Moviebase vs Sofa Time: Android vs iOS Tracker

Overview

When you compare Moviebase and Sofa Time, one difference decides most of the outcome before you even look at features: the platform. Sofa Time is an iPhone and iPad tracker, available only on iOS and iPadOS. Moviebase is an Android app, with no iOS or web version. So the honest answer often comes down to something simple, which is the phone you already carry. If you are on iPhone, Sofa Time is in the running and Moviebase is not, and if you are on Android, the reverse is true.

Both apps are aimed at people leaving TV Time, which is shutting down after July 15, 2026, and both take portability seriously. Sofa Time has a clean, polished interface and syncs with Trakt and Simkl, and it has announced support for importing your TV Time history directly. Moviebase syncs bidirectionally with Trakt.tv, tracks movies and TV shows together, and adds free viewing statistics in an ad-free interface. Neither one traps your data the way TV Time did.

Because the platform split is so clean, this comparison is less about declaring a winner and more about matching the app to your device and your habits. Below is where each one is genuinely strong, so you can pick with confidence rather than switch twice.

Key Differences

Platform Is the Decider

There is no way around this one. Sofa Time runs on iPhone and iPad only, and Moviebase runs on Android only. There is no overlap, so for most people the choice is made by the device in their pocket rather than by a feature checklist. An iPhone user cannot install Moviebase, and an Android user cannot install Sofa Time, so comparing their menus in detail matters less than being honest about who can actually use each app.

This is also where Moviebase's own limitation is clearest. It has no iOS app and no web client, which means iPhone and iPad owners are better served elsewhere, and Sofa Time is a strong option for exactly those people. If you switch phones often or share tracking across an iPhone and an Android device, keep in mind that neither app follows you across ecosystems on its own. The thing that does travel with you is your data, which is the next point.

Data Portability Through Trakt

Both apps are built around the idea that your history should be yours. Sofa Time syncs with Trakt and Simkl, and it has announced direct TV Time import, so it can pull your history in and keep it mirrored to services that outlive any single app. Moviebase syncs bidirectionally with Trakt.tv, covering watch history, ratings, watchlist, and collections, so the same portability is there on the Android side.

The shared Trakt support is what makes moving between these apps painless. If you import your TV Time history into Trakt, both Moviebase and Sofa Time can read from it, and Moviebase writes changes back to Trakt as you watch. That means your library is not locked to your current phone. If you move from Android to iPhone or back, connecting the new app to the same Trakt account brings your history along. Our guide on how to sync Trakt walks through connecting an account, and Moviebase's Trakt-first approach is covered in more depth in the Moviebase vs Trakt comparison.

Scope and Experience

Past the platform question, the two apps emphasize different things. Sofa Time is known for a clean, polished iOS design, with the kind of interface that feels at home on iPhone and iPad, plus Simkl sync alongside Trakt for people already invested in that service. If you want a native Apple experience that looks and feels the part, that polish is a real reason to choose it.

Moviebase leans into scope and quiet utility on Android. It tracks movies and TV shows in one app rather than focusing on series alone, adds free viewing statistics that break your habits down by genre, network, and time, and shows streaming availability through TMDB so you know where to watch. A release calendar and smart notifications handle new episodes, and the whole thing is ad-free. Neither approach is a knock on the other. Sofa Time is a refined single-platform tracker for Apple users, and Moviebase is a broader movies-and-TV tool for Android users.

Which Should You Choose?

This is one of the rare comparisons where the fair recommendation is straightforward. Choose Sofa Time if you are on iPhone or iPad. It is a polished, native tracker for Apple devices, it syncs with both Trakt and Simkl, and its announced TV Time import support makes it a sensible landing spot for former TV Time users in the Apple ecosystem. Moviebase is simply not an option there, and pretending otherwise would not help you.

Choose Moviebase if you are on Android. It tracks movies and TV together, syncs bidirectionally with Trakt, adds free statistics, and stays ad-free and focused. Because it is Trakt-first, your history stays portable, so a future switch is never a dead end.

If you are moving off TV Time, the shared Trakt support is the detail that makes either choice safe. Import your history into Trakt once, and you can point Moviebase or Sofa Time at the same account, which most people report brings over roughly 95% of their data. For the full landscape, see our TV Time alternatives roundup and the best Android alternative guide, so you can match a tracker to your phone the first time.

Frequently Asked Questions