How to Start Tracking Movies and Shows on iWatched

Updated

To start tracking on iWatched, create an account, then log movies and shows you've already watched or plan to watch. Each entry can carry a rating and personal notes, and your history builds into a profile with stats, favourites, and shareable lists. The site's own totals — 2,842 movies, 615 shows, and 47,418 hours tracked — show the kind of library a profile can accumulate over time.

Create your account and log in

iWatched is built around a personal profile, so an account is the starting point. The homepage offers Start Tracking as the primary action, and individual public lists show a Log In To Track prompt — for example, the Stargate curated list asks you to log in before you can mark titles watched, keep progress updated, or add timeline entries.

Once you're signed in, your watch history, ratings, and notes attach to your profile rather than sitting in a local list.

Log what you've watched

The core action is logging movies and series into your watch history. According to the site, you can:

  • Log movies and shows with ratings and personal notes
  • Save favourites so they appear on your profile
  • Write reviews — described as "quick takes" — alongside your entries

When you log a title, the expected result is that it counts toward your totals and appears in your history. The site tracks at several levels: movies, shows, seasons, and episodes, which matters if you want accurate episode-level progress rather than just a finished/not-finished flag.

Add ratings, notes, and dates

Ratings and notes are what turn a bare list into something worth revisiting. iWatched explicitly supports "ratings and personal notes" on each logged title, and the profile can surface review stats and recent activity. If you're starting from scratch, a practical approach is to log your most recent watches first with a rating and a one-line note, then backfill older titles as you remember them.

Build out your profile

Your profile is where the tracking pays off. iWatched describes profiles with showcases and badges, plus the ability to show off favourites, curated lists, review stats, and recent activity. As your library grows, the site also surfaces stats: hours watched, rewatches, streaks, and taste patterns.

If you want a profile that "actually feels personal," the customization options are the place to spend a few minutes after your first batch of logs.

Use lists for more than titles

Curated lists are one of iWatched's more distinctive features. The site frames them as "watch guides that do more than hold titles" — you can build:

  • Ordered guides — movies, shows, seasons, and episodes in the exact order you want
  • Franchise orders and seasonal marathons
  • Rankings and recommendation paths
  • Collaborative watch plans with context and progress built in

Lists also support runtime planning, so you can see how long a marathon takes before you start. The public Stargate list illustrates this: 8 items across 4 movies and 4 shows, with a total runtime of 267h 21m, grouped into beginning, middle, and end sections.

Visibility is flexible — lists can be private, unlisted (shareable by link), or public.

Runs and shared progress

Lists can be tracked as runs: solo progress, or a shared "party run" with invited friends. This is useful for group marathons where you want everyone's progress visible in one place.

Compare taste with friends

Beyond solo tracking, iWatched includes friends, comparisons, and recommendations. Once you and a friend have logged enough titles, comparisons become meaningful — the more you log, the more useful the taste-matching gets.

A realistic starting sequence

  1. Create an account and log in.
  2. Log 5–10 recent watches with ratings and short notes.
  3. Add favourites so your profile has something to show.
  4. Create one list — a franchise order or a watchlist — and set its visibility.
  5. Check your stats page to see hours and patterns forming.
  6. Invite a friend if you want comparisons or a shared run.

Common snags

  • Public lists require login to track. You can browse them, but marking titles watched and updating progress needs an account.
  • Episode-level tracking takes more input. If you log at the episode level, expect more entries than a movie-only library.
  • Stats need volume. Hours, streaks, and taste patterns only become interesting after a reasonable number of logs, so don't judge the stats page after three entries.

The site links its Privacy Policy and Terms of Service from the homepage if you want to review those before signing up.