JustWatch has become the media streaming hub of my dreams

This is the golden age of television and film. However, the abundance of streaming services has created a whole new problem. You are not expected to have multiple streaming subscriptions, but content is harder to find than before. More often than not, I spend more time watching or juggling through Netflix, Prime Video and other platforms to find out where my favorite show is streaming. This is not our future promise. However, the latest update of JustWatch can finally solve my streaming problems once and for all.

Deep excavation: Streaming services are a mess, but JustWatch keeps me intelligent

I’ve long relied on the JustWatch mobile app (Play Store) to find recommendations and keep track of upcoming shows, movies and watch lists. More importantly, I use the app to find out where to show those shows. But there was still a lot of friction, and I often avoided using the app on my streaming boxes because of the sheer number of steps involved. From launching it, tapping on my watchlist, scrolling to a show, finding the streaming service available on it, backtracking to the home page, opening the streaming app, searching the show and Then Finally seeing the show, it was a very tedious process.

JustWatch’s latest update tossed most of those steps – or at least the second part. Not only does it show where the content is being streamed, it will now take you directly to the show or movie landing page on the platform on which it is being streamed.

Now you are wondering, did Plex not reveal a similar feature? Plex Discover, announced earlier this week, does something very similar. In fact, my colleague Frederick announced that it could kill streaming media boxes very well. I do not agree.

Related: Did Plex just hit the media streaming box?

I’m a huge fan of Plex. My home server contains dozens of terabytes of content that are carefully organized by Plex. However, Discover is a feature that has already been used on inflated platforms. The tab is stuck too far under so many options and the interface was nothing but fluid in my experiment. Of course, it’s also available on mobile, but the Clanky interface is even more noticeable when you want to quickly add a new movie to your watchlist. Basically, Discover is a side note for a service that has already expanded into its core streaming offer and ambition to integrate free content, live TV and more.

On the other hand, the main part of JustWatch is the discovery of streaming content. The implementation is even designed to take you to the show or movie of your choice as soon as possible. Just log in to your JustWatch account, and scroll through a list of popular headlines or your own watchlist. Tap the streaming service and it will send you directly to the landing page of the show or movie

Now, not that we haven’t seen it before. One of my favorite features of Xiaomi’s televisions in India is the patchwall. The software integrates both skin streaming services and over-the-air programming to give you a wish list as well as a universal search option. However, it is locked into Xiaomi’s ecosystem.

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Similarly, Apple TV, along with Google TV, offers Chromecast, Amazon Fire Stick and Roku features that are approximate to the combined search experience. For obvious reasons, there are restrictions on the platforms you can search through, and any recommendations or wish lists are locked in the corresponding streaming box.

Justwatch, on the other hand, frees streaming from the shackles of proprietary ecosystems. Content suggestions, preferences and watchlists can now travel with you regardless of platform.

It’s important to go to my favorite media. And to enable JustWatch’s fluid, platform-agnostic approach, which, without any craft associated with the Plex, pushes it to the top of my list of favorite media apps.