The problem
Streaming services have made browsing films beautiful. Big posters, backdrops, ratings, “more like this”. Meanwhile, the films you actually own sit in folders with names like Heat.1995.1080p.BluRay.x264.mkv, and you open them in a media player that looks like a spreadsheet.
Soda Screen gives your own collection the same treatment, without asking you to upload it, subscribe to anything or tidy up a single file name.
What it holds to
- Your files stay yours. Nothing is uploaded, moved or renamed. Soda Screen only goes online to fetch details and artwork, and to play YouTube videos you ask for.
- No accounts. No sign-up, no cloud library, no tracking.
- No AI. Titles are matched from file names, and every fact comes from a real film database.
- It plays everything. If a file won't play, the app has failed, not you. That's why it's built on libVLC.
- Designed, not just built. It's made by a designer, so it should look good out of the box and let you restyle all of it.
- Free. No adverts, no paid tier, no catch.
Where the information comes from, and why
Plenty of apps scrape whatever websites they like. Soda Screen doesn't. Before each data source went in, its terms were read, and the app only uses what the owners allow.
| Source | Used for | Why this way |
|---|---|---|
| TMDB | Details, posters, backdrops, cast, trailers, recommendations, collections | The Movie Database has an official API made for apps like this. It's credited in the app as their terms ask. |
| IMDb datasets | IMDb ratings and vote counts | IMDb doesn't allow scraping its site, but it publishes an official ratings file for personal, non-commercial use. Soda Screen downloads that file once a day. |
| YouTube Data API | Reactions, reviews and YouTube series | YouTube's terms rule out reading its pages directly, but its official API and embedded player are fine. Everyone uses their own free key. |
| JustWatch, via TMDB | Where to watch in the UK | Provided through TMDB, with the “Powered by JustWatch” credit they require. |
| libVLC | Playing your files | VideoLAN's engine, used under the LGPL 2.1 and shipped as separate files, as that licence expects. |
Things that were left out
Rotten Tomatoes scores were in an early version. Their terms ban automated collection, so they came out again, even though they were popular.
AlternativeMoviePosters.com has a wonderful collection of art. Their terms allow personal downloads but not apps that collect their images. So Soda Screen only opens their site at the right film, and you choose and save a poster yourself.
Why you need your own YouTube key
Every YouTube API key has a daily allowance. If Soda Screen shipped one shared key, a few hundred people would use it up by lunchtime and reactions would stop working for everyone. With your own key, your allowance is yours. It's free, it takes five minutes, and the Guide walks you through it.
The Count my views for creators setting exists because reaction channels earn from views, and watching inside Soda Screen should be fair to them too.
Why it's free
Soda Screen started as a personal project and stays a passion project. It's free to download and free to use. If you'd like to help with the running costs (the domain, the hosting, and time), there will be T-shirts of the Soda Screen character on this site. You'll never see a shop or an advert inside the app.