Sequel

Being a TV fan in the age of streaming can be confusing. It’s not as simple as when everything was just on cable. There are so many shows on so many services with so many release schedules that it’s hard to keep up. Thankfully, there are plenty of tools out there to help.

The main app I use for keeping up with my favorite shows is Apple’s TV app. It’s excellent for finding and launching titles, and the app’s Up Next queue is the perfect way to make sure I never miss an episode. But that’s just part of the equation.

The Apple TV app is a great reactive approach to TV tracking: A new episode comes out, and I watch it. But sometimes, I want to be more proactive. When does the next episode of my favorite show come out? Has it been renewed for a new season? And what’s the release date for that series I’m really looking forward to? Those are questions I often find myself asking—and usually looking up on the web.

But I’d much rather use an app, a centralized place to quickly and easily find all of that information for all of my shows. What I need is a TV tracker. The problem is that I’ve tried many of them over the years, and none of them stuck. That is, until now. At long last, I think I’ve found the right one for me.

Sequel is an iPhone and iPad app created by Romain Lefebvre for tracking not only TV shows, but also movies, video games, books, and audiobooks. It’s the ultimate media tracker. I’ve been trying it out for the past month, and it’s the first time one of these apps has ever clicked for me. The app is just so good.

For the sake of this article, I’ll mostly be focusing on the TV-tracking features of Sequel, since that is my primary use case. However, the app works much the same way for other media types as well.

Getting started with Sequel is as simple as searching for the item you want to track and adding it to your library. Search is one aspect of media trackers that I’ve always found tricky, but Sequel really nails it. The process is simple, straightforward, and quick at finding just what you need.

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Search results in Sequel for The Last of Us.

When you hit the + button, in Sequel, you’re immediately taken to the search box without having to specify what type of media you’re looking for. Just type what you want, and the app will show the most relevant results across all media types. If you want to get more specific, you can choose to filter the search to only show a certain category, but that step usually isn’t necessary.

For example, if I search for “The Last of Us,” the app will show me results for the video game, the HBO show, and a couple of books based on the game. Results are even color-coded so I can quickly identify what type of media each result is. And I can choose any of the filters across the top of the results if I only want to search for a specific type.

The search view integrates with JustWatch to show where you can stream TV shows and movies in your region. It also shows upcoming releases and trending titles for each media type in case you’re looking for suggestions. It might not seem like a big deal, but the way Sequel handles searching is a big part of what won me over. I can find exactly what I’m looking for quickly and without hassle.

Once you’ve found a title you want to track, you can add it to your library. Sequel creates a separate library for each media type, so you can have up to five libraries total in the app. But in a nice touch, Sequel will only create a library for media types that you’ve purposefully added. Since I only use the app to track TV and films, I don’t have empty libraries for books, audiobooks, and games. Those features won’t appear unless I choose to use them. This keeps the app nice and clean, which I greatly appreciate.

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The library view for Series.

The library view is where things get really fun. When you add a title to your library, it goes into your Watchlist (or Wishlist for books and games). This list is broken down into several sections:

• Out Now shows recently-released titles that you haven’t watched yet.

• Watch Next lists the next episode of series you’re currently watching, much like Apple TV’s Up Next queue.

• Upcoming gives you a glimpse of future releases. It can be configured to show upcoming seasons or upcoming episodes.

• Released is a list of all the titles you’ve added to your library that aren’t in the Upcoming view.

Titles that you’ve completed will move from the Watchlist to the Watched section of the library (or the Read or Played section, depending on the media type) so you can keep a record of all the titles you’ve tracked.

I’ve been very impressed by the structure of Sequel’s library view and the helpfulness of the information it surfaces. Each section has something unique to offer, and they’re all laid out in a way that is easy to understand.

I spend quite a bit of time in the Watch Next and Upcoming sections. Each time I watch an episode of a show, I mark it as watched so that my library is always up-to-date. It’s a great way to keep track of where I’m at in each of the shows I’m watching. (Some might argue that I’d have less trouble if I would fewer shows; I object.)

The Upcoming section is my favorite feature of the app, though. By default, it lists the premiere date for the next season of each show in the library. This is a great way for me to keep up with upcoming Apple TV+ debuts and with when my favorite shows are coming back.

But that’s not all. There is a sorting button at the top of the library view that can unlock the Upcoming section’s secret superpower: upcoming episodes. Rather than listing only future seasons of shows, this setting will turn the Upcoming section into a list of upcoming episodes of all shows in your library, including ones that are currently airing.

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My favorite feature of Sequel: the Upcoming list sorted by upcoming episodes. Isn’t it beautiful?

With this setting, I’ve been able to create something I’ve always wanted but never been able to find: a chronological list of every upcoming episode of every show I’m watching. Now, I can open Sequel at the beginning of the week and find out exactly which of my shows are coming out on which days. If a show I’m watching takes a week off or change its release day, I won’t waste time looking for a new episode. I’ll already know what to expect thanks to my Upcoming list.

When I found this feature of Sequel, that’s when I knew for certain that it was the right TV tracker for me. As a chronic planner, I love having this sort of information available to me at all times. It gives me an idea of what’s to come. And it helps me get excited for all of the shows I love!

The library view adjusts slightly for different media types. The TV library is definitely the most in-depth, but each one is well-designed and made to help you keep track of your favorite media.

Sequel also offers a nice set of widgets for your home screen. You can use them to count down to a particular release, view your Watch Next queue, or quickly launch into a search. Unsurprisingly, the widget I like the most is the Upcoming widget, which shows upcoming releases across all media types in one list. It’s a really great way to keep track of all the fun things you’re looking forward to watching, reading, and playing.

Sequel’s widgets help me get excited for upcoming shows and films.

I keep the Upcoming widget on my home screen right underneath my Up Next queue from the TV app. The two make a perfect pair, and Sequel’s widgets round off an impeccable feature set for an ideal media tracker.

When I first heard about Sequel, I had already fallen off so many media trackers that I was hesitant to even give it a try. But I’m so glad that I did, because it’s become my favorite way to keep up with the shows I’m watching and looking forward to. It fits perfectly with the way my brain works, and it’s unlocked some abilities that I’ve always wanted in an app but could never find before. It is hands-down my favorite media tracker of all time.

If you’re like me and watch a lot of TV that you need to keep track of, or if you’re interested in tracking other types of media like films, books, and games, Sequel is a great way to do it. I highly recommend checking it out. It’s been so useful in helping me to take full advantage of my downtime, and I’m confident it can do the same for you.

Sequel is available to download for free on the App Store. Certain features like widgets, release reminders, and Where to Watch are available as part of Sequel+ for $3/month, $20/year, or a one-time payment of $100.

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If you’d like to hear me rave about Sequel some more in podcast form, check out this recent episode of Magic Rays of Light where Sigmund and I shared our experiences giving the app a try.

Apple’s Pro Apps Come to iPad →

From Apple Newsroom:

Apple today unveiled Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for iPad. Video and music creators can now unleash their creativity in new ways that are only possible on iPad. Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for iPad bring all-new touch interfaces that allow users to enhance their workflows with the immediacy and intuitiveness of Multi-Touch.

Today is a day iPad fans have been looking forward to for a long time. Apple’s pro apps are finally coming to the iPad! Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for iPad will be available in two weeks on Tuesday, May 23.

This is great news not only because we now have two new high-quality apps at our disposal, but also because it represents the quality and power that are possible on apps for the iPad platform. Apple is bringing their very best creative software to the iPad for the first time, setting a high standard for professional iPad software.

A couple of interesting details are the hardware requirements and pricing. Final Cut Pro will require an M-series chip, limiting its compability to the two most recent generations of iPad Pro and the latest iPad Air. Logic Pro is less demanding, running on any iPad with an A12 or newer chip. These requirements make sense to me. It’s actually reassuring to know that Final Cut Pro is taking full advantage of the iPad’s transition to the M-series chips on the high end.

When it comes to pricing, Apple is doing something new with these apps: app subscriptions. Of course, subscriptions have been available in the App Store for years, but this is the first time Apple is selling an app (rather than a service) at a recurring price.

Each app will cost $5/month or $50/year after a one-month free trial. Compared to other software in their categories, Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for iPad are a steal, and the fact that Apple chose a subscription model signals to me that these apps will be well-supported and developed for years to come.

As a long-time iPad devotee, I could not be more excited about this announcement. I’m not sure that I’ll be using these apps day in and day out, but the fact that they exist is a big deal. The iPad, and especially the iPad Pro, just continues to get better and better. And with this step, it’ll be a viable option for a whole new group of creative professionals.

It’s a good day to be an iPad user.

Mona

My favorite Mastodon app, Mona, is now available on the App Store! This is a big day for the app and for its wonderful developer, Jonny Kuang. I’ve had the privilege of testing it out for the past few months, so I thought today I’d share a few of the reasons Mona is my Mastodon app of choice.

• Design: Mona is a good-looking and easy-to-use app. It fits in with the current design of Apple platforms while still maintaining a visual identity of its own. The iconography is straightforward and easy to understand. The app isn’t too opinionated in its design, but it isn’t bland, either. I love the way it feels to use Mona.

• Timeline Media: Many Mastodon apps have struggled to get this right, but Mona nails it from the start. Photos are uncropped and full-size if you want them to be (which I do). Videos autoplay silently. And GIFs loop like they were born to do.

• Threads: If someone you follow shares a response to another post, you often want to see the context of that conversation. This is where timeline threads come in handy, and Mona does a great job of displaying them. Threads look natural in the timeline, encouraging continued conversation.

• Quote Posts: While quote posting isn’t an official Mastodon feature yet, it’s fully functional in Mona. The gives you the ability to quote a post rather than simply reblogbing it so that you can add your own commentary before sharing. And quote posts look awesome in the timeline, too.

• Grouped Notifications: Mastodon is all about interaction, and interaction means lots of notifications. Mona helps you keep your notifications tidy by grouping similar ones together. If you get multiple reposts or favorites on a post, they’ll be grouped together into a single line of notifications, saving screen space and leaving room for other notifications like replies.

• Customization: Mona works great out of the box, and I’m sure lots of people will enjoy it without ever touching a single setting. But for those like me who love tinkering, Mona is endlessly customizable. You can change everything about the app from the navigation tabs to the actions under each post to the color of every element on the screen. There’s even a vibrant community of people sharing themes for Mona to make it look even cooler. You can make the app into exactly the Mastodon app you want, which is just amazing.

• Accessibility: An app can only be considered truly great if it is accessible to everyone. Mona is a shining example of an tool made for all. It’s built from the ground up to be used completely with VoiceOver and includes numerous accessibility options in-app as well. (Accessibility is the topmost category in Mona’s settings.) I’m happy to support an app knowing that it’s inclusive in its design and can be enjoyed by everyone.

These are some of the big reasons why I’m using Mona every day. There are many, many more, but I’ll save those for another day. It truly is an incredible app, and I’m so happy that it’s now available to the world. I highly recommend you give it a try and see if it’s a good fit for you, too.

Mona is available as a free download on the App Store and offers basic functionality at no cost. Additional features can be unlocked on a single device by purchasing Mona Pro ($10) or on all of your devices by purchasing Mona Pro Max ($16), which includes Family Sharing. Those who have previously purchased Jonny’s Twitter client Spring can purchase Mona Pro Max at a discounted price of $9. More details about premium Mona features are available here.

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Complete side note: I somehow made my way into Mona’s App Store/press kit screenshots with my cringey Fast and Furious joke. 😅

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The Fast Saga Movies Make No Sense

I feel like I should start this post with an apology. This isn’t the sort of content you usually come here for. But I’ve had a rant building up in my head for years, and after the recent title reveal of the franchise’s final entry, I can no longer remain silent.

There is no logical coherence—none whatsoever—to the naming of the many, many sequels to 2001’s The Fast and the Furious.

My complaint is completely unrelated to the plot of the films, which I actually quite enjoy. Considering the series is a multi-decade action/racing juggernaut with a good deal of soap opera drama thrown in, we can forgive the odd plot hole, dropped storyline, or retconned fake death. After all, the main purpose of these movies is to have fun; narrative is secondary.

But the titles, they’re just unforgivably bad. And considering the fact that these names are how people will be referring to these films forever, you would expect the creative teams to have done a better job.

Let’s briefly walk through each entry in the series together and consider the franchise’s naming scheme, to the extent that there is one.

• The Fast and the Furious (2001): This is a great name for a movie. It tells you everything you need to know going in: There’s going to be racing, and there’s going to be drama. 10/10.

• 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003): The too/two pun is a little played out, but I’ll give them this one. At the very least, it’s clear that this is a sequel to the first movie.

• The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006): At the time, this seemed more like a spin-off than an actual sequel. But Tokyo Drift is a pretty cool name for a movie, and this film gives us our first indication of what the series is called: The Fast and the Furious. Not bad.

• Fast & Furious (2009): This is where things start to go off the rails naming-wise. The fourth film in The Fast and the Furious franchise is called Fast & Furious? Like, the original name but without the “the”? Maybe it was supposed to be edgy or represent a new, more focused direction for the films, but to me, it just seems lazy.

• Fast Five (2011): We’re going back to the basics. No fancy puns, and no sharing names with a previous, separate film. This movie is about fast cars, and it’s the fifth one. Makes total sense.

• Fast & Furious 6 (2013): What in the world were they thinking here? They go back to the original movie’s title, drop the “the,” and add a six to the end of it. Is it the sixth movie following Fast and Furious? No, that one was only two movies ago. You have to add the silent “the”s back into this one to understand it. This movie name is stupid and should feel bad.

• Furious 7 (2015): Again, the movie titles work best when they are simple. You get some “fast” or some “furious” and a number. It’s all you need. Why mess with perfection?

• The Fate of the Furious (2017): The puns have gotten completely out of control. Someone figured out that an F next to an 8 kind of sounds like “fate,” so they ran with it. It’s not a good play on words, people. The title also implies that this is the final movie since it reveals the characters’ fate. But of course, there are three more movies after this. Or maybe two if you ask Vin Diesel, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

• Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019): The saga’s first and so far only spin-off. Hobbs & Shaw tells us who the main characters are, so that tracks. But confusingly, this film introduces a new name for the series. It’s no longer The Fast and the Furious, it’s just Fast & Furious. Okay then.

• F9: The Fast Saga (2021): This time, they didn’t even bother to pick one of their two F-words. It’s just F this time. You get it, right? The series is also now on its third title, switching to The Fast Saga. I have no idea what to call this loosely-related pile of movies anymore.

• Fast X (2023): As the series nears its end, the creators have decided to honor its legacy by switching to a fancy Roman numeral in the title. How many people are going to call this one Fast Ex? I do give them credit for not trying to make a “Fasten your seatbelts” pun, though. That took some self-control.

• Fast X: Part 2 (2025): And finally, we get to the last entry in the Fast Saga, and perhaps its most poorly-named. I guess ending a series on the number 11 would be awkward, so they decided to make Fast X a two-parter. Because what’s better than one number in the title of a movie? Two numbers.

It’s the second part of the tenth film in the most chaotically- and nonsensically-named franchise in movie history. If anyone remembers these films in 2045, it’s going to take ten solid minutes of searching to figure out which one we’re referring to in conversation. “Was that the one with the ‘the’ in the title or not?”

To be fair, it is very on-brand. The movies are stupid, fun, and shallow with no real message other than, “Cars are cool,” and, “Family is all you need.” But also, most of the villains are somehow related to the heroes, so maybe that last message is a bit murky.

I’m still going to watch the last movie though, both when it releases in 2023 and when it releases in 2025. Because if The Fast Saga—or whatever we’re calling it now—has taught me anything, it’s that explosions and car chases are awesome, and I’ll apparently watch them no matter what the movie’s called.

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Update on July 17, 2023:

During a discussion of the series on Mastodon, Marty Day helpfully pointed out that the Fast Saga films have completely different titles in Japan, and they are amazing. I wish they used these names internationally:

• Wild Speed (The Fast and the Furious)

• Wild Speed X2 (2 Fast 2 Furious)

• Wild Speed X3: Tokyo Drift (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift)

• Wild Speed MAX (Fast & Furious)

• Wild Speed MEGA MAX (Fast Five)

• Wild Speed: Euro Mission (Fast & Furious 6)

• Wild Speed: Sky Mission (Furious 7)

• Wild Speed: Ice Break (The Fate of the Furious)

• Wild Speed: Super Combo (Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw)

• Wild Speed: Jet Break (F9)

• Wild Speed: Fire Boost (Fast X)

These titles are exciting and, importantly, distinct from one another. As long as they stick the landing with Fast X: Part 2—and I’m confident they will—these will become the canonical titles in my mind.

One Thing at a Time

As Katherine and I prepare for the arrival of our first child in August, I’m reminded of another time we went through a major life change together: planning our wedding. Well, really we were planning the wedding and building a house at the same time. People said that wasn’t a good idea, but it worked out.

That process was long, and it came in fits and starts. Sometimes, we felt like we were making major progress by the day. Invitations: check. Photographer: check. Check, check, check.

Other times, it seemed that we weren’t getting anywhere. Either things were taking longer than we wanted them to, or we just didn’t put in the time to make plans like we thought we should. Our process sometimes felt like it was stuck.

What I came to realize throughout that time was that we could only really focus on a single task at once. When we tried to multitask, we never got very far and usually ended up procrastinating. So getting it all done became a step-by-step process.

When a step went smoothly, this approach worked great. Again, it felt like things were getting checked off the list left and right. But if we hit a roadblock with whatever we were focused on, progress would come to a halt. We’d get that stuck feeling again.

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Standing in what would eventually become our living room.

There was a point during the summer of 2018 when we were trying to get construction started on the house, but the building company wasn’t allowed to begin until they got an approval from the state. The land was prepped; the workers were ready; the blueprints were in hand. A single document from the government would unlock a whole flurry of exciting activity that would move us in the direction of having a finished home.

We waited and waited for the approval to come in. One week passed. Two weeks. Three weeks. Every day, we hoped for the call that the company had started on construction so we could go see some sort of progression in our plans, but it didn’t come. We worried that it never would.

In the meantime, we did zero wedding planning. Our focus was completely directed towards getting the house started. We had a list of wedding stuff that needed to get done, and we had every intention of doing it. But the one thing we were working on wasn’t complete, so we couldn’t move on.

Finally, after a month of waiting, the approval came in. Our construction crew was able to start their work, and the house began to take shape. And as soon as it did, a funny thing happened: We were able to get back to wedding planning! We felt unstuck, and things started getting checked off the list again.

I’ll never forget that stuck feeling, though. It was unsettling. Borderline miserable, even. No matter how hard we tried, we could not move past the thing in front of us. There was no way around it. We had to go through, no matter how long it took.

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All the wedding planning was worth it.

We had to take things one step at a time. And we did eventually get it all done, one thing at a time. Our wedding was a beautiful day, and a couple of weeks later, we were able to move into our little blue house that we love so much. It all worked out great.

But if you had asked me during that month of waiting how things would turn out, my outlook wouldn’t have been so positive. I hated not being able to make progress. It made me feel anxious and powerless to change the situation. Sometimes, that’s just what life does to us.

Looking back, I’m thankful for the experience, not in and of itself, but because it prepared me to face these challenges during life changes in the future. Getting ready to have a baby is more daunting than anything I’ve ever done in my life. It’s a process that has its own bouts of progress interrupted by quiet lulls. I try not to let them bother me anymore, though. I know it’s all a part of it.

We’re taking it one step at a time: Nursery furniture. Family car. A stuck period when all we could focus on was our impending vacation. And then, suddenly, a huge rush of motivation that resulted in our baby registry finally coming together.

Every step is different and new because we’ve never done this before. But we’re loving all of it. And we’re getting there, one thing at a time.