About Instantwatcher

Press Coverage

• One of ProgrammableWeb's Best New Mashups Jan 26, 2009
• a great example of the amazing things which can be built when a company offers up an API for use by third-party developers. ProgrammableWeb dubbed it one of their 'best new mashups' and we definitely agree. The InstantWatcher is a must for Netflix subscribers everywhere that streaming is offered.
  — Read Write Web / The New York Times Jan 28, 2009
• about a quadrillion times easier to browse than Netflix's own site
  — Boing Boing Offworld Feb 6, 2009
• If you're a frequent viewer of Netflix's streaming fare, you're probably numb to how inefficient the rental service's browsing and search pages can be. InstantWatcher is a soothing balm of clean, fast movie browsing.
  — Lifehacker Feb 16, 2009
• hats off to instantwatcher.com: with a little bit of creativity and a whole lot of effort, it turns three APIs into one cool site!
  — NYTimes.com - First Look Blog Jul 22, 2009
• The Netflix members who use [instantwatcher.com] love it. We have an application gallery on our website, and instantwatcher.com is consistently one of the top rated applications out there.
  — Michael Hart, Director of Engineering at Netflix, howsoftwareisbuilt.com interview Aug 28, 2009
• One of Mashable's 8 Awesome Mashups Made Possible by APIs Oct 8, 2009

Who is this website for?

It's for Netflix users who want to traverse and explore Netflix's catalog of streaming titles more efficiently and painlessly. All the information and cross-links on this website are limited to Watch Instantly titles so you don't have to waste time sifting through a bunch of DVD-only titles to find the ones that you can start watching right away.

You can also play or queue these titles directly from this website.

Can I use this website for free?

Yes. But you do have to have a Netflix membership to be able to play and queue the titles you find on this website. Don't have a Netflix membership? Sign up for a free trial.

How can I search for high-definition (HD) streaming titles?

A lot of people would like this feature, but for technical reasons, Netflix isn't making this possible yet. See http://developer.netflix.com/forum/read/32765#comment-55292 for more information.

How can I support this website?

You can just tell other people who love movies about the site. If they sign up for Netflix by clicking through the Netflix sign up link on any movie detail page, instantwatcher.com receives a small referral bonus.

You can also support this website by giving it a positive rating or review in the Netflix App Gallery (Netflix membership required).

Instantwatcher appreciates your support!

How are you associated with Netflix?

Netflix built something called the Netflix API, which lets independent software developers to tap into Netflix's database to build useful applications of Netflix users. This website uses the Netflix API to build its own, separate database of Netflix's streaming titles. This website is not owned or controlled by Netflix, but is the sort of thing Netflix wants to encourage by making its API available.

Where else does this website get its information?

instantwatcher.com uses the Google AJAX Search API to pull in relevant YouTube clips and trailers. It also uses The New York Times Movie Reviews API to associate NYT movie review content with Netflix instant streaming titles wherever possible. For example, you can easily discover which streaming Netflix titles are New York Times Critics' Picks.

Can I web-scrape this site?

Yes, but only for scraping at 3+ second intervals and only between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Otherwise, you might eventually be denied access. If you want to use Instantwatcher data for commercial purposes, you're better off using the Netflix API directly and with your own Netflix Developer Account.

But Instantwatcher.com is glad to share data with academic research projects, and in fact does make CSV-formatted data available for this purpose. Contact dhchoi at gmail dot com with your inquiry.

Who created this website?

Daniel Choi, an independent software developer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Where can I report a bug or make a feature request?

Right here: