Help

Support

Previously is a private, no-account TV show tracker: no timeline, no comments, just what you’re watching and what’s next. Here are the most common questions. If you don’t find your answer, email support@getpreviously.com and we’ll help directly.

Getting started

How do I add a show?

Open the drawer (the menu button) and tap Search. Find your show, open its preview, and track it. Previously fetches and caches all its seasons and episodes so you can browse them offline afterward.

How do I mark an episode watched?

Open the show (from My Shows, Watch List, or Search) and tap the trailing control on any episode row in Show Detail. Marking the up-next episode from the Watch List works the same way, right from the home screen.

How do I mark a whole season watched?

In Show Detail, use the season’s “mark watched” action to mark every episode in that season at once.

What does “mark watched up to here” do?

From an episode in Show Detail, you can mark everything up to and including that episode as watched in one action (handy for catching up quickly after a binge). Bulk actions like this (whole season, or “up to here”) apply immediately and show a brief Undo control afterward, so you can reverse a mistake without a confirmation dialog getting in the way first.

Watch List vs. Upcoming

Home has two views, toggled at the top:

  • Watch List answers “what do I watch next?”: one row per show you’re actively watching with an unseen episode ready, showing the exact episode to play and how many are queued up. Marking it seen advances the row in place immediately, ordered by what you watched most recently.
  • Upcoming answers “what airs when?”: a full chronological schedule of every future episode across your watching shows, grouped by date. It’s the calendar view, not a second queue.

Spoiler protection

Turn this on in Settings → Watching → Spoiler protection to hide titles, overviews, and still images for any episode you haven’t watched yet, in Show Detail, the Watch List, and Upcoming alike. Unwatched episodes show up as a plain “Episode N” until you’ve actually seen them. It’s off by default, so turn it on if you want to browse ahead without getting spoiled.

iCloud sync across devices

If you use Previously on more than one device, your tracked shows and watch history sync automatically through your own private iCloud account (no Previously account involved; it rides on your Apple Account’s iCloud). The cached show artwork and episode listings are not synced; each device re-downloads that from the show’s metadata source, since it’s easy to rebuild and doesn’t need to travel with your personal data.

Sync not showing up on a second device? Check that:

  • You’re signed into the same Apple Account on both devices.
  • iCloud Drive is turned on for that Apple Account (Settings → [your name] → iCloud).
  • Both devices have a working internet connection. Sync isn’t instant and can take a little longer on a slow connection.
  • You’ve given the app a moment in the foreground on both devices; iCloud sync happens in the background and isn’t always immediate.

Lifetime unlock, trial, and restoring purchases

Previously is free to try in full: tracking your first show starts a 30-day free trial with everything unlocked. After the trial, the app becomes read-only: your existing data stays visible and exportable, but adding shows, marking episodes, and other changes are paused until you buy Previously Forever. It costs US $14.99 as a one-time purchase (not a subscription), localized by the App Store, and unlocks everything forever.

Already purchased on another device, or reinstalled the app? Use Restore Purchases from the paywall screen (or Settings) to reapply your purchase. It’s tied to your Apple Account, not a Previously account, so there’s nothing else to sign into.

Where show data comes from

Show titles, artwork, seasons, episodes, and air dates come from TheTVDB (the primary source) and TVmaze (used automatically as a fallback). Both are community-maintained catalogs, credited in Settings → About → Licenses & Credits.

Something’s wrong or missing (a bad air date, a missing episode, wrong artwork)? That’s almost always upstream in the catalog rather than something Previously can fix directly:

  1. Pull to refresh in My Shows, or open the show and refresh it. This re-fetches the latest data and often resolves stale listings on its own.
  2. If the data is genuinely wrong at the source, report it directly to TheTVDB or TVmaze: both let anyone submit corrections, and fixes flow back into Previously automatically on the next refresh.

Privacy

Previously has no ads, no accounts, and doesn’t sell your data: your watch history stays on your device and your own iCloud. Read the full Privacy Policy for exactly what leaves your device and why.

Still stuck?

Email support@getpreviously.com (also reachable from Settings → About → Contact inside the app) and we’ll get back to you.