Amazon Prime, you can filter your options by specific title, 29 film genres, actor, popularity or new on streaming, maturity rating, standard or high definition video quality, or all titles arranged alphabetically. The system also makes recommendations.
The search engine for Netflix offers all that plus deeper search capability by 388 genres and subgenres, critic and audience ratings, popularity in the last 24 hours, and super HD and ultra HD video quality.
While searching is better, InstantWatcher's service is more clear about the variety of shows that are available. For example, as recently as last February, Amazon was advertising "over 40,000 choices." After we published an article with InstantWatcher data in June, Amazon took the number out and instead told consumers it offered "thousands" of videos. The reason for the change? We pointed out to readers that according to InstantWatcher, Amazon actually offered far fewer movies than it claimed. Part of the reason for the discrepancy had to do with the fact that Amazon counted every individual episode of its TV series as separate titles, while InstantWatcher counts each TV series as only one title, which we think is more reasonable.
The wealth of data available through InstantWatcher can also help you assess quality. For example, only 20 percent of Netflix' catalog received user ratings of 4 or better, vs. 43 percent of Amazon Prime's catalog. In terms of video resolution quality, however, only 21 percent of Amazon Prime's selections were in high definition, while 80 percent of Netflix' offerings were in HD, superHD, or ultraHD.
One feature we liked, which is now missing from InstantWatcher, was access to the entire Amazon instant video catalog, which included 55,000 more non-Prime titles that required additional payment to buy or rent. We found that useful for efficiently shopping the pay streaming marketplace. But the full Amazon streaming video search capability will be back later this summer, according to Hoony Youn, a partner at Kaja Software, the Cambridge, Mass., company that created the site.
If you're streaming via your desktop or laptop, InstantWatcher lets you click through directly to Amazon or Netflix to play the video. Since you can't do that on your TV, we recommend that you use InstantWatcher on your laptop or a tablet to search for what you want to watch. Then, after you've made a decision, you'll still have to type the title into that still-awkward search tool on your video streaming player to watch it on your television.
Instead of presenting a grid of separate streaming apps the way many competing platforms do, the Google TV home page prioritizes recently watched shows and movies, as well as personalized recommendations, and it adds a live-TV interface that works across several apps. This design makes it easier and faster to find what you want to watch. Streaming content from mobile devices via Chromecast is simple, too.
The RF-based remote can work through walls and cabinets, has dedicated power and volume controls for your TV, and includes a microphone for voice search. For $30, you can upgrade to the rechargeable Roku Voice Remote Pro, which adds a headphone jack, a remote finder, and an optional always-on voice assistant.
While this guide focuses on standalone streaming boxes and dongles, we also see it as a guide to the software built into smart TVs. The information and critiques here concerning Google TV, Roku, and Fire TV boxes apply to their smart-TV counterparts, too.
Google TV has built-in Bluetooth audio support, so you can wirelessly transmit the audio signal to Bluetooth headphones for private listening. Our runner-up pick from Roku requires the use of a mobile app for private listening, which is less convenient.
The menu also offers personalized recommendations pulled from various services, instead of limiting recommendations to a single service. And the Google TV mobile app mimics a lot of the interface options, if you prefer to browse on your mobile device.
When you select a show or movie, Google TV also gives you a lot of information about the title, including the Rotten Tomatoes rating, cast info, the different sources you can stream it from, and related content. You can rate a show to improve your recommendations or add it to your watchlist so you can come back to it later. Since this functionality works across the different streaming services, it gives you a more consistent experience.
If you prefer a more app-centric interface, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K is a great alternative that presents a wide selection of streaming services in a simple, uncluttered way. This HDMI stick plugs directly into an HDMI input and can draw power from a compatible USB port, so you can easily add it to a variety of TVs and other home entertainment systems.
It plays nicely with Apple devices. The inclusion of AirPlay 2 support and the Apple TV and Apple Music apps gives the Roku Streaming Stick 4K a lot of the perks of the Apple TV 4K streamer at a much lower price.
Even the more affordable, $130 version is still significantly more expensive than our picks, and despite the slick appeal of the Apple TV interface and its interrelated services, the box is not abundantly more powerful (where streaming is concerned) than something like the Roku Ultra. Our picks will serve the average buyer better at less expense.
TV Time tracks TV shows and movies, pitches recommendations and connects you with fellow fans on social media. The app is available for Android and Apple users and you can sign up for an account using Google, Apple, Twitter, Facebook or email. To get started, choose what shows you've watched on which streaming service (or network). Interestingly, when scrolling through Hulu's selections, only its originals are listed but the app tells you that you can add more later.
With TV Time, you can choose from multiple lineups, including Trending Shows like Ted Lasso, Demon Slayer or Grey's Anatomy. There are also categories for genres, a "Most Added" section with titles such as You and even a "Most Added Animation Series" row.
Once you lock in your choices, TV Time collates a Watch List and suggests which episodes of your chosen shows you should watch next. There's a separate tab labeled "Upcoming" that outlines the day and time that new episodes drop. Thanks to TV Time, I now know the exact premiere dates for The Witcher season 3 on Netflix and the new season of Reservation Dogs on Hulu.
The app also prompts you to check off which movies you've watched, and the list spans decades, platforms and genres. Once you've completed that step, TV Time then asks what movies you want to watch. Here is where you search for specific titles or pick from TV Time's trending list to add them to a calendar.
You may already be familiar with JustWatch as an app that curates where a title is streaming, but you can also make a watchlist, track upcoming releases, and watch a show with a single click. Once you open the app, you can select each streaming service you use -- including Disney Plus, Crunchyroll and Fubo -- to watch shows and films. There are 100-plus providers listed on JustWatch, and the app recently added a streaming guide for sports.
Use the app to search for TV shows and movies or click Discover to go on a scrolling adventure. Narrow your search by platform, genre, year or rating. When you click a show tile, you can tap "Track" to keep up with every episode and season. JustWatch will ask which episodes you've watched, and you can check off entire seasons or individual installments. Where this app stands out is when you navigate to "Watch Now" to click a streaming service's logo, and you're immediately taken to the show's landing page to begin watching. Talk about convenience.
The app also has a personal recommendation feature and displays the price of each streaming platform. You can use JustWatch on a web browser, on Fire TV devices or on iOS and Android mobile devices. Sign up directly on the app or with your Google or Facebook account.
Available on iOS and Android, Hobi is one of the most popular and comprehensive tracking apps out there. When you open it, you can select the shows you plan to watch or have watched, and Hobi indicates where you left off. The titles are added to your watch list. If it's an old show, Hobi lets you know the series ended but still reminds you which episodes are next for you. The Discover feature highlights trending shows, series returning in the current week, new ones airing for the month, and recommendations across genres and networks, including HBO and Netflix.
In addition to monitoring your watch list and new episode release dates, Hobi provides personal viewing stats on how much TV you've watched. It also estimates your favorite genres based on those statistics. The app can be integrated with Trakt.
When you first sign on to SeriesGuide, it gives you the option to block spoilers for show episodes you haven't watched yet. You can either search for a title or click Discover and scroll through a lengthy list of content. Like Hobi and TV Time, the app lets you know which platform houses the series or movie you'd like to watch or track. It also integrates with Trakt.
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