Archive Watch

Learning is Change, Inc.

About this app

Archive Watch turns the Internet Archive's vast public-domain moving-image collection into a cinematheque you can carry — feature films, classic television, silent cinema, animation, newsreels, and the strange, wonderful world of vintage commercials and ephemeral film.

Every title is presented with the care of a great repertory house: real posters, cast, synopses, and genres, so a 1920s silent and a 1950s sci-fi B-movie look as considered as anything on a modern streaming service.

LIVE CHANNELS — A REAL TV GUIDE
• A programmed channel guide, laid out like a true TV listing: see what's on
now and next, scroll the broadcast day
• Tune in and it plays straight through, one title rolling into the next
• Vintage public-domain commercials play between programs — the retro-TV feel
• Build your own channel from any mix of type and era

A REPERTORY HOUSE, NOT A FEED
• Hand-curated shelves alongside the most-watched titles from the Archive
• Browse by decade, genre, and collection
• Classic TV with real series, seasons, and episodes — binge straight through
• Tap any cast or crew name to wander their filmography
• Surprise Me and Cartoon Mode — for when you'd rather be delighted than decide

MADE FOR ANDROID
• Modern Material Design 3, built with Jetpack Compose
• Media3 playback hardened against slow archival servers
• Now Playing controls on the lock screen and in Quick Settings
• Playlists, favorites, resume across launches
• App shortcuts: long-press the icon to jump straight to Surprise or Channels

FREE, AND RESPECTFUL OF YOU
• No subscription, no in-app purchases, no ads
• No account, no sign-in — just watch
• No tracking, no analytics — nothing about you is collected or shared

All content is sourced from the public domain via the Internet Archive. Metadata and artwork come from TMDb, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and the Library of Congress. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.

If you'd rather wander a well-stocked repertory cinema than doomscroll a recommendation feed, Archive Watch is for you.

What’s new

Fix posters not loading on some devices; native full-screen video with landscape + Picture-in-Picture; smoother back navigation and layout on notched displays; Material search bar; retry on load errors.