Private Notes on TV Episodes and Films, Just for You
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Some things you want to remember about a show are not for anyone else. Why you stopped in season three. Who told you to watch it. The theory you had before the finale. The line that made you cry.
A comment is the wrong place for that. Comments are made to be read. A rating is too small. So OpenTV has private notes: one short note on any show, any episode and any film, kept on your phone and nowhere else.
They are free, and they work with no account.
Where to find them
Open a show, an episode or a film. On its page there is a row called My note.
If you have not written anything yet, it says Add a private note. There is a small lock on the right, so you can see at a glance that it is private.
Tap the row, write, and save. From then on the row shows your note instead of the prompt.
One note per thing
Each show, each episode and each film has its own note. They do not mix.
- A note on the show is for the whole series. "Started this because Sam would not stop talking about it."
- A note on an episode is for that episode. "Rewatch the last ten minutes before season 2."
- A note on a film is for the film. "Saw it on a plane. Deserves a proper screen."
Specials count too. If a show has a special episode, it can have its own note.
Editing and deleting
Tap the row again to change the note. To delete it, clear the text and save. An emptied note is gone, not stored as a blank.
A note is meant to be a few lines, or a paragraph when something really got to you. It is not a diary with chapters, and it is capped so that one huge paste cannot bloat your backups.
Who can see it
Nobody but you. The line under the editor says it plainly: "Only on this phone. Never shared or published."
That is not just a setting. It is how notes are built:
- Notes are never sent to the OpenTV server.
- They never appear on your profile or on any shelf you publish.
- They are not part of your comments, so nobody can reply to them.
- They are not counted or read by analytics. Even a tap on the note row is not tracked.
If you join the community, your comments and ratings can be public if you choose. Your notes still are not.
Notes and backups
Because notes live on your phone, keeping a copy is your job, the same as the rest of your library.
Notes are included in OpenTV's own backup file, the one you can export yourself and keep wherever you like. When you restore from that file, your notes come back with everything else.
There is one exception worth knowing. OpenTV Backup, the optional backup to OpenTV's server that comes with Plus, builds its copy without your notes. That is on purpose: a note that is never on our server cannot leak from it.
For more about keeping a copy that lasts, see how to track TV shows offline, with no account and what happens to your watch history when a tracker shuts down.
Bringing notes from another app
If you used Simkl, its memos come across as private notes when you import a Simkl backup. They land on the right show or film, ready to read. See how to move from Trakt, Letterboxd, Simkl or IMDb for where to find that file.
Ideas for what to write
People use notes in very different ways. A few that work well:
- Why you stopped. Months later, "too slow after the time jump" saves you from starting again for the same reason.
- Where you heard about it. A friend, a podcast, a thread.
- Who you watched it with. Handy when someone asks "did we finish that?"
- What to look out for. A detail to catch on a rewatch.
- A spoiler-free reaction. One line about how it felt, for your future self.
- A reminder for later seasons. "Character X is the one from episode 4."
Notes, comments and ratings
OpenTV has three ways to say something about a show, and each one has its own job:
- Ratings are a number, for you, and for the community averages if you join.
- Comments are for talking about what you watched. If you join the community, other people can read them and reply.
- Notes are for you alone, always.
You can use all three, one, or none.
Is it free?
Yes. Private notes are free on every show, episode and film, with no ads, no account and no limit on how many things you write notes on.
Get OpenTV
OpenTV is free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad and on Google Play for Android. Open the last show you gave up on and write down why.