🚀 Introducing a New VIP Beta of Trakt for Android

[kcador (Kevin)]

@teduardosam

Thanks for the update! Any ETA on the “watching now” and the scrobbling feature?

No ETA but it’s been asked a few times so it’s high on our lists. We’re currently tackling some navigation issues with the new UI and we’ll get back to getting old feature in soon.
Thanks for your feedback!

[kcador (Kevin)]

@dgw

Tapping one of the episodes in Continue Watching is horrible on a tablet:

Tablet UX is going to get some love soon.

@dgw

The purple button with a checkmark seems to look the same regardless?

We’re working on improving this now.

@dgw

Can’t see the rating stars unless I’ve marked the item as watched? (Am I “holding it wrong”?)

Do you want to rate something you haven’t marked as watched? Or maybe you want to auto-mark as watched if you rate something?

@dgw

No more can we go to the next or previous episode with a single button press?

We’ll probably have a swipe gesture for this. You mean from the episode details, right?

@dgw

If I scroll down to the season episodes, the status icons must be reversed. How is the indicator for “watched”??

That’s a bad design choice on our part. Will be fixed soon.

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Thanks for your feedback!!

[kcador (Kevin)]

@gaspar

One of the features I found very useful in the old app was to open an actor/director’s page and immediately see which shows or movies from that person I had watched before. This is no longer possible. Are there plans to bring that back?

We plan to get that back, yes!

[kcador (Kevin)]

@New_phone_who_dis

Are Notifications not supported? I would like to get notifications of show releases.

Not supported yet but it will be as soon as possible.

[jduartedj (Duarte Ribeirinho)]

No calendar in new app? Wth?

I can’t see this weeks shows, like what aired yesterday and I missed…

I uninstalled the app and installed the classic web as a site.

Really need it!

[allyssonsouzam (Kry)]

Hi, about the new app, I have some questions/suggestions:

1. Will these stats (image 2) be available on the profile page? The old app displays them in the home section, but they’re currently missing from the new app. Currently, the new app displays the “Month in Review” (which isn’t working—at least for me, as you can see in the attached image showing 0 things watched during a period when I watched a bunch of stuff) at the top of the profile page. It would be nice if this was replaced or integrated with the last 30 days/all-time watched stats section.

2. I previously asked to add an “AMOLED Black” option, but more importantly, the app needs a light mode and the ability to auto-switch between light and dark mode according to user preference.

3. The old website has an option in settings to display the season art cover instead of the show art cover in the “Continue Watching” section. The old app is missing this option, so it would be nice to have it added in a future update (alongside the settings page, of course).

4. When you click to go to an episode page of a show, it displays the show art cover occupying half the screen. Instead, I think the better design choice would be to display the episode thumbnail highlighted at the top of the page, just like it is on the old website and app.

5. Another thing about episode pages is that the arrows in the “classic” app—which let you quickly go to the previous or next episode—are currently missing.

6. The calendar definitely needs to be available in the new app, and also an option to switch between a “list” or “grid” view of the calendar.

7. The lists on the new app currently only show movies and are also missing an option to sort from newest to oldest (and other sort options available on the website) and filters. It is also missing the date when the item (movies/shows) was added to the list.

8. Clicking on the three dots of any item on a list gives me a message that says: “Uh oh… this wasn’t planned. If this keeps happening, please contact Trakt Support.”

9. The upcoming schedule calendar section should be above the watchlist section on the home page, as it is on the old website.

10. I know neither the website nor the old app are available in other languages, but I think it’s time to offer language options (PT-BR, Spanish, French) other than exclusively English, including a preference to “Change the names of shows and movies to your language or keep the original (English) ones.”

11. Hopefully, all settings options from the old app will be available on the new one, including the one that lets you reorder and add/remove new tabs on the bottom bar, that was really nice.

[allyssonsouzam (Kry)]

@allyssonsouzam

I know neither the website nor the old app are available in other languages, but I think it’s time to offer language options (PT-BR, Spanish, French) other than exclusively English.

Re-reading the official announcement, this request is already on the plans. It is possible that we will be able to help localize with Crowdin? That would speed up the process, and I would love helping with the translation for my language.

[CanePlayz (Jacob P.)]

Because the app was rewritten, they didn’t remove it manually, it’s just not back in yet.

[CanePlayz (Jacob P.)]

I understand your concerns about the rating system, but give the new app some time. Just use the old app until the new one is finalized, I think they’re far from done with developing the new version and I also think they know that.

[mike.d (Mike)]

A quick comment on the 5 stars system. It’s still the full 10-scale system just packed into more compact UI that will enable us to do some more cool things later.

You can still rate 1-10 and see 1-10 ratings (10 being 5 stars and 9 being 4.5 stars and so on).

If you rate something 4 stars you can tap the 4th star again to fine tune it into half (we are currently brainstorming on how to make this more discoverable and easier to use - like with simple drag gesture etc.)

[teduardosam (Eduardo)]

When clicking over a star it should first mark as “half star” so its easier for people to realize it’s a 10 star system. If I’m not mistaken right now it marks as a “full star” when you first click it.

[allyssonsouzam (Kry)]

But why changing it to stars? Trakt has always used hearts as rating

[mike.d (Mike)]

New Beta update just hit the Play Store

Highlights of this version include:

• marking as watched with different dates
• comments support for shows/movies/episodes.

but why compress it to 5 stars in the app?

But why changing it to stars? Trakt has always used hearts as rating

We make designs and decisions as a team and this might be better answered on a general feedback threads than the Android implementation specific one

[kcador (Kevin)]

Can you please open a new topic with your question and why you think hearts should be used for rating and stars for favorites, how it impacts your use case? Thanks!

[kcador (Kevin)]

This is not the point Mike was making.

We take all feedback into account, no matter if VIP or not, in our Product/Design/Business/Tech decisions processes. And again, taking “into account” doesn’t mean jumping on every bandwagon. We can’t do everything everyone is asking for, it would 1) be impossible and 2) end up with a product that doesn’t work for anyone.

This is just not the right topic (the first question Mike was answering) or place (making assumptions and judging our decision process) to discuss this.

[sinan (Sinan Awad)]

I’m not sure this is the right place to ask.

In the new look of the app on android, now it doesn’t show me what I’m currently watching. Going to the trakt site, I can still see it.

Tried reinstalling, deleting storage, getting out of beta and in again, doesn’t help.

This is the only feature that is of value to me in the app.

Thanks.

[mike.d (Mike)]

You probably mean the “Check In” feature.

Yes - it’s not there yet in new app. It will be one of the next things to add.

[mike.d (Mike)]

A new update just hit the store More details here:
https://forums.trakt.tv/t/beta-trakt-for-android/86062/4

Thanks!

[teduardosam (Eduardo)]

Thanks. We need notifications of new episodes/premiers and “now playing” as soon as possible, please.

[pironic (Michael Writhe)]

I am an original vip member who rarely posts on the forums or reads changelogs. I’ve loved trakt and my profile on here is old enough to have a driver’s license. I’ve seen various changes in trakt over the years but this must recent one is causing me a lot of grief. While change is necessary, change that creates friction is a regression.

​The current update has broken my most frequent workflow: identifying where I know that actor from

​**The Old Workflow (Seamless):**

1. ​Open Trakt (Currently watching movie/show was immediately visible in a banner at the bottom of my screen).

2. ​Find the character in question and click the actors profile. This had a section to see movies and shows from my view history.

3. ​Result: Immediate answer to “Where do I know them from?”

​**The New Workflow (Friction-heavy):**

1. ​Manually search for the movie/show I am currently watching. (As there is no “currently watching” in the app.trakt.com)

2. ​Locate the actor in the cast list.

3. ​Scroll through their entire filmography to manually cross-reference where I might know them from.

​This is a step backward for a platform that prides itself on simplicity. If you intend to move forward with this version, it is vital that you:

• ​Add a “Currently Watching” banner to the home screen for logged-in users that are scrobbling that information anyway.

• Restore “Relevant History” to actor profiles so we can see our history with them at a glance.

​Please don’t sunset the version we love until these foundational features are parity-ready. This is the most common reason I use trakt and it’s been really helpful until this latest version.

(Side note: can I turn off “new” in the Android app? Do I have to go to the website now?)

Edit: I’m going back and reading a lot of other comments… it looks as though I’m to hastey. My points will be addressed in future and it’s my fault for being in the beta. You guys do great work and I do appreciate the site/service. Any friction I feel is currently my own fault for enrolling in the beta… by the time it’s production ready, my concerns will have been addressed.