The best "what to watch" apps for iPhone in 2026, compared
These apps get lumped together, but they solve four different problems: deciding alone, deciding with someone, finding out where something streams, and tracking what you've seen. Installing the wrong category is why people end up with three of these and keep none.
Disclosure: MovieSwipe is our app. We've tried to be straight about where the others beat us, including the feature we don't have. Checked August 2026 — verify current pricing and features in each App Store listing.
At a glance
| App | Best at | Swipe feed | Learns taste | Filter by your services | Two people at once | Tracking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MovieSwipe | Deciding alone, fast | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not yet | Watchlist + history |
| Matched | Couples deciding together | Yes | Limited | Limited | Yes | No |
| Reelgood | Seeing across all your services | No | Limited | Yes | No | Yes |
| JustWatch | Where a specific film streams | No | No | Yes | No | Watchlist only |
| Letterboxd | Logging and reviewing films | No | No | Limited | No | Best in class |
| Trakt | Automatic watch-history data | No | No | Yes | No | Excellent |
MovieSwipe — if the problem is that you can't think of anything
Good at: turning "I don't know what to watch" into a shortlist in about a minute. You swipe one film at a time, it learns from every swipe, and it keeps anything you've already liked, skipped or watched out of the feed — so it stops showing you the same catalogue. It filters to the streaming services you subscribe to, so what you find is something you can start tonight. And you can search by describing the mood rather than setting filters, which handles requests dropdowns can't express.
Not good at: two people swiping at the same time — that feature is in development, not shipped, so for simultaneous couple-matching today use Matched. It's also iPhone-only: no iPad, no Vision Pro, no Android, no web. And it's a small independent app with few reviews so far, which is a fair thing to weigh.
Price: free to download with in-app purchases. iOS 18.2 or later.
Matched — the couples app
Good at: the one thing MovieSwipe can't do yet. Two people swipe simultaneously and matches surface for both. It's been around longer, has picked up mainstream press in the US, and runs on both iOS and Android — which is decisive if you and your partner are on different platforms.
Not good at: steering what you see, or learning much from your history.
Reelgood — the most complete streaming guide
Good at: being the front end for everything you subscribe to. Tell it what you pay for and it gives you one unified catalogue with accurate availability, plus tracking and a genuinely good browse experience. If your problem is "I have six subscriptions and no idea what's on them", Reelgood beats everything here including us.
Not good at: the deciding itself. It's a browsing tool, and browsing is the thing that takes twenty-five minutes.
JustWatch — the availability lookup
Good at: answering "where can I watch this specific film and what does it cost." Huge country and service coverage, free, fast. Worth keeping installed no matter what else you use.
Not good at: helping you decide. It answers questions about films you've already chosen.
Letterboxd — for people who love films, not just watch them
Good at: logging, rating, reviewing, and following people whose taste you trust. The user-made lists are one of the better discovery mechanisms that exists.
Not good at: Tuesday at nine o'clock with someone who doesn't care about film criticism.
Trakt — the tracking backend
Good at: automatically recording what you watch across devices and services, with deep stats and an API. For people who want the data.
Not good at: being the app you open when you don't know what to watch.
Which one should you pick?
You can't think of anything to watch. MovieSwipe. Reacting to films beats trying to recall them, and the service filter means what you find is actually watchable tonight.
You and your partner can't agree, and you want to swipe simultaneously. Matched, today. MovieSwipe's shared sessions aren't out yet.
You have several subscriptions and can't see across them. Reelgood.
You just want to know where a film is streaming. JustWatch, and it's free.
You care about films as a hobby. Letterboxd, plus one of the above for the practical part.
Most people end up with two: one that decides and one that finds. Those are different jobs and no single app currently does both well.