Terms & Conditions

Last updated: March 2026

Acceptance of terms

By creating an account or using WatchList, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

What WatchList is

WatchList is a personal media tracking and social watchlist application. It lets you search for movies and TV shows, track what you have watched, build a watchlist of things you want to watch, rate media, and share lists with friends. All media metadata is sourced from TMDB (The Movie Database).

Features and how to use them

Account

  • Registration: create an account with a unique username and email address. Passwords are hashed with bcrypt and never stored in plain text.
  • Login: authenticate with your email and password. A secure, HTTP-only session cookie is issued on successful login.
  • Profile: set an optional display name, bio, and avatar URL. Your profile is visible to your accepted friends.
  • Edit profile: update your display name, bio, and avatar at any time from the profile edit page.

Searching for media

  • Use the Search page (/app/search) to find movies and TV shows by title.
  • Results are fetched live from TMDB. Selecting a result opens the media detail page.
  • Search results support pagination via a Load more button.

Media detail page

Each media item has a detail page showing its title, poster, backdrop, release year, TMDB rating, genres, overview, and an IMDb link where available. From this page you can:

  • Like or Dislike the title to record your rating.
  • Mark as Watched to add it to your watched history.
  • Save to Watchlist to queue it for later.
  • Add to List to add it to one of your shared lists.
  • View Friend Activity — which of your friends have watched or liked this title.
  • View Co-Watch badges indicating which shared lists include this title.
  • Browse Recommendations — a row of related titles suggested by TMDB.

Watchlist

The Watchlist page (/app/watchlist) shows all media you have saved with the Save button. Items can be removed from the watchlist from this page or from the media detail page.

Watch history and liked media

Your watched and liked media are visible on your profile under the Watched and Liked tabs. You can set each tab to Public or Private. When public, accepted friends can see your lists; when private, only you can see them.

Friends

  • Search for users from the Friends page (/app/friends) by username.
  • Send a friend request to any user. They will see a pending request they can accept or decline.
  • Accept or decline incoming requests from the Friends page.
  • Remove an existing friend from their profile page.
  • Friend activity (who watched or liked a title) is only shown to mutual friends.

Profile pages

  • Your own profile is accessible at /app/profile/[username].
  • Other users' full profiles (watched, liked tabs) are only visible to accepted friends. Non-friends see a limited view where they can send or respond to a friend request.
  • Profile tabs: Watched, Liked, Lists (own profile only), App Settings (own profile only).

Shared lists

Shared lists let you and your friends curate a collection of media together.

  • Create a list from the Lists page (/app/lists). Give it a name.
  • Add media to a list from any media detail page using the Add to List button.
  • Manage members — as a list owner or member, you can add friends to the list or remove members.
  • Remove media from a list on the list detail page.
  • Delete a list — only the list owner can delete the entire list.
  • All members of a list can see the same media and activity within it.

App Settings

From the App Settings tab on your profile you can:

  • Toggle colour mode between Dark and Light.
  • Choose a UI style from 11 available themes: Default, Neo-Brutalism, Flat, Minimalist, Anime Pop, Cartoonish, Windows XP, Retro Terminal, Glassmorphism, Y2K, and Luxury.
  • Write custom CSS that is injected into the app, allowing you to personalise the appearance beyond the built-in themes.
  • Install the PWA — add WatchList to your device's home screen for an app-like experience (shown when your browser supports installation).

Account responsibilities

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account. If you believe your account has been compromised, notify the instance administrator immediately.

You must provide accurate information when creating your account and keep it up to date.

Prohibited conduct

You may not use WatchList to:

  • Distribute, sell, or sublicense access to the service.
  • Attempt to gain unauthorised access to other users' accounts or data.
  • Transmit any content that is unlawful, harassing, or otherwise objectionable.
  • Interfere with or disrupt the operation of the service.
  • Scrape or harvest user data in an automated manner.

Third-party content

Movie and TV show data displayed in WatchList is sourced from TMDB (The Movie Database). This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB. All media metadata, posters, and related content are the property of their respective rights holders.

Limitation of liability

WatchList is provided "as is" without any warranty of any kind, express or implied. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the operators of this service shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of, or inability to use, the service.

Changes to terms

These terms may be updated from time to time. The "last updated" date at the top of this page reflects when changes were last made. Continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.

Governing law

These terms are governed by and construed in accordance with applicable local law. Any disputes arising from these terms shall be resolved in the jurisdiction of the instance operator.