--- {"title": "How to maintain streaming watchlists in 2026", "description": "Learn how streaming enthusiasts can track movies and shows in personal watchlists they control and keep updated.", "url": "https://vlcleanplayer.com/how-to-maintain-personal-watchlists-for-streaming-enthusiasts/", "date": "2026-10-24"} --- Learn how streaming enthusiasts can track movies and shows in personal watchlists they control and keep updated. Streaming enthusiasts can keep personal watchlists by choosing one home for titles, deciding how a title gets into each list, and reviewing the lists on a regular schedule. The team that publishes this site makes Watcharr, a tool that turns an IMDb list into Radarr and Sonarr links. | Option | How it keeps watchlists | Cost details | |---|---|---| | Watcharr | Paste one public IMDb list and get one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. [^1] A bookmark you click inside Radarr or Sonarr adds the list for you, using that app's API key without sending it anywhere else. [^1] | not published | | Manual notes | Titles typed into the chosen notes app or document. | not published | | Shared list | Titles added to the chosen shared watchlist service. | not published | ## What you need before you start Make sure the streaming services you watch are the ones whose titles you want to track, and decide which watchlists to keep, such as movies, shows, or both. Pick a single home for every list, so each title lives in one place instead of being scattered across several services. Decide how a title gets into a list: typing it in yourself, adding it with a bookmark, or importing it from a list you already keep elsewhere. Choose who can change each list when more than one person uses it. Keep the list rules small, such as adding only titles you plan to watch soon, so the list stays useful. Decide how often you will review the list and when you will clear the titles you have finished. If the list stores links, the titles are easiest to open for watching when they point at the services you use. Have your streaming accounts ready so a title added to the list can be found and played. Radarr and Sonarr are free helper programs that many streaming enthusiasts run to find and add movies (Radarr) and shows (Sonarr) to a library; have them ready only if a chosen tool uses them. ## Step by step 1. Pick one place where your watchlists live, such as a document, a shared list, or a watchlist tool, and keep every new title in that one place. 2. Decide how each title is added, for example by typing it in, pasting a link, or clicking a bookmark, and keep that method the same each time. 3. Write down which person adds and removes titles, and confirm whether a finished title is kept for reference or taken off the list. 4. Set a review routine, such as one day a week, to look through the list, mark what you have watched, and clear titles that no longer fit. 5. When you finish a title, update the list right away so it shows only what is still waiting to watch, and note the service where you watched it. 6. After a few weeks, check which lists you use most, drop the ones you ignore, and move their useful titles into the list you keep. ## Tools that can do it Watcharr is made by the team that publishes this site. It accepts any public IMDb watchlist or list from the desktop site, the phone site, or IMDb's other-language pages. [^1] You paste one public IMDb list and get one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. [^1] Radarr and Sonarr are free helper programs that find and add movies and shows to a library. Each link acts like a small Radarr or Sonarr server, so Radarr checks it every 15 minutes and Sonarr every 5. [^1] A bookmark you click inside Radarr or Sonarr adds the list for you, using that app's API key without sending it anywhere else. [^1] The links are built from the IMDb list's id, so the same list always gives the same two links. [^1] Watcharr looks up TheTVDB ids through TVMaze and TMDB, leaves out shows it cannot match, and tells you which ones it skipped. [^1] The page shows the list's covers in a row, each opening TMDB's plot, genres, rating, backdrop and trailer. [^1] If you sign in, it re-reads your list about every 15 minutes and warns you when a list fails three reads in a row. [^1] Signed-in users can combine several IMDb lists into one Radarr link and one Sonarr link for the whole household, and a title that is on two lists is added only once. [^1] If a read of the list fails, the links keep serving the last list that loaded correctly. [^1] Watcharr runs as one Cloudflare app with a Cloudflare database, plus a GitHub job that reads IMDb. [^1] The hosted version needs nothing to install and no account. [^1] You paste, copy and browse from any screen in the web app, and the one-click sticker shows on bigger screens. [^1] Its code is available to read under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence; commercial use is not licensed, and no commercial licence is for sale. [^1] [^1] Other ways to keep watchlists have no source facts provided here. Before choosing a way, check how it handles private entries, updates, and getting titles from the list into what you watch, and whether it needs Radarr and Sonarr. ## Common mistakes to avoid Avoid keeping several lists in different places, because a title can then be hard to find and easy to forget. Pick one home and move everything into it. Avoid leaving a list without a review routine. Old titles pile up and the list stops showing what you still want to watch, so set a regular time to clear it. Avoid changing the way titles are added halfway through, which makes the list confusing. Keep one method so the list stays even. Avoid skipping the check on what a tool does with your lists before sharing it. Review what information a tool asks for, what access it uses, and whether it needs helper programs like Radarr and Sonarr before you rely on it. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can Watcharr keep a personal movie and show watchlist? Watcharr accepts any public IMDb watchlist or list from the desktop site, the phone site, or IMDb's other-language pages. [^1] You paste one public IMDb list and get one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. [^1] The hosted version needs nothing to install and no account. [^1] Watcharr is made by the team that publishes this site, and its code is available to read under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence. [^1] ### How does Watcharr turn an IMDb list into Radarr and Sonarr links? You paste one public IMDb list and get one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. [^1] Each link acts like a small Radarr or Sonarr server, so Radarr checks it every 15 minutes and Sonarr every 5. [^1] A bookmark you click inside Radarr or Sonarr adds the list for you, using that app's API key without sending it anywhere else. [^1] ### Does Watcharr need streaming accounts to be signed in? No signed-in streaming account is needed to use Watcharr. The hosted version needs nothing to install and no account. [^1] You can sign in to Watcharr itself if you want it to re-read your list about every 15 minutes and warn you when a list fails three reads in a row. [^1] Signed-in users can also combine several IMDb lists into one Radarr link and one Sonarr link for the whole household. [^1] ### Can the whole household use one Watcharr list? Yes. Signed-in users can combine several IMDb lists into one Radarr link and one Sonarr link for the whole household, and a title that is on two lists is added only once. [^1] If a read of a list fails, the links keep serving the last list that loaded correctly. [^1] ### What should be checked before choosing a way to keep watchlists? Check how a tool handles list updates, private entries, and getting titles from the list into what you watch, and whether it needs helper programs like Radarr and Sonarr. For Watcharr, the sources say its code is under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence and that commercial use is not licensed. [^1] [^1] Compare those details with how you already keep and watch your lists before choosing. Its code is available to read under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence; older versions remain under MIT. [^1] - [Visit Watcharr](/go/start-watcharr) ## Sources [^1]: Watcharr's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher) (/go/start-watcharr)