How to Move Your History from Trakt, Letterboxd, Simkl or IMDb
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Switching trackers is easier than it used to be. Most services let you download your data, and a good importer can turn that file into a library you can keep using. This guide shows how to move your history from Trakt, Letterboxd, Simkl or IMDb into OpenTV, and what to expect from each.
We will be specific about what comes across and what does not. Every service stores things a little differently, and it is better to know before you start.
How importing works in OpenTV
Every import uses the same screen. Open Settings, go to the Library tab, and under Your data tap Import your data. If you are setting up for the first time, tap GET STARTED, then IMPORT YOUR DATA.
The app asks "Where is your history coming from?" Pick the service, tap CHOOSE EXPORT FILE, and select the file you downloaded.
Two things hold for every source:
- Imports merge. Nothing already in your library is removed or overwritten. You can import from several services, one after another.
- Importing twice is safe. A second import of the same file adds nothing new, because nothing is ever duplicated.
When it finishes, the Import Summary shows what came in, and lists anything that needs a look under Needs attention.
Trakt
Where to get the file: on trakt.tv, go to Settings, then Data, then Export. You get a JSON or ZIP file.
What comes across:
- Episodes you watched, with their watch dates
- The shows those episodes belong to, which you will then follow
- Films you watched, with dates
- Your film watchlist
- Your film ratings
What does not: episode ratings and show ratings. OpenTV rates episodes, and Trakt mostly rates shows. Spreading one show score across every episode would invent opinions you never gave, so we leave them out.
Shows are matched by their TheTVDB id, the database OpenTV uses. A show with no TheTVDB id in the file is skipped rather than guessed by name, so check the summary if something you expected is missing.
Simkl
Where to get the file: on simkl.com, go to Settings, then Export. You get a JSON file.
What comes across: the same as Trakt. Episodes with dates, shows, watched films, your film watchlist (Simkl's "Plan to Watch") and film ratings.
One thing to know: some Simkl exports do not store a date for each episode, only the last date you watched the show. When that happens, every episode of that show arrives with that one date. It is not perfect, but the alternative would be no history at all.
Letterboxd
Where to get the file: on letterboxd.com, go to Settings, then Import & Export. You get a ZIP, or you can use a CSV.
What comes across:
- Films you watched, using your diary dates where you have them
- Rewatches, as rewatches of the same film rather than duplicates
- Films you marked watched before you kept a diary
- Your watchlist
- Your ratings
What to know: Letterboxd covers films only, so this brings your films and no shows. Letterboxd allows half stars, and so does OpenTV, so a 3.5 stays a 3.5.
If you track TV somewhere else, import that too. Your films and shows end up in one place.
IMDb
Where to get the file: on imdb.com, open your Ratings or Watchlist, use the ⋯ menu, and choose Export. You get a CSV file.
What comes across:
- Films you rated, as watched films with your rating
- Your watchlist
- Series you rated, which you will then follow
- Episodes you rated, as watched episodes, where TheTVDB can match them
What to know: IMDb has no watch history. It knows what you rated and when, not when you watched. So OpenTV treats a rated film as a watched film, and uses the date you rated it. IMDb rates out of 10; OpenTV shows that as five stars with halves, so a 7 becomes three and a half stars.
A rated series counts as a follow, nothing more. A rating says you have an opinion of a show, not which episodes you saw, so we do not invent a season of watches for it.
Coming from TV Time
If you have a TV Time export ZIP, that is the richest file of all. It brings back episode dates, episode ratings, emotions, favourite-character votes, lists and more. See how to get your TV Time history back, and what's inside the TV Time export ZIP if you want to look inside first.
After the import
A few checks are worth a minute:
- Open the Import Summary and look at the "Needs attention" list. Tap FIND to match anything by hand.
- Check a couple of shows you know well, to see the episode counts look right.
- Turn on a backup. On iPhone, OpenTV can back up to your own iCloud Drive. On Android, to your own Google Drive. Both are free and need no OpenTV account.
Keep your old account, if you like
Importing does not touch your account on the other service. You can keep using it, or keep it as a second copy. OpenTV also lets you export your whole library in TV Time's file format whenever you want, under Settings, Library, Backup, Export my data. Our reasons for caring about that are in what happens to your watch history when a tracker shuts down.
Try it with your file
OpenTV is free, with no ads and no account needed. Get it on the App Store or Google Play. Comparing apps first? See OpenTV vs Trakt, our TV Time alternatives page, or best free TV show trackers with no ads. Coming from TV Time? Start with the import your TV Time history guide.