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I Like Movies vs Cronica

This page is written by the developer of I Like Movies. A comparison written by one side is not neutral, so it names where the other app is the better choice and does not score anything.

I Like Movies as a Cronica alternative

Cronica is a clean, open-source watchlist and tracker for the Apple ecosystem: films and TV on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Vision Pro, synced through your own iCloud, with no account and no social layer. It is deliberately minimal, and good at that.

I Like Movies is a phone app for iPhone and Android built around deciding what to watch as much as recording it, with recommendations, an assistant, and a library the people you live with can share. The two overlap on tracking and part ways on scope, sync and platform. This page lays the split out.

Where Cronica is better

Across every Apple device

Cronica runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Vision Pro and syncs through iCloud. I Like Movies is a phone app for iPhone and Android. If your world is all Apple and you want your tracker on the Watch or the living-room TV, Cronica reaches devices we do not.

Open source and account-free

Cronica is open source and keeps your data in your own iCloud with no account to create and nothing on someone else’s server. I Like Movies keeps your library on its own server behind an account, which is what lets a household share it. If you want no account and your data staying in iCloud, Cronica is built that way and this app is not.

Minimalist by design

Cronica is deliberately spare: a watchlist, episode tracking, release alerts and JustWatch streaming links, with no feed and nothing to tune. I Like Movies is a fuller app. If you want just the tracker and none of the rest, Cronica’s focus is the point.

What is different in I Like Movies

A household shares one library

The people you live with can see each other’s watchlists, share one collection of what you own, and decide in a household chat. Cronica is a personal tracker synced to your own iCloud, one library for one person.

Recommendations and an AI assistant

Discover collections are rebuilt monthly from your ratings, and an assistant answers plain-language requests filtered against what you have already seen. Cronica is a tracker and a watchlist; recommending what is next is not what it is for.

On Android as well, on one account

The same account works on iPhone and Android, so a mixed-phone household is on one shared library. Cronica is Apple-only, so a household with an Android phone in it cannot all be on it.

Imports your existing library

A Letterboxd, IMDb, Trakt or TV Time export imports your ratings and watchlist directly, so years of history come across. Cronica builds up from search rather than importing those files.

Feature by feature

Feature I Like Movies Cronica
Platforms iPhone, Android iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Vision Pro
Films and TV in one library Yes Yes
Episode-level tracking Yes, per episode Yes, per episode
Shared household library Yes No, personal via iCloud
AI recommendations Yes, from your own ratings No
Streaming availability Yes, per country Yes, via JustWatch
Import Letterboxd, IMDb, Trakt and TV Time exports None; builds from search
Price Free, no ads Free, open source

Moving your library

There is no Cronica import. Cronica keeps your library in your own iCloud, and I Like Movies reads Letterboxd, IMDb, Trakt and TV Time exports, so a Cronica library starts fresh here. If your ratings also live on Letterboxd, IMDb or Trakt, importing from there recovers most of it; otherwise progress is set as you go, and marking a season watched takes a tap.

What I Like Movies does not do

The honest verdict

If your world is entirely Apple and you want a minimal, open-source tracker on every device including the Watch and the TV, with your data in your own iCloud and no account, Cronica is the better fit and this page will not pretend otherwise.

If you want films and TV in one library shared with your household, recommendations built from your own ratings and an assistant you can ask, and the same account on Android as well as iPhone, that is what I Like Movies is built for.

Questions people ask

Is there a Cronica alternative with recommendations?

I Like Movies covers the same tracking and adds recommendations from your own ratings and an assistant you can ask in plain language, on iPhone and Android. Cronica is a deliberately minimal tracker and watchlist, so if you want suggestions of what to watch next as well as a record of what you have seen, that is the difference.

Does Cronica sync across devices?

Yes, through iCloud across your Apple devices, including iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Vision Pro. I Like Movies syncs through your account instead, which works across iPhone and Android and is what lets a household share one library.

Can I import my Cronica library into I Like Movies?

There is no direct Cronica import. I Like Movies reads Letterboxd, IMDb, Trakt and TV Time exports only, so if your ratings also live on one of those, import from there; otherwise a Cronica library is rebuilt as you go, and marking a season watched takes a tap.

Is Cronica free?

Yes, Cronica is free and open source. I Like Movies is also free, with no ads and nothing to upgrade.

More comparisons: Letterboxd, Trakt, Simkl, IMDb, Serializd, Maimovie, Moviebase, JustWatch, Matinee, Flick. Or browse every guide and watch order.

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