Introducing Film Tracker

21st December 2011 CakePHP Film General

As with my previous app to track the TV Shows I watch, I also wanted an app to track the Films I've watched and also the ones that are on my to-do list. Using the previous app as a codebase I quickly managed to port it over to deal with Films so here it is.

The app is free to use for a 7 day trial and after which you can pay a one time amount of ten english pounds and you can use it forever and ever (I guess until I die and the server it's on is shutdown). Have a nosey around and visit the application on film-tracker.co.uk and let me know what you think.

What's it built with?

As you probably guessed it's using the CakePHP framework, I used the TV Show Tracker code as a base and modified it to deal with Films. I've previously created a library to query themoviedb.org API which is availble from CodeCanyon and I used this to search for films and bring back all the relevant information and high-res images. It works well and the API is free to use once you request a key.

The site design is very minimal and was built with the iPhone & iPad in mind. It uses the Skeleton CSS framework which makes use of CSS Media Queries to change the layout depending on the screen width. Test it in action by resizing the browser or use an iPhone/iPad when using the Film Tracker App. This was one of the main features I had planned from the start and I think it works and looks really good at different screen sizes.

Features

Track your Films from anywhere with an internet connection
Optimised for mobile devices, specifically the iPhone & iPad
Change Film Images using your browers
Easily mark a Film as watched
Hide watched Films
Settings page to show/hide watched Films

Why Charge?

I've spent quite a lot of time building & polishing the app and if it's something people will use on a regular basis like I do then I thought it would be worth something. It isn't much for a lifetime one off payment and some people will unfortunately be put off by it but stick with me and give it a try.

There are a number of apps out there that do the same thing, the beautiful Letterboxd is pretty amazing. The interface is a joy to use however it's not designed for mobile devices and has more of a social aspect. That's great but I wanted somthing really simple and clean with the core functionality to add films and mark them as watched.