justwatch.com
JustWatch is a streaming search engine that helps users track down specific titles and where to find them, including their price.
JustWatch is an excellent program for individuals who are cutting the cord. More people each day are subscribing to multiple streaming services, rather than relying on traditional cable and satellite companies. JustWatch can help viewers find specific shows at the best prices all in one central location. It eliminates the guesswork and research involved in streaming.
First, it eliminates the need to browse through different tabs or pages. Second, it provides a consolidated view of all your current subscriptions, so you can easily see what you've been missing. Finally, because it's a watchlist, you can add titles directly to your schedule, allowing for seamless playback.
The service offers a search engine and watchlist that lets users view all of the titles they have watched in one place. The watchlist is particularly helpful because it eliminates the need to look through different tabs or pages and provides a consolidated view of all your current subscriptions. Additionally, users can add titles to their schedule directly, making them easy to play back without interruption.
Website Design
Designing a website is one of my favorite things to do when it comes to search engines. JustWatch is a night mode themed website that resembles streaming sites, but has enough differences to set itself apart as its own identity. The logo and branding are good, and it is simple and easily recognizable as a dark grey background with pixels simulating a play button.
The menus are easy to navigate. The top menu is the logo, home, new, popular, watchlist, and search. Beside the search bar is a join button. Apart from the yellow create account tab there is also an alternate menu for things like FAQ, apps, about us, talent, press, API, imprint, and privacy policy.
The secondary menu has an intricate filter for movies and television shows. The categories include movies/tv series, release year, genre, price, and rating. The categories are further broken down in the tabs to optimize searches. It is very cool to be able to search by genre and year to find what is available.
Content
JustWatch? content is a search engine that allows viewers to find shows and movies they are looking for. The watchlist and the recommended titles are standout features on the website.
The website's organizational system is incredible. Their main categories include filtering movies or tv shows. Even further, the system allows users to choose the genre, year released, price, and rating. The website pulls prices from all streaming services and notifies viewers which service offers the best rate for the title.
Before creating a membership, I tinkered with the quiz settings on JustWatch?. The quiz is fun and simple to take, and viewers can choose from an enormous list of titles, including the movie or series poster. Every time you click one you like it loads more related titles. I found a ton of old obscure movies I forgot all about by doing this test. Results are used to create personalized recommendations for viewers. It?s similar to Netflix but better! Some of the categories are based on other users? watch history that has similar tastes.
Desktop & Mobile Accessibility
The desktop browser version is good and offers a unique color scheme that mimics night mode. JustWatch uses more of a navy blue monochromatic color instead of black with accents of yellow. The menus are a bit all over the place, but because the program is so great, it is forgivable. The hidden menu is the one that is not needed very often and contains the FAQ, about, and other categories that do not directly pertain to streaming.
The mobile browser is mostly the same, but the category arrangement is rearranged. It's easy to open the other categories to search. The mobile application is great. It's a streamlined experience. The app translates web pages into an easily accessible search engine experience. The menus are on the bottom in the app, and they're simplified to only include home, new, popular, and watchlist. The search is easily identifiable in the top right corner beside the JustWatch logo. The best way to use this service is more than likely through the web browser, but using the app functions almost just as well.
Positives
Many positive features exist with JustWatch. There are many streaming websites that have appeared in such a short amount of time. JustWatch simplifies the process of selecting a provider by pulling up titles and providing viewers with information on what websites have the best prices.
Although Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu are the top streaming services on the market, JustWatch considers all of the available streaming services. The website brings viewers the lowest prices for titles that are available to stream or buy. They also offer options based on whether you would rather stream the title or buy it.
The onboarding process of JustWatch is one of my favorite features. After taking the quiz, users are presented with similar titles they may have missed. The quiz itself is straight-forward, but some of the titles that popped up reminded me of shows and movies I had forgotten about. It was a nice reminder of my favorite past memories.
The website's recommendations are very accurate and I have found a couple of new shows to add to my watchlist in just a short time using the app. The watchlist is very helpful for people who consume a lot of media and have a hard time keeping track of series and episodes.
The JustWatch organization system is great. It reminds me of the Netflix organization system, but better. There are categories based on what other users with your watch history also like. Top titles on free services is another great category! There is also a button at the bottom of the page to refresh recommendations.
One of the nice features on the JustWatch website is that users do not have to sign up in order to utilize the content offered. It is encouraged to sign up, but not a necessity. You can even use the watchlist feature without signing up for a membership. The website remembers your watch history from the browser that accessed it.
Negatives
There are few negative aspects to JustWatch. The website design is very well done. The service provided is excellent, especially for a free website!
I think it would be helpful if the third hidden menu in the streaming search engine could be moved to be more visible. Otherwise, there is nothing negative about using this streaming search engine.
Improvements Needed
I would like to see the third menu that contains the about, FAQ, privacy policy, etc. move to the bottom of the webpage. The streaming guide doesn't really need it since the website is already so good.
Summary
One of the best streaming service search engines is JustWatch. The branding, logo, and website design are wonderful. The night mode theme feels modern and the search engine allows users to find unbeatable prices. The watchlist is a great feature that allows viewers to track all of their favorite media in one place instead of multiple streaming service queues. The most amazing part about using JustWatch is that it is 100% free. Users are not pressured into making an account. Unless you are using the website across multiple devices, there is no need to sign up. However, if you do, the watchlist is a great centralized place to keep track of titles.