Media · Reference · HourLife Premium
What to watch and listen to next.
Keep one queue of films, series, podcasts, albums, audiobooks, and books, track what you're partway through, and rate what you finish.
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One shelf for every kindFilms, series, podcasts, albums, audiobooks and books share one queue, drawn as covers on shelves by how soon you want them, with what you are in the middle of first.
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Something that fits tonightNarrow the shelves by type, by mood and by how long you have, from a quick half hour to a feature.
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A verdict on everything you finishSay whether it was worth it, add a line, and keep a takeaway in Wisdom. Insights counts the months and the share that was worth the time.
Your first item
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Tap “+” and name it
Enter the title in “Add to Media” and pick its type. A series asks where you are starting; a podcast asks how long it runs.
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Say why, and how soon
Note who recommended it under “CONTEXT”, choose “Soon”, “Someday” or “Mood”, and tag the “VIBE” it has.
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Start, then finish
Open it and tap “▶ In Progress” when you begin. When you are done, “✓ Complete” asks whether it was worth it.
Every step, in detail
- 1 Tap "+" ("Add media"), enter a title in "Add to Media", and pick its type, such as "Film", "Series", or "Podcast". With a type chip on, the sheet starts on that type.
- 2 For a series, set where you are under "Starting at". For a podcast, set its "Duration". A film's length goes in "Edit" later, under "Duration minutes".
- 3 Note why it is on your list under "CONTEXT", choose a "PRIORITY" ("Soon", "Someday", or "Mood"), and tag its "VIBE".
- 4 When you start something, open it and tap "▶ In Progress". When you finish, tap "✓ Complete".
A queue drawn as shelves of covers
Every cover is set in type, its shape by kind: a film between sprocket holes, a series on a screen, a book with its binding, an album with the record half out, a podcast under waves. Narrow the shelves, search, and open a cover to start it, move it, or set it aside.
Sample · three in progress, nine queued, nine finished and one set aside, on Tuesday, October 20
Media
The count beside QUEUE is what is in progress or queued, and reads as filtered against the whole while anything narrows it. The filters reach every shelf, the finished and the set aside too. In Progress keeps the order things were added, so ticking off an episode never moves the card under your thumb, and Finished runs newest first, a shelf for each year.
How long it runs, and what mood finds it
Time sorts the queue into three runs: Quick is half an hour or less, An hour is up to 90 minutes, Feature is anything longer. Here is every item in progress or queued, laid out by its length. Pick a time, a mood, or one of Today’s state shifters and watch what stays lit.
Sample · the twelve in progress or queued above
TIME
MOOD · THE SIX IN THE MENU
VIBES NO MENU OFFERS
State shifters, on Today
Today’s state shifters suggest something from the queue for the state you want to reach, matched on its vibes.
A series runs by the episode, and nothing on the iPhone sets an episode’s length, so every series counts as an hour, like anything else with no length: a book, a film you never gave “Duration minutes” in Edit. Five of the eleven vibes, Deep dive and Storytelling among them, are in no menu, so a podcast tagged only with them is found by type or search alone.
The verdict, and what it writes
“✓ Complete” opens a short sheet: was it worth it, and a line about it. If someone recommended it, the same sheet can log that you followed through. Then Media asks for a takeaway. Finish one of the three in progress and read the stub.
Sample · the three in progress, finished on October 20; Maya recommended The Overstory
“WORTH IT?” starts on Yes, so a quick Save reads as a yes. The recommendation toggle starts on too, and its hint and the interaction it logs say “Watched” whether you watched, read or listened. Who recommended something is set on the Mac; the iPhone shows it on the item’s page but has no field for it.
Where you are in a series
A series keeps the season and episode you are on, set under “Starting at” when you add it and with the steppers on its page after. Four places read that one pair. Step through Severance and give it a show name.
Sample · Severance, in progress, last added
ON ITS PAGE · ACTIONS
Current Season
Current Episode
Media keeps no episode count, so nothing says how many are left or when the season ends; the steppers run to season 100 and episode 1,000. Rest mode shows the episode only when the series has a show name, and then names the show in place of the title, and Close Day’s TONIGHT card is not Severance at all: it sorts priority by its spelling, so Acquired, on Someday, comes before anything on Soon.
What “Add to Media” asks of each type
The sheet changes with the type. Each has its own vibes, a series asks where you are starting, and a podcast asks how long it runs. The type starts on the type chip the queue is filtered to; with none on, on your Default type, and otherwise on Film. Pick a type, name it, and see which shelf the cover lands on.
Sample · a new item from the unfiltered queue, with Default type and Default priority left as they come: Film, and Someday
TYPE · a menu in the app, drawn here as covers
TITLE
CONTEXT
PRIORITY
VIBE
Nothing here is saved. An audiobook’s Duration is written into the sheet but sits inside EPISODE DETAILS, which only a series or a podcast shows, so an audiobook, like a film or a book, gets its length later in Edit, under “Duration minutes”.
What Insights counts
Insights, in the ⋯ menu, opens on a line about the whole queue, then three cards. Open a month, and change a verdict to see the share that was worth it move.
Sample · the nine finished, seven of them this year
The six months end on this one. “What you finish” and “Worth it” count everything you have ever finished, last year’s films included, while the yearly review, in the Year in Review flow, keeps to this year and lists the first five rated Yes under HIGHLIGHTS.
Where Media reaches
Media is where you keep the queue, but other parts of the app pick from it. Here is what each shows for the sample.
Today · Media queue
MEDIA 3 in progress
“In progress and up next”: what you are in the middle of comes first, by priority, then the queue. Off until you add it to Today.
Close Day · Evening
TONIGHT
Acquired: Microsoft
In progress · Podcast
Close Day shows one thing in progress, picked by priority sorted as text: “someday” comes before “soon”, so the podcast you put off wins over the two you wanted next. With nothing in progress, the card hides, even with a full queue.
Rest mode
WATCHING
Severance
Series
Rest shows what you added to In Progress last, under WATCHING, or LISTENING for a podcast, audiobook or album. A book reads WATCHING too, and a length shows in minutes: The Overstory would read “Audiobook · 1350 min”.
People
Finishing something a person recommended can log an interaction with them and mark them contacted today, so Maya stops drifting on the People map the evening you finish her book.
Wisdom
“Save as Wisdom” keeps the takeaway as a Wisdom entry, with the title as its source, to come round again in Wisdom’s daily review.
Search and Recently Deleted
“Delete Item” moves something to Recently Deleted, where it can be restored for 30 days. Media turns up in the app’s search too.
Settings
Media Settings, in the ⋯ menu, opens on a preview of the queue’s header, then three groups.
Show mood finder card Display · on by default
The row of type chips and the Mood and Time menus above the queue. Off, the queue is shelves and search alone.
Default priority Someday by default
Preselected in “Add to Media”.
Default type Ask each time by default
Set a type and the sheet opens on it, with its vibes and fields ready, unless a type chip is on the queue, when it opens on that.
Default time filter Find Something · No default
Quick, An hour or Feature, “Preselected when opening the finder”. The iPhone no longer opens that finder, so this changes nothing on the queue’s Time menu.
Tips
- Long-press a cover in the queue to "Start" it or move it to another priority shelf without opening it.
- "Abandon as Not For Me" in an item's "⋯" menu moves it to "Set Aside" ("— room for better."). Long-press it there and choose "Back in the Queue" to bring it back.
- Search with "Search media…" finds titles, who made them, why you added them, and what you wrote when you finished them.
- In "Settings", set a "Default priority" and a "Default type" for new items (a type chip on the queue wins over the default), or hide the filter row with "Show mood finder card".
Questions
About Media day to day.
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What can I keep in Media?
Films, series, podcasts, albums, audiobooks and books. Each type has its own cover shape and its own set of vibes to tag.
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How do I find something short for tonight?
Use the “Time” menu: “Quick” is 30 minutes or less, “An hour” is up to 90, and “Feature” is longer. Anything without a length counts as an hour, so give a film its “Duration minutes” in Edit to file it properly.
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Does Media know how many episodes are left?
No. A series keeps the season and episode you are on, and its card reads “S2 E4”, but Media keeps no episode count, so nothing says how many remain.
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What happens to something I give up on?
“Abandon as Not For Me” moves it to “Set Aside”, under the note “— room for better.”. Long-press it there and choose “Back in the Queue” to bring it back.
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Can I save what I learned from a podcast or a book?
Yes. After you finish something, Media asks for a takeaway. “Save as Wisdom” keeps it as a Wisdom entry with the title as its source.
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Is Media free?
No, Media is one of the Premium modules.
Works with
Where Media hands off to the rest of HourLife.
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Wisdom
A takeaway saved with "Save as Wisdom" becomes a Wisdom entry with the title as its source.
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People
When something a person recommended is finished, Media can log an interaction with them and mark them as contacted. The recommender is set on the Mac.
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Today
The "Media queue" widget ("In progress and up next") shows three items on Today, with "Resume" on what you are in the middle of. It is off until you turn it on. Close Day's "TONIGHT" card and Rest mode show something in progress too.
Read and try
Books from the library that Media puts into practice, and something to try on paper or in the browser.
Already have HourLife?
Media is under Reference in the module list, and it is a Premium module. The “+” adds an item; the ⋯ menu holds “Insights” and “Settings”. Long-press a cover to start it or move it to another shelf.
Media is in the Library, under Reference. If it isn’t there, turn it on in Settings → Look & Feel → Modules. It needs HourLife Premium.
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Try Media in HourLife.
HourLife is free to download. Media comes with HourLife Premium.
