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Sofa Is A Better Way to Manage Your Binge List
Binging of TV shows and movies has never been higher, in part due to the COVID-19 situation that has left theaters closed and droves of…
Binging of TV shows and movies has never been higher, in part due to the COVID-19 situation that has left theaters closed and droves of people ensconced in their own homes. But with more than a dozen flagship streaming services and a growing list of movies, TV shows, podcasts, books, video games, and more to conquer, you desperately need a better way to keep track of them all. Enter — Sofa.
Sofa, which has one of the best names around, is a delightful app to manage all the different media you’ve intended to watch, play, listen, or read. The app has pre-curated lists for apps, audiobook, board games, books, movies, music albums, podcasts, TV shows, and video games. All empty from the start, you just choose your list, tap +, and enter the name of whatever it is. Sofa ties into major databases to correctly identify what it is you want to add and will include all the requisite artwork and other information.
Many of these have shortcuts out of the app to take you directly where you need to go for them. Such as a podcast. If I added HomeKit Insider to my list, it gives me two buttons to jump directly to Apple Podcasts or Overcast for listening.
As you strike items off your lists, they are marked as done and added to your Activity feed so you can see the progress you’ve made. Good job for watching every episode of Castle during that long weekend! You did it!
The app tries its best to be accommodating as well. Not everything fits into a list and sometimes you just want to keep track of it for later. That’s where “The Pile” comes in, another fantastic part of this app’s naming scheme.
Developer Shawn Hickman seemingly spent a lot of time designing this app to be simple, easy, and welcoming to new and long-time users. It’s even brought new features and data types through subsequent releases. The app is free to use but employs a unique revenue stream. Hickman charges for themes, rather than app features.
That means any user of the app gets the whole experience but if you love the app, want to rewards the developer, and give the app a more unique look, you can buy various themes. There are a ton of themes provided by various designers and developers which are heavily categorized in the app. Any themes you have can be set for when iOS is set to light mode, when its set to dark mode, or both. That affords users the ability to set different themes for light and dark mode separately. A nice little touch!
Rounding out my favorite points of Sofa is its Home Screen widget. These are available in small, medium, and large sizes and you can choose exactly what list you see there. Any glance at your Home Screen will help you figure out what music, movie, or TV to sit back and relax to next.
I’m a huge fan of new apps (obviously) as well as movies, shows, and any other creative outlet created by others and Sofa gives me a better-than-ever method of keeping track of everything out there. Movies are now launching on streaming services, everyone and their mother has a podcast, and I can’t count how many books I have stacking up. While I don’t necessarily get through more than I did before, at least I know my progress and have a far easier time deciding what’s next.
But enough about other people's apps.
