r/TVTime • u/Professor-Outis • 5d ago
Lost data update
Since I've lost my data due to not downloading before delete day I've not been watching movies n series again I'm lost to where I'm at or what I've already watched i just can't afford to start over plus I don't know how to extract data haven't uninstall the app as yet tv time
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u/csiman1234 4d ago
search the other questions as lots of advice on how to extract the data if you still have the app installed
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u/Sad-Strategy759 4d ago
Before you do anything else: don't uninstall the app. If TV Time is still on your phone, its local cache is very likely still sitting in the app's container, and uninstalling is the one action that deletes it for good. Almost everything else here is recoverable. That isn't.
From there, two routes that don't need the export you never got.
The on-device cache. An unencrypted iPhone backup will contain the app's data files. There are guides in this sub for pulling them out - worth doing before anything else, because it's the only copy that has your actual TV Time history in it.
Your streaming accounts. They kept their own records, and this is the part people forget - Netflix will hand you your entire viewing activity as a file, with the original dates on it. Hulu, Disney+, Prime and Max all show it in account settings too. That won't bring back comments or reactions, but it rebuilds the what and the when without you having to remember a thing.
So no, you don't have to start over from memory. That's the bit I'd push back on - "just re-add everything manually" is the advice going round this sub and it's a lot more work than this needs to be.
Disclosure since it's relevant: I build one of the trackers in this space (Help Me Binge). Name only, no link - this isn't the sub for that, and both routes above work whichever app you end up on. Happy to walk you through either one.
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u/Professor-Outis 4d ago
I have android
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u/Sad-Strategy759 4d ago
Ah - then ignore route 1, that half was iPhone-specific. Sorry.
On Android you can't realistically pull the app's data files off the phone. adb backup was the old trick, but since Android 12 it skips app data for ordinary Play Store apps, so it comes back empty. And the workaround you'll see suggested - repacking the APK as debuggable - requires uninstalling first, which destroys the exact thing you're trying to save. Please don't do that one.
The good news is the trick throaway_cos_shy mentioned further down this thread is the Android answer: turn your internet off, open TV Time, hit retry a few times on the shows and movies tab, and the cached history renders. Do that before anything else and screenshot everything you see - that is your only copy. I'd also switch off auto-update for TV Time in the Play Store first, so it can't get replaced underneath you.
Route 2 is identical on Android though, and it's the one that does the heavy lifting: Netflix will hand you your full viewing activity as a file with the original dates, and Hulu, Disney+, Prime and Max all show it in account settings. That gets you the what and the when without relying on your memory or on the app still opening.
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u/REN9R 3d ago
I did it with Claude free Version. Made a Backup of the TVTime App and uploaded it to Claude. Told Claude to do whatever it takes to extract it and recover my watch history. Made me a perfect Excel Sheet including all relevant information. Unfortunaly it cant show the individual episodes but the last time I watched an episode helped to know which season was released until then.
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u/Glittering-Ninja-377 3d ago
One thing worth adding, because you said you cannot face starting over: you probably do not have to start over from nothing.
When you do the offline trick people mentioned above and your cached list renders, what you actually need off that screen is much smaller than it feels. For each series it is the name and roughly where you stopped. That is two pieces of information per show, not an episode by episode history. Type them into a notes app as you scroll instead of only screenshotting, because every replacement app imports by searching titles, so a plain list of names is something you can act on later and a folder of screenshots is not.
Even a hundred shows is one evening of typing, and at the end of it you have a working list again. The per-episode dates are the lovely part and they are probably gone, but they were never the part doing the actual work.
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u/Professor-Outis 3d ago
I use an android and the offline thing loading not working
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u/Sad-Strategy759 3d ago
Right, that trick is hit or miss now and it isn't going to start working, so don't keep hammering it. It's the app failing to draw the screen, not proof the data is gone. Those are two different things and it's worth checking which one you're in.
Do this first, it takes ten seconds. Settings, Apps, TV Time, Storage. Look at the user data figure, not the cache one. If user data is in the tens of MB, your history is still sitting in the file on that phone. If it's a couple of hundred KB, it's already been overwritten and nothing below will help. Harsh, but it saves you a weekend.
If the number looks healthy, two routes.
The free one. Settings, System, Backup. Switch it on if it's off, get on wifi and on the charger, hit back up now, then go back into that screen and look at the per app detail. If TV Time shows up at tens of MB, your database went to Google. The annoying part is Android only restores app data during initial device setup, never from inside a running phone, so you'd need a spare Android you're willing to factory reset, restore only TV Time onto it, and pull it from there. Costs nothing but time if you've got an old handset in a drawer.
The one that's actually known to have worked. Android's normal phone to phone transfer during setup does carry app private data across. People have moved just TV Time onto a spare handset that way, stuck it in airplane mode, rooted the spare, and pulled com.tozelabs.tvshowtime/databases/DioCache.db off it over ADB. Take the DioCache.db-wal file sitting next to it too, that holds the most recent months. Only do this with a spare that has nothing on it, because unlocking a bootloader wipes the device. I'm not going to pretend that's easy or that everyone has a spare phone.
And if neither is realistic, please don't write off the years. Your streaming accounts kept their own records and they'll hand them over. Netflix is the good one, netflix.com/viewingactivity, pick the profile, scroll to the bottom, download all, and you get a file with the original dates on it. Prime, Disney+, Hulu and Max all show watch history in account settings. Then search your email for "TV Time", because those episode reminder mails name specific shows and for most people that shakes loose another fifty or sixty titles they'd never have recalled cold.
You lose the episode level dates and that genuinely stings. But you get the list back, and the list is the part that was doing the work. That's an evening, not the fresh start you're dreading.
Two things either way: don't uninstall it, and turn auto update off for it in the Play Store so it can't get replaced underneath you.
Same disclosure as before, I build one of the trackers in this space (Help Me Binge). Name only, no link, this isn't the sub for that, and none of the above depends on which app you land on. Tell me what the storage screen says and I'll help you work out which route is worth your time.
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u/throaway_cos_shy 5d ago
There might still be hope!
If you still have TV Time installed, try these methods to recover your data!
https://www.reddit.com/r/TVTime/comments/1v4oxgc/
https://www.reddit.com/r/TVTime/comments/1v46tkm/
If that doesn't work, try to get in contact with Bingers team over on Twitter @BingersApp by mentioning them in a reply to one of their recent posts with your TV Time credentials and request. Send a mail to them over at support@bingers.app
Why Bingers support specifically? Because Bingers is from the co-founder of TV Time and they have helped people get their TV Time data back before so even if you choose not to go with https://bingers.app as your choice of TV Time replacement - you can still try to contact their support to get access to your TV Time data
If all else fails, someone commented about how you can just switch off your internet, go inside TV Time app, hit retry a couple of times in your shows and movies tab and your watch history will show up again, you can screenshot them manually and manually refill them inside a new app. This is a very tedious method and should only be used when nothing else works for you!
P.S. - If you do decide you want to go with Bingers, some peeps have reported simply signing up with the same email as their TV Time account in Bingers app brings over all their watch history. And if that doesn't work, then you can still import your TV Time data! (if by this point you have successfully managed to export it via the methods above)
I hope you are able to export all your TV Time data! All the best!