An app to rate TV shows with friends settles an old argument: is the show everyone keeps recommending really that good, or did you only half get into it? In Viewers each of you gives the whole show a score from 0 to 10, inside a private group, and the comparison shows up on its own.
Why rating shows with friends is not like rating movies
A movie takes one evening. A show stays with you for weeks or months, and every friend watches at their own pace. One binged it over a weekend, another is halfway through, a third gave up after episode three. That changes what you need:
- One score per show, not per episode. In Viewers a show is rated as a single title. You score it once you have a real opinion about it, not every time an episode ends.
- A way to talk without ruining it. Whoever is ahead wants to discuss the ending. Whoever is behind does not want to hear it. You need a place where spoilers are flagged.
- A comparison with your own people. A show's average score online tells you nothing about whether your brother will like it. The score your oldest friend gave it does.
How to rate TV shows with friends in Viewers, step by step
- Create a free account at viewers.app. It runs in the browser, so there is nothing to download.
- Rate the shows you have already watched. The rating screen deals out posters of movies, shows and books. Swipe right if you have watched it and give it a score from 0 to 10, left if you are not interested, up to keep it for later. Looking for a specific show? It is in the catalogue, with poster, year and synopsis.
- Create a group and send the invite. Only the people you invite get in. It can be the office crowd that follows the show of the moment, your partner, or the family.
- Open the group ranking. For every show you see each member's score and the group average. It quickly tells you who is generous with TV and who is the harshest critic in the room.
- Talk in the show's forum. Every title has its own thread inside the group, with spoiler warnings.
Following a show together without spoilers
The group chat is the worst place to talk about a show. Someone mentions what happens in the last episode and the surprise is gone for everybody else. In Viewers each show gets its own forum inside the group, apart from everything else, and posts that give something away carry a spoiler warning. If you have not caught up, you see the warning and choose whether to open it.
Meanwhile, everyone scores the show when they finish it, not before. The ranking only shows numbers, never plot, so the slowest watcher is safe there. When the last person in the group finishes and rates it, their score lands next to yours and the real conversation can start.
The group's TV ranking: what an average score will not tell you
Once several friends have rated the same shows, Viewers compares the scores straight away:
- Group ranking. Shows ordered by your group's scores, with each member's score alongside. It is the most reliable list of recommendations you will get, because it comes from people you know.
- Affinity. Who you agree with and who you clash with, worked out from the titles you have both rated. If you agree with someone on TV, their next recommendation is worth more than any list.
- Your biggest clash. The show where you are furthest apart. You gave it a 9, your friend gave it a 4: that is a whole dinner's worth of argument.
Why a 0 to 10 score beats "watched / not watched"
Plenty of show trackers only record whether you have watched something or plan to. That keeps you organised, but it says nothing about what you thought. Two people can watch the same ten shows and have opposite taste, and a watched list cannot tell them apart.
With a 0 to 10 scale that everyone shares, every score carries meaning. An 8 and a 5 on the same show say far more than two ticks. And since the scale is the same for movies, shows and books, all of it fits in one group: you can compare a series with the novel it came from without switching apps. If you want to do the same with films, read the guide to the app to rate movies with friends.
When Viewers is not the right tool
- If you want to log every episode. Viewers rates the show as one title, not episode by episode. If you need an airing calendar or a tally of every episode watched, look elsewhere.
- If you want somewhere to stream the show for free. Viewers tells you which streaming platform has it in your country, but it does not host or stream anything.
- If you will only rate on your own. It works, but the interesting part starts when two or three friends join the group.
Free and on your phone, no app store involved
Rating, groups, the forum and the seven games to play with your group cost nothing. There is no subscription and there are no ads. Viewers is a web app: on iPhone you add it to the home screen from Safari, and on Android Chrome offers "Install". Your scores are only seen by the groups you choose, and you can delete your account with everything in it whenever you like.
Start for free, rate the shows you remember and send the invite to the friend you argue with most about TV.
Do you rate each episode or the whole show?
The whole show. In Viewers each show is one title, and every member of the group gives it a score from 0 to 10.
How do I avoid spoilers if my friends are further ahead?
Every show has its own forum inside the group, and posts with spoilers carry a warning. You decide whether to open them.
Can I see where a show is streaming?
Yes. Each title's page shows where to stream it in your country. Viewers does not stream anything itself: it only tells you where the show is.
Can my friends see all my scores?
Only the groups you choose can see your scores. Nobody outside your groups sees what you have rated.
Does it cost anything?
No. Rating, groups, the forum and the games are free, with no ads and no subscription.