justwatch.com
JustWatch is a search engine that helps users track down specific titles and where to find them. In addition to helping users save money on their streaming service, JustWatch also includes information on the specific title's price.
JustWatch is a great program for people who are cutting the cord. More and more people each day are subscribing to multiple streaming services instead of relying on traditional cable and satellite companies. JustWatch takes the guesswork and research out of streaming so viewers can just find where the best prices for their favorite shows are all in one place.
The service provides a watchlist feature which allows users to view all their watchlisted titles in a singular space. This is particularly useful as it avoids having to queue on various streaming sites, instead allowing users to keep up with everything at once. Additionally, the watchlist feature is particularly interesting as it allows users to track their progress and see how much they have watched of each title.
Website Design
Website design is one of my favorite things to work on 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, 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 an alternate menu for things like FAQ, apps, about us, talent, press, API, imprint, and privacy policy.
The secondary menu consists of 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 is a search engine that offers viewers the ability to find movies and television shows. The watchlist and the recommended titles are standout features of the website.
The site's organizational system is incredible. Their main categories include filtering movies or TV shows. Even further, the system allows you to choose the genre, year released, price, and rating. The website pulls prices from all streaming services and tells viewers which service offers the best rate for the title.
I, before creating a membership with JustWatch, played around with the quiz settings. I found the quiz to be fun and simple to take, with viewers able to choose from an enormous list of titles, including movie or series posters. Every time they click one they like it loads more related titles. From this test, I found old obscure movies I forgot all about. The 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 of JustWatch is good. It has a unique color scheme that mimics night mode, and it 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 categories are collapsed some. It's easy to open the other categories to search.
The mobile application is great. It's a streamlined experience. The app translates the web page into an easily accessible search engine experience. The menus are on the bottom in the app and 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 the app functions almost just as well.
Positives
There are many positive features to the website JustWatch. The streaming websites that have popped up recently can be confusing, but JustWatch makes it easy to find the best prices by pulling up titles and supplying information on which websites have the best deals.
Despite the fact that Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu are the top streaming services on the market, JustWatch looks at all of them to find the lowest prices. They also have options based on whether you would rather stream or buy the title.
The onboarding process is one of my favorite features about the JustWatch experience. After clicking on titles I like, more titles that are similar appear. The quiz is straight-forward, but some of the shows and movies that popped up were new to me and gave me a nice dose of nostalgia.
The website's recommendations are very accurate. I have found a couple of new shows that I plan to add to my watchlist after using the app for a short time. 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 different 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.
The website JustWatch offers the ability to view content without having to sign up for a membership. This is encouraged, but not compulsory. The website also offers a watchlist feature which remembers your watch history from the browser that accessed it.
Negatives
I haven't come across any negatives about JustWatch, which is great. The website design is very good and the service provided is also great, especially for a free website.
I think it would be helpful if the third hidden menu could be moved to be more visible. Otherwise, I have nothing negative to say about using this streaming search engine.
Improvements Needed
I think the menus on the website could use a little more space. I would move the third menu that contains the about, FAQ, privacy policy, etc. to be at the bottom of the webpage so that it doesn't take up too much space. The streaming guide also doesn't need to be changed as much as the menus; it is already very good, so there is no need for any changes.
Summary
The best streaming service search engine is JustWatch. The branding, logo, website design, and night mode theme are wonderful. 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 sign up, the watchlist is a great centralized place to keep track of titles.
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