It’s been over a year and a half since the debut of Callsheet, the app from Casey Liss for looking up information about films and TV shows, and the app has grown a lot in that time. From new app icon variations to more fine-grained spoiler settings to actors’ heights and ages, Callsheet has gained many new capabilities. My favorite addition thus far is the indicator for mid- and post-credit scenes in movies.
The app’s latest update expands greatly upon a feature that’s been present since the beginning: pinned items. Users can now create multiple separate lists of pinned items and organize them to their hearts’ content. As someone who watches quite a bit of TV and covers it regularly, I could certainly benefit from this feature, so I decided to give it a try.
I’ve never felt like I was using Callsheet’s Pinned Items list to its fullest potential. For the most part, I’ve used it to quickly access shows that I’m currently watching so that I don’t have to search for them over and over when I want to look up information about them. But I’ve also wished for it to be a place to store upcoming titles I want to keep an eye on, movies I plan to share as Up Next picks on Magic Rays of Light, and more. Together in one list, that many items can become overwhelming and difficult to navigate, so I’ve had to keep my list pretty limited.
With the ability to create multiple lists, that’s no longer a problem. I can create a list for each of these different use cases to keep titles separate and list sizes manageable. And that’s exactly what I did.
By default, Callsheet presents a single list of Pinned Items at the top of the Discover page. To the right of the Pinned Items heading resides a new button labeled ‘Add list…’ When I tapped that button, I was presented with a sheet where I could enter the name of my new list and create it by tapping the ‘Add’ button. Suddenly, my number of pinned lists doubled from one to two – and that was just the beginning.
The first list I created was called ‘Podcast Rewatches.’ I’m a sucker for TV rewatch podcasts, and there are several shows I watch every week so that I can then listen to cast and crew members discussing them. Are these people profiting off of my nostalgia? They sure are. Am I still happy to listen along? You bet I am.
Creating a new list (left), moving an item between lists (middle), and copying an item to another list (right).
After creating my list, I wanted to move those shows from my default Pinned Items list to my new Podcast Rewatches list. Doing so was as simple as opening my Pinned Items list, long-pressing on a title, choosing ‘Move’, and selecting the list I wanted to move the item to.
I then decided to create a few more lists: one for my all-time favorites, one for series currently airing on Apple TV+, one for titles I want to watch in the future, and one for recommendations I plan to share on my podcast. By the time I had finished organizing titles into these various silos, my original, cluttered Pinned Items list was nearly empty.
There were some titles, though, that I wanted to include in more than one list at a time. For example, Boy Meets World belongs both in my Podcast Rewatches list and my All-Time Favorites list (at the top, of course). Callsheet makes this easy with its ‘Copy’ option. Rather than moving an item from one list to another, I can copy it over, preserving its spot in the original list while adding it to the new one.
Getting my lists set up and organized was a breeze, and it was quite satisfying, too. The ‘Add list…” button in the upper-right corner of the Discover page became the ‘Switch list’ button once I had more than one list, allowing me to quickly toggle between them as needed.
Adding a new show, movie, or person to a list is as simple as navigating to its listing in the app and tapping the pin icon in the upper-right corner. By default, the title will be added to whichever list is currently active, but if I press and hold the button, I can open a menu of all my lists and add the title to whichever one – or ones – I like. If I’m viewing an item that’s already in my pinned list, the icon will be filled. And in a really nice touch, Callsheet will even indicate if a title is included in a list other than the current one by filling the pin icon with a pinstripe.
Pinned items and lists sync across devices via iCloud, so I can view and edit lists on my iPhone, iPad, Apple silicon Mac, or even my Vision Pro. The app’s bottom-justified search bar looks particularly good as a spatial computing ornament.
Callsheet’s implementation of multiple pinned lists is really well done. It makes it quick and easy to organize items into smaller lists, whether you want to just create a couple or get really detailed. And if you’re happy with a single, simple list of pinned items, the feature stays out of the way. It’s clear that the pinned list system, like the app as a whole, has been deeply considered and carefully crafted to fit the needs of a wide array of users. The feature is yet another reason that Callsheet is, in my opinion, a must-have for TV and film fans.
A random selection from a list (left), Callsheet’s icons with dark variants (middle), and the app’s three Control Center controls (right).
The app’s most recent update includes a handful of other useful features as well:
- Every pinned list features a dice button that will present you with a randomly selected title when pressed, in case you’re stuck on what to watch.
- Many of the app’s built-in icons now have dark mode variants.
- The app now features three controls and Shortcuts actions for starting a search, repeating your most recent search, and opening the currently active pinned list.
Callsheet is available to download for free from the App Store. After the first 20 searches, a $1/month or $9/year subscription is required to continue using the app, and each subscription comes with a one-week free trial.
