What's Next?
AI-powered recommendations across seven categories — books, TV, films, podcasts, music, video games, and YouTube channels.
Guide version 0.9.53 · 2026-05-20
What is What's Next?
What's Next? learns your taste — books you've loved, films you can't stand, genres you gravitate towards — and uses AI to recommend what to watch, read, or listen to next. Think of it as a personal taste engine that gets better the more you use it.
Unlike algorithm-driven platforms that only recommend what's popular, What's Next? focuses on finding the right fit for you, not for the average viewer.
Getting started
- Sign in — use your email to request a 6-digit code. No password needed.
- Complete onboarding — tell us what you've loved, hated, and want to avoid. Takes about 5 minutes.
- Get recommendations — your queue fills up with personalised suggestions across all your chosen categories.
- Rate as you go — mark items watched/read and rate them. Each rating makes future recommendations sharper.
Key features
Your Queue
Up to seven category shelves — Books, TV, Films, Podcasts, Music, Video Games, and YouTube Channels — shown as horizontal poster rows. Scroll each row to browse. Tap any poster to expand it: you'll see the title, Claude's reason for the pick, and four rating buttons (1 / 4 / 7 / 10). Tap a score to mark it done and rate in one step, or tap Skip to remove it. The queue keeps itself at 10 items per category — new picks load automatically whenever a slot opens.
Streaming filter (Films & TV)
At the top of the Films and TV shelves you'll see icons for the streaming services available in your region. Tap one or more to filter the shelf to titles you can actually watch right now — Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, and more. Your filter choices are saved between sessions. When fewer than 10 items match, the queue tops itself up automatically from TMDB so the shelf always stays full.
One-tap links on every card
Every card has links tailored to its category so you can act the moment something catches your eye. Book cards link to Amazon UK, Kindle Unlimited (KU), and Humble Bundle. Music cards link to Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. Film and TV cards show streaming service logos — tap one to open that service's search directly, or tap IMDb for details. Video game cards link to the Steam store, Amazon, and Humble Bundle. YouTube channel cards link directly to a YouTube channel search. Podcast cards show a square artwork format and link to Apple Podcasts and Spotify in History.
Just for now
At the top of your queue there's a text input — type anything: “something cosy to read on a rainy day”, “a short gripping thriller film”, “a podcast about the history of money”. Claude picks the best-matching category and returns 1–3 suggestions in a panel above your queue rows. Tap Add on any pick to prepend it to that category, or dismiss picks you're not interested in. These suggestions are separate from your main queue — use them when you want something specific right now.
Taste profiles
Your likes, dislikes, preferred genres and platforms, and a “never recommend” list. Edit any time from your settings.
History
Every title you've marked complete, with your rating. Import from Goodreads or Letterboxd (coming Phase 2).
Weekly digest
A Monday email with your top new picks across all categories. Paid plan only. Toggle in settings.
Feedback & roadmap
Use the Feedback button at the bottom of any page to report bugs, suggest features, or just say hello. Feature suggestions appear on the roadmap with your name attached.
Privacy & your data
Your taste data is yours. Read the privacy policy for the full picture. The short version: we store your email and preferences, send them to Anthropic's Claude API to generate recommendations, and never sell your data. You can delete your account and all data at any time by emailing joe.houghton@gmail.com.
Troubleshooting
I'm not getting a sign-in code
Check your spam folder. The email comes from joe.houghton@gmail.com with the subject "Your What's Next? sign-in code". Codes expire after 10 minutes — request a fresh one if needed.
Recommendations don't feel relevant
Complete your taste profile fully — the more context the AI has, the better the fit. Rating completed items quickly also helps.
The feedback button isn't working
Try a hard reload (Cmd+Shift+R / Ctrl+Shift+R). If the problem persists, email joe.houghton@gmail.com directly.
Version history
v0.9.532026-05-20The app now lives at whats-next.app — all links, share buttons, and emails updated to the new domain.
v0.9.522026-05-20New Remix button on each genre shelf — tap it to replace the current 10 picks with a completely fresh set, without changing your taste profile. The previous picks are excluded so you won't see the same titles again.Retrain now works correctly — if you add specific instructions in the text box during retraining, those instructions become the primary brief for the AI and the shelf is replaced with new picks that match what you asked for.The free-text instruction box in the onboarding and retrain flow is now treated as your primary brief, not just background context.
v0.9.512026-05-20Light-mode contrast fixed across the whole app — search bar, screenshot button, feedback form, admin panel, and user guide all now render with high-contrast text in both dark and light themes.Vibe search bar narrowed to half the page width and deepened to three lines, so it sits more naturally alongside the share buttons on the right.All action buttons now use consistent rectangular rounded corners throughout the app — no more mix of pill-shaped and rounded-rectangle buttons.
v0.9.502026-05-20Share buttons moved to sit inline with the vibe search bar — six buttons in a 3×2 grid on the right-hand side of the input, with no blank space above.Light/dark toggle button added to the top navigation bar, to the left of the search bar — one click flips the theme without going into Settings.
v0.9.492026-05-20Share buttons now appear in two rows beneath the queue title, left-aligned with the page text.Each genre shelf now has a 'Save to PDF' button to its left of Retrain — tap it to export just that genre's queue to PDF.A global 'Save all to PDF' button in the top-right of the header exports every genre at once.Removed the extra blank space between the search bar and the first genre shelf.
v0.9.482026-05-20Share buttons now include a pre-written description of the app for each platform — X, LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp, and email each get their own appropriately worded message.Open Graph and Twitter Card meta tags added — when you share the link anywhere, it now shows the app screenshot as a preview image automatically.
v0.9.472026-05-20Share buttons are now visible in light mode — they were using hardcoded white-on-white colours. They now use theme-aware CSS variables that adapt correctly to both dark and light mode.
v0.9.462026-05-20All red buttons now show white text correctly in both light and dark mode — a CSS variable conflict was causing the text to appear near-black on light-mode OS settings.
v0.9.452026-05-20Streaming filter now reliably shows 10 titles — a slice bug was cutting off the new picks before the filter could see them.Share buttons added to the top of My Queue — post to X, LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, or email a friend a pre-written recommendation.
v0.9.442026-05-20Roadmap status chips now pass WCAG AAA contrast — all text is readable regardless of browser or OS colour mode.Admins can change any roadmap item's status inline — tap the status chip to open a picker.
v0.9.432026-05-20Feedback form now has a name field — your name appears on the roadmap next to your suggestion so you get the credit.Feature suggestions submitted via the feedback form are automatically added to the public roadmap.Roadmap: filter by contributor — if any suggestions have a named contributor, a 'Suggested by' row of buttons appears so you can see one person's ideas at a time.Streaming filter: tapping a service button now repopulates your shelf immediately — no wait for background data to finish loading.
v0.9.422026-05-20Book cards now include a Kindle Unlimited (KU) link — one tap searches KU for that title.Music links updated: cards now link to Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music instead of generic Amazon search. Punctuation in titles and artist names is normalised so searches find the right album.Podcast cards are now square (120×120) to match the artwork format that podcasts use, same as YouTube channel cards.
v0.9.402026-05-20Link rows under every card are now bottom-aligned — all cards in a row sit at the same height so the links line up regardless of title length.Streaming filter topup is now instant — when you filter Films or TV by a streaming service and fewer than 10 titles match, new titles from that service appear immediately without a second loading step.
v0.9.392026-05-20Film and TV cards now show clickable streaming service logos (Netflix, Prime, Disney+, etc.) directly under each poster. Tap the logo to open that service's search for the title.
v0.9.382026-05-20Streaming filter is now multi-select and persistent — tap Netflix and Amazon Prime together to see only titles available on both. Your filter choices are saved between sessions.When a streaming filter is active, the queue tops itself up automatically from TMDB so you always have 10 matching titles.
v0.9.372026-05-20Streaming filter now works correctly — selecting a provider shows only titles confirmed on that service.Free-text interests entered during onboarding (e.g. 'AI history', 'cosy crime fiction') are now passed to Claude when generating recommendations.
v0.9.352026-05-20'Not interested' is now a larger pill button on mobile, making it easier to tap reliably without hitting the score buttons.
v0.9.332026-05-20Light mode fix — all text and border colours in the share dropdown, account menu, search bar, feedback modal, and settings modal now invert correctly when Light mode is active.
v0.9.322026-05-20Avatar — profile picture in the top-right now shows your Gravatar image if you have one set up at gravatar.com.Goodreads import — go to Settings to upload your Goodreads CSV export. Books on your read shelf move to History with your ratings converted. To-read books are added to your Books queue.Streaming filter — once you open a Film or TV card, streaming providers appear as filter icons in the shelf header so you can show only titles on, say, Netflix.Print queue — tap 'Print queue' above your queue to open the browser print dialog. Saves cleanly as a PDF with all categories listed.Light / Dark / System mode — choose your appearance in Settings. Dark is the default; Light mode is available; System follows your OS.
v0.9.312026-05-20Tap any queue card to see 'Why this?' — Claude's full reasoning, no longer cut off after three lines.Book cards in the detail panel now include Amazon UK, Amazon .com, and Humble Bundle buy links.Skip renamed to 'Not interested — remove from queue' and made more visible across all card panels.Vibe bar is now two lines deep and hints that you can ask plain questions like 'Who was the lead in that thriller about the submarine?'Share button now includes WhatsApp and Facebook alongside X, LinkedIn, and email. Email sharing fixed.
v0.9.302026-05-20Minor fixes and version alignment.
v0.9.292026-05-19Film and TV expanded panels now use a side-by-side layout — info, cast, and similar titles on the left; rating buttons on the right. Year, runtime, and TMDB rating shown inline.Cast member names link to their TMDB biography page.Video game cards now show price, a short description, and links to the Steam store and HowLongToBeat when you tap the card.YouTube channel card art now displays in a square format to match the square thumbnails YouTube channels use.Share button added to the navigation bar — share What's Next? with friends via X, LinkedIn, email, or copy the link.
v0.9.282026-05-19Tap any Film or TV card to see year, top 5 cast members with photos, and three similar titles — fetched live from TMDB. A skeleton appears while it loads.
v0.9.272026-05-19Settings page: tap the account icon in the top-right and choose Settings to manage your categories. If you signed up before Music, Video Games, or YouTube Channels were added, you can now set up those shelves without starting over.
v0.9.262026-05-19Film and TV cards on both the queue and history now show IMDb, Amazon UK, and Amazon .com links so you can find where to watch in one tap.Cover art now loads immediately when you add a title — no more waiting for the card to appear with a placeholder.Manual add fixed for Music, Video Games, and YouTube Channels — adding items to those categories from a creator page or elsewhere now works correctly.
v0.9.232026-05-19Book and video game cards now include a Humble Bundle affiliate link so you can browse deals and bundles in one tap.
v0.9.222026-05-19Three new categories: Music (albums), Video Games, and YouTube Channels — each with its own poster shelf on the dashboard.Music cards link to Amazon UK and Amazon US.Video game cards link to the Steam store, Amazon UK and US, and Humble Bundle.YouTube channel cards link directly to a YouTube channel search.
v0.9.172026-05-19Person works grid now shows an even two rows — if the first row has seven cards, so does the second. The grid adjusts automatically as your browser window resizes.All missing cover art now fills in on every dashboard load — no cap on how many are processed per visit.
v0.9.162026-05-19Type a name in the vibe bar — actor, director, author, or podcast host — to see their photo, a short bio, and a grid of their works you haven't seen yet. Add any of them to your queue directly.Vibe-added and name-search-added cards now show a small red sparkle badge in the top-right corner so you can tell at a glance where they came from.Cover art now loads immediately on cards added via the vibe bar or a name search.
v0.9.152026-05-19Queue shelves now cap at 10 visible cards — a vibe-bar search that adds several items to one shelf no longer pushes it past 10.Vibe bar fix: TV series are now always assigned to TV, not Films.Vibe bar person search: type an actor, director, or author's name to see their photo and a profile link above the picks.
v0.9.132026-05-19Author pages fixed: a schema validation bug was silently returning empty results and caching them, preventing the page from loading works. Now each book is validated individually so one bad field from the AI model can't wipe the whole list, and empty results are never cached.
v0.9.122026-05-19Queue always-10 guaranteed at the server — the dashboard page now tops up any short category before it renders, so a shelf can never load with fewer than 10 items.
v0.9.112026-05-19Queue always-10 fix: initial page load now injects new items directly into the shelf — no more race condition leaving a shelf at nine.Cover art fallbacks: film and TV cards now retry TMDB without the year filter if the first search returns nothing. Podcast cards try iTunes then fall back to Podcast Index.Author pages load instantly on repeat visits — works are cached for 24 hours so the Claude lookup only happens once per author.Book author pages now group works by series with section headers. Each book shows its number within the series. Upcoming/announced books appear in a separate Coming Soon section.
v0.9.102026-05-19Clicking an author name opens their creator profile with all their works.Highly-rated completions (7+) now trigger a background check for sequels and follow-ons, which appear in the Coming Up row above your queue.
v0.9.92026-05-19Podcast history cards now show Apple Podcasts and Spotify search links.
v0.9.82026-05-19History page redesigned as a full-width poster grid — same card style as your queue.Sort history by: newest, oldest, score, A–Z, Z–A, or publication year.Filter by category (All / Books / TV / Films / Podcasts).IMDb links on film and TV cards. Amazon UK and .com links on book cards.Tapping an author name on any queue card opens their creator profile.Coming Soon: highly-rated completions now trigger a background check for sequels and follow-ons.Always-10 fix: new queue items are now injected directly into the page rather than relying on a page refresh, eliminating the race condition that could leave a shelf short.
v0.9.72026-05-19TV series cards now show which season is queued — look for the 'S1 of 4' badge at the bottom of each poster.Season-specific artwork: where TMDB has a different poster for that season, it now shows instead of the series banner.
v0.9.62026-05-19All queue cards are now the same size — podcast artwork displays at 120×180 to match books, TV, and films.
v0.9.52026-05-19Rating panel now appears centred in the shelf row when you tap a poster.
v0.9.42026-05-19Queue page is now centred on screen — content stays within a 1440px column with equal margins either side.Duplicate titles in queue fixed — a database-level unique constraint now prevents the same title appearing twice in any category shelf.
v0.9.32026-05-19Queue now uses the full width of the page — all shelves expand edge-to-edge so roughly 10 posters are visible at once on a desktop screen.
v0.9.22026-05-19Active nav link now has an underline so you always know which screen you're on.Queue always-10 fix: top-up items now appear immediately after scoring or skipping, no page reload needed.Drag to reorder: grab the grip handle on any category header to move Books, TV, Films, or Podcasts up or down. Order is saved per browser.
v0.9.02026-05-19New: Just for now — type what you're in the mood for and Claude returns 1–3 picks in a panel above your queue.Each suggestion has an Add button to prepend it to the relevant category row, or dismiss it without adding.
v0.8.02026-05-19Dashboard redesigned as horizontal poster shelves — all four categories visible at once.Tap any poster to expand it: see title, Claude's reason, and four rating buttons (1/4/7/10).Rate in one tap — no separate modal. Skip removes the item directly.Queue now guarantees 10 items per category, topping up automatically on load and after every removal.
v0.7.02026-05-18Queue auto-tops up after every completion or skip — new picks load in the background.Weekly refresh every Sunday replenishes all queues.Weekly digest email every Monday morning with your top three picks per category.Free tier cap: 30 items per category maximum.
v0.6.02026-05-18Mark queue items as done and rate them 1 / 4 / 7 / 10.Skip items you're not interested in.History page — see everything you've completed with your score and date.
v0.5.02026-05-17Cover art on every queue card — film and TV posters, book covers, and podcast artwork fetched automatically.App now lives at whats-next.app.
v0.4.02026-05-17Claude now generates personalised recommendations after you complete onboarding.Dashboard shows your full queue with cover art and a one-line reason for each pick.
v0.3.02026-05-17Onboarding redesigned — genre selection with like/dislike buttons per genre.Title rating step — rate up to 10 curated titles per category.Bookmark any title during onboarding to add it straight to your queue.
v0.2.02026-05-17Onboarding wizard — pick categories, add titles you love, select genres and platforms.Taste profile saved to your account.
v0.1.02026-05-17Initial launch — sign-in, app shell, roadmap, and user guide.