After years of building Rippple as an independent project, Rippple II is now available on the App Store and becomes an official Trakt app.
It now sits alongside the other official apps on Apple devices:
- the main Trakt app
- Watcht
- Showly
- and now Rippple II
Each of them has its own focus and style. Rippple continues to be the one centered on a native Apple experience on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with a few unique features and opinionated design choices to make it feel different.
For Android users, you can use the Trakt app or Showly.
And if none of the first-party apps fit exactly what you’re looking for, that’s totally fine too. You can explore many great third-party options here.
Why This Change
About a year ago, I started doing Product Management at Trakt. At first, it was mainly to help with the API and third-party integrations, but over time it grew into something broader.
Working with Trakt made something I already knew very clear: the ecosystem is one of Trakt’s biggest strengths. Trakt powers apps and integrations. Apps push the platform forward. Improvements on either side benefit all.
Rippple joining the official ecosystem simply makes sense in that context. It allows Rippple to evolve alongside Trakt, instead of orbiting around it from the outside.
For Rippple Users
If you’ve been using Rippple recently or for a while, first of all: THANK YOU!
Rippple started as a small side project because I wanted a Trakt app to read comments that felt right on my iPhone. Over time, I merged a lot of MOVIST and SERIST into it, and it grew into something bigger that a lot of people use daily, which still feels a bit surreal.
Rippple II is the continuation of that project, with a long-term home inside the Trakt ecosystem.
If you’re using Rippple I, you’ll see a migration option with a simple three-step process:
- Download Rippple II
- Run the migration from Rippple I
- Keep going exactly where you left off
Your settings and data (including iCloud data) move with you.
Rippple I will eventually be sunset.
For Mac Users
You may notice that the Mac version of Rippple II isn’t available yet. It’s currently stuck in the Apple review process.
Unfortunately, “transferring” the app turned out to be a pretty bumpy road. The standard app transfer wasn’t available for Rippple for obscure technical reasons, so I had to submit it as a new app, build a migration process, and go through multiple review cycles.
Right now, the App Store Review team is rejecting the Mac version of Rippple II for being too similar to Rippple I ![]()
This may take some time to resolve. In the meantime, you can use Rippple I on your Mac and Rippple II on your iPhone or iPad. Not ideal, but I’m working on getting this sorted as quickly as possible.
Edit 01/04: the Mac version of Rippple II is now also available on the Mac App Store ![]()
Trakt VIP and Rippple II
A change you’ll notice is that Rippple II integrates directly with Trakt VIP.
Instead of having a separate “Rippple Premium”, the advanced features now align better with the Free and VIP tiers on Trakt.
The good news is that many paywalls have been lowered in Rippple II, so you shouldn’t feel blocked if you don’t have Trakt VIP and shouldn’t feel left out. Most of the core experience is available to everyone.
If you previously purchased Rippple Premium, that will continue to work in Rippple I until that version is officially sunset. I recommend trying Rippple II and deciding from there what works best for you. Just
me if you have any questions.
Rippple Is Now Open Source
Another thing I’m really excited about:
Rippple II is now open source.
The project is available on GitHub under the GPL-3.0 license.
That means you can now:
report bugs
suggest improvements
submit ideas
contribute code
fork and build your own version (just let me know if you do)
GitHub: trakt/trakt-rippple
I’ll be honest: I’m excited… and a bit nervous about this part.
This is the first time I’ve open-sourced a project like this. I’ve cleaned up the codebase quite a bit, but it’s still something that has grown over ~8 years as a side project.
So there are definitely parts that are nice and tidy… and other parts that might make you go “huh, interesting choice Kevin”.
But opening it felt like the right move. Rippple has always been shaped by community feedback, and now the community can help shape the project directly.
What’s Next
Rippple II is the next step. Same philosophy. Same product direction. Just with a stronger connection to Trakt and a lot more room to grow.
And yes… I’ll still be the one reading your feedback, answering questions, fixing bugs, and shipping updates ![]()
Thanks again to everyone who has used Rippple over the years.
Now let’s see where Rippple II goes next.
Kevin & the Trakt Team