How it got here.

5 November 2026

• The poster grid only builds the posters on screen, so big libraries open, scroll, search and switch tabs much faster. Scrolling eases to a stop.
• A small ring in your accent colour shows wherever something is still loading: posters, Psycho tiles, reactions and the YouTube player.
• A Restart button on the player, and a Restart button on the message when a film picks up where you left off.
• Choose the quality for YouTube videos, from 360p to 4K. The button shows what's actually playing.
• IMDb ratings load once at start-up instead of twice, and search waits for a pause in your typing.

5 November 2026

• YouTube reactions remember where you stopped, with a progress line on the thumbnail.
• Keep watching includes YouTube: if a reaction or YouTube episode was the last thing you watched, it's offered first, at the right second, with its show open beside it.
• Previous and Next on the YouTube player, through the series or through a channel's reactions in episode order.
• The reaction you're watching is highlighted in the details panel.
• The Details button is in your accent colour and works over YouTube videos too.

4 November 2026

• YouTube chapters are marked along the play bar, with the chapter's name as you hover.
• Close the details panel and the film or video takes the full width. « Details brings it back.
• Cinema mode works on YouTube videos as well as films.
• Minimising can send Soda Screen to the tray.

4 November 2026

• Psycho mode is a new way to browse. It reshuffles your library around what you've been watching, with the films that best match your recent genres as the biggest tiles.
• Click a tile in Psycho mode and it flips over and grows to show the details and a Play button, while the rest move aside.
• A Keep watching banner when Soda Screen opens, so you can carry on with one click. Turn it off from the banner or in Settings.
• A quick message when new films, shows or episodes turn up in your folders, or a Windows notification if the app is in the tray.
• A Quit button next to Settings, since the window's close button keeps Soda Screen in the tray.

4 November 2026

• The details panel now has just Play, Info and a ⋯ menu for everything else: VLC, IMDb, artwork, the file, fixing a match and removing a title.
• Clicking a poster selects it. The play button is now a small one in the corner, so films don't start by accident.
• Settings has a list of sections down the side that follows you as you scroll.
• Accent colour is kept for what matters. Selected filters get a quiet outline, and episode play buttons light up when you hover.
• New High Contrast theme for low vision: black and white with yellow highlights, and everything 25% bigger.

4 November 2026

• Remove from library: right-click any film or show, or press Delete. Its files stay exactly where they are, and Settings > Removed titles puts it back.
• A refresh button in the top bar looks for new files straight away and retries anything that didn't match.
• Click the grid button again to switch between small, medium and large posters.
• Posters cascade in left to right, top to bottom, and flip over as their artwork arrives.
• New theme: Windows Aero, with Windows 7's sky-blue glass.

3 November 2026

• Info opens as a panel that slides out from the right, over whatever you're doing. Click outside it, or press Esc, to slide it away.
• Opening Info during a film pauses it, and closing the panel puts you back on the film.
• Cinema mode now dims the screen properly.

3 November 2026

• Pages, panels and windows fade and rise into place instead of snapping in.
• Posters lift slightly under the mouse, and the play button pops in.
• Player controls and messages fade away gently.
• Info now opens on top of a film that's playing. It pauses the film, and Back returns you to it.
• Everything stays still if Windows' animation effects are turned off.

3 November 2026

• While a film plays, everything except the picture slowly fades to black. Move the mouse and it all comes back.
• The Info page has a Back bar pinned to the top that says where it goes back to. Esc, Backspace and the mouse's back button work too.
• Cinema mode can be switched off in Settings > Playback.
• Click the Soda Screen name in the top bar to go home: back to Films, with any search cleared.

3 November 2026

• Soda Screen has an icon in the notification area by the clock. Click it to open the app, or right-click to jump to Films, TV or YouTube.
• Closing the window keeps it running in the tray, ready for next time. Anything that's playing pauses first.
• Start with Windows opens it quietly in the tray when you log in.
• Opening Soda Screen again while it's in the tray brings the window back.

3 November 2026

• Every character spot in the app plays Lottie animations on a loop, with still PNGs as the fallback.
• The website's Support section plays the same animation file.
• Visitors who prefer reduced motion see a still frame instead.

3 November 2026

• Seven spots for the character: the top bar, the empty library, “nothing matches”, the empty details panel, the Info page loading and empty states, and About.
• Each spot stays hidden until there's artwork for it.
• New Support Soda Screen button in Settings > About.

3 November 2026

• A new Info button on every film and show opens a full page: backdrop, tagline, UK age rating, runtime, genres and IMDb rating with vote count.
• Cast with photos. Click anyone to see their bio and everything of theirs in your library.
• Director, writers, music, studio, budget and box office.
• Collections show which films in a series you own and which you're missing.
• “More like this in your library”, plus recommendations you don't have yet.
• Where to watch in the UK, powered by JustWatch.
• Trailers play inside the app.

3 November 2026

• The episode you're watching is highlighted, with Now playing, Continue and Up next badges.
• Watched episodes are ticked, and part-watched ones show a progress bar.
• The YouTube player's controls take on your theme's colours.
• The bitrate overlay has a close button.

3 November 2026

• A Discover window on the YouTube tab, with Soda picks (starting with Space King and Dungeon Soup) and popular animated series made for YouTube.
• Series that TMDB knows get proper posters, backdrops and descriptions.
• Shorts are left out, and playlists that list the newest episode first play in the right order.

3 November 2026

• Two new built-in themes, Classic XP and Winamp. Themes can now colour the title bar as well.
• Settings has Save and Cancel pinned to the bottom, so they're always in reach.

3 November 2026

• Reaction channels are searched for YouTube series too.
• Rename a series to change what's searched for.

3 November 2026

• A third tab next to Films and TV. Paste a YouTube playlist link and it's listed like a TV show, episode by episode.
• Picks up where you left off and plays on to the next episode.
• One YouTube key covers both the YouTube tab and reactions.
• Only one copy of Soda Screen can run at a time, which also fixes an update that could loop.

3 November 2026

• Change artwork can choose from every poster TMDB has, filtered to English, no text or all.
• Playing a reaction pauses your film, and Back to the film carries on from the same moment.
• YouTube subtitles can be turned off.
• An optional bitrate overlay and network log for files played from a network drive.
• Better at finding reactions whose titles put the film name in an unusual place.

3 November 2026

• Details, posters and backdrops come from TMDB.
• IMDb ratings come from IMDb's own downloadable dataset, refreshed daily.
• Reactions and reviews use the YouTube Data API with your own free key.
• Settings walks you through getting the key.

3 November 2026

• The Rotten Tomatoes audience score was taken out after checking their terms. More on that on the Why page.

3 November 2026

• Change artwork can open AlternativeMoviePosters.com at the right film, so you can pick a poster you love.
• Image links on your clipboard are filled in for you.
• Cover flow posters have rounded corners and keep their own shape.

3 November 2026

• Poster grid, a list with details, and cover flow, a 3D shelf you scroll left and right.
• Shuffle picks something at random when you can't decide.

3 November 2026

• Right-click a reaction or review to hide it if it's for a different film or show.

3 November 2026

• Use your own image file or an image link for any film or show, or go back to the original.

3 November 2026

• New name, new folder and a new home at sodascreen.co.uk. Your library and settings come across on the first run.

Before November 2026

• Films and episodes play inside the app, built on libVLC.
• Resume, previous and next episode, a pop-out window, and Open in VLC as a fallback.
• Choose audio and subtitle tracks, with English audio by default and subtitles off.
• YouTube reactions and reviews play in the app.

Before November 2026

• The first version: a poster wall for the films on one drive, with ratings and descriptions, which played everything in VLC.
• Then came Films and TV tabs, seasons and episodes, folders chosen in Settings, and themes written in CSS.
• Before that there was a PowerShell prototype, just to see if the idea held up.