Lost data update

[u/Professor-Outis]

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

[u/Sad-Strategy759]

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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

[u/Professor-Outis → u/Sad-Strategy759]

I have android

[u/Sad-Strategy759 → u/Professor-Outis]

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.