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Callsheet Is the Movie Companion You Need
I hope this isn’t too blasphemous because it’s been the go-to credit source for years, but I’ve started to despise the IMDb website and app.…
I hope this isn’t too blasphemous because it’s been the go-to credit source for years, but I’ve started to despise the IMDb website and app. The website has become so bloated since the Amazon acquisition, and the app feels like its nothing more than a web view. Know what is a great experience though? Callsheet. A new app that is blazing fast and designed with keeping mobile in mind first.
Callsheet, like IMDb, gives you a list of what’s trending. It shows popular movies and TV shows as well as new and upcoming media. It's a decent starting place in terms of finding something to watch. What I’ve used it most for though is finding out who a certain actor is and where I’ve seen them before.
It is shockingly fast to peruse with the quickest load times in between each user action. Considering so much information is pulled from the web to stay up-to-date, I’m very pleased with the performance.
Design-wise, Callsheet is simplistic, which doesn’t have to be bad. It’s a sliding grid system for main category pages against a white background. There’s no fancy gradients or artwork inspired color fills. Those are popular in a lot of media apps, but perhaps Callsheet omitted those because it isn’t for media consumption, but reading about media. More like a newspaper, less like a movie theater.
When you are viewing an episode, show, or movie, the app links out to places you can watch, the media’s official website, and then a breakdown of cast and crew. There is trivia to answer — again, similar to IMDb but better, and parental guidance based on the content. For individuals, you can see everything they’ve been involved with and what’s upcoming. Shows, movies, and people can all be pinned to your Home view.
One of my favorite unique features here is the spoiler-free settings. There are four toggles you can control that will prevent you from inadvertently ruining the watching experience. You can opt to hide character names, hide how many episode someone appears in (What?! They only finish half the season?! Did they get killed off!?), episode titles, and episode thumbnails. Brilliant idea. I can’t tell you how often I’ve had stuff ruined by browsing through IMDb.
If there wasn’t enough to love about this new app, this latest update sealed the deal for me. It was one of the very first apps to launch on Vision Pro. It's not just an iPad app scaled up, but rather rebuilt for visionOS. It uses UI elements native to the spatial platform such as the semitransparent background and floating lower search box. It feels more immersive and works well on the headset. Since launch, it’s been at the top of the charts for Vision Pro.
Other niceties include search history to track down what you’ve seen before, system-level dark mode support, VoiceOver support as an accessibility feature, alternative app icons, and integration with both Plex and Channels. I also love that there is no tracking or ads in the app, with only a premium subscription to support it that kicks in after 20 queries. Enough for a casual user, but requests that regular users pony up. This is a super user-friendly business model that puts the user-experience first.
Callsheet works across almost all of Apple’s platforms and one purchase gets you access on all of them. If you’re a movie or TV buff, this is worth checking out.
But enough about other people's apps.
