As a huge TV junkie I get my fix by binge watching anything and everything from one of the gazillion streaming services that I use. Once in a while I have an urge to watch something very specific and thats when the things get very challenging. What usually follows is a long and tedious process of searching the content in each of the streaming services until I (hopefully) find what I’m looking for. Sometimes it takes a considerable amount of time, or I miss out on a deal because I found what I was looking for on the first search.
This is a application that allows users to search videos in all streaming services at the same time. One of the advantages of this applications is that it provides flexibility and customization and surfaces the catalogs of only current user subscriptions and not the entire gamut of catalogs at once (unless the user decides to do so).
The name of the application comes from a joke on the sitcom, “Friends” in which Ross’s daughter mumbles her first word that he believes to be the word sporocarp. A gleba is “a solid mass of spores generated within an enclosed area within the sporocarp”, which is many particles of similar nature coming together inside one single shell (thank you wikipedia!).
Competitors: GoWatchIt, CanIStreamIt
The user is presented with a list of streaming services to from which to choose.
The user must enter valid credentials in order to add services to the dashboard.
This view displays a dashboard with a couple of streaming services boxes in a list view. The user reviews the content of each service box by swiping left/right. The user has an option to change the queue content of each streaming service box by clicking the dropdown menu next to the queue title and selecting the desired preset (presets are unique to each streaming service. For example: Netflix queues include - Popular on Netflix, Trending Now, Recently Added, Continue Watching, Top Picks, etc).
The user can always add more services to the list by clicking the “Add New Service” button and verifying account credentials. To remove a service from the list, the user only needs to click an “x” button at the top right corner of the service box.
The user can scroll up and down the list to access and view all of the services catalogs. The “Search” box remains stationary at the top of the screen to ensure that the user has the option to search the content quickly.
The notches at the top right corner of the media thumbnail provide a quick visual for the user regarding whether the content is free, free with upgrade, or available for purchase/rent. Clicking on the thumbnail provides the user with a quick summary of the the video as well as instructions on how to access the content. The “Watch” button opens the video in the native app, “Buy/Rent Online” or “Sign Up Online” will open the streaming service in the browser where the user can either make a purchase/rent the video or subscribe/upgrade the account.
The main feature of the application is the search bar at the top of the screen that allows for searching multiple streaming services at once. Once the user submits the search query, the list only displays the media that matches the search requirements, thus providing the user with a quick overview of availability and price of the desired video within each streaming service box.
