📱 No export? No problem — three recovery paths, all in your browser
Missed the TV Time export?
Your watch history isn't gone.
TV Time shut down and its export portal went offline with it — no new exports can ever be created. Help Me Binge is the only tracker with all three ways back: an iPhone backup, a pasted list, or your streaming services' own history — every one read right in your browser, with no desktop software to install. Free, nothing uploaded — and because everything is processed on your own device, recovery finishes in seconds, not days in a migration queue.
Runs in your browser — no app to install, no download, no sign-up needed to start.
Recover TV Time on an iPhone — the whole thing, in your browser
Your watch history is still on your phone. TV Time's iOS app kept your library — shows and every episode you ticked off — in a SQLite cache called DioCache.db, and it is sitting inside any iPhone backup you made while the app was installed.
The walkthroughs going around tell you to install Python, run a script, or upload your app data to an AI service and pay for the credits. You need none of that. Get one file off your phone and drop it into Help Me Binge — the file is read on your own device, in the browser, and your library rebuilds itself.
| | The script / AI route | Help Me Binge |
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| Software to install | Python 3.11 plus a recovery script | None — it runs in your browser |
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| Where your data goes | Your app data is uploaded to an AI service for analysis | Nowhere. Read on your device |
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| What it costs | A paid AI plan or several thousand credits | Free |
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| Steps after the backup | Extract → run script → review a spreadsheet → convert to CSV → import | Drop the file in |
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| What comes back | A list of titles | Shows, seasons, episodes and watch dates — marked automatically |
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Before you start
Do not delete or offload the TV Time app. Removing it can take the cached data with it. Leave it on the phone until you have the file.
1 · Back up the iPhone to a computer. Connect the phone by cable and make a full local backup — Finder on a Mac (or iTunes on Windows) does this, as do the tools below. A full backup matters: iOS sandboxing keeps app data out of partial ones. Encryption is not required, and iCloud-only backups cannot be browsed on a computer.
2 · Open the backup and export TV Time's folder. Finder and iTunes make backups but will not let you look inside one, so use a backup browser: 3uTools (Windows, free — Toolbox → Backup/Restore, then View all-data Backups and choose Pro Mode → App Document) or iMazing (Mac and Windows, free trial — select your device, open Apps, find TV Time, choose Extract App Data). Export this folder:
AppDomain-com.tozelabs.tvshowtime
3 · Find the file. Inside that folder open Documents. The file you want is:
AppDomain-com.tozelabs.tvshowtime / Documents / DioCache.db
Keep the exported folder as it is and work on a copy — and never post the raw folder publicly, since app caches can hold account identifiers and tokens.
4 · Drop it into Help Me Binge. Open
helpmebinge.com/app, tap
Import, find
“📱 Only have your phone backup?” and press
Import DioCache.db, then choose the file. Pick whether the shows arrive as Watched, Watching or Plan to watch, and the import runs immediately — titles matched, seasons and episodes ticked off, watch dates kept where the cache recorded them. The file is never uploaded.
If DioCache.db is missing or empty
It happens — the cache reflects whatever the app last stored, and some phones hold very little. You are not out of options, and none of them need a script either:
Check an older backup. The most recent backup is not always the fullest. A backup from while you were actively using TV Time usually holds more than one made after it stopped syncing.
Rebuild from your streaming history instead. Netflix keeps everything at netflix.com/viewingactivity — download the CSV, drop it in, and episodes are matched and marked watched with their real dates. IMDb, Trakt, Letterboxd and MyAnimeList exports import too, ratings included.
Paste your list. Tap Import → Paste a list, type or paste the show names from memory or your notes, and every one is found and added at once. Two minutes gets your library back; you then mark where you are up to in each.
Every one of these runs in your browser, on your device, for free — and once you are in, your whole library exports back out in one tap, as a full JSON backup or as CSV. You will not have to do this again.
Recovering TV Time data — frequently asked questions
I missed the export deadline. Is my history gone forever?Not necessarily. The export portal is offline, but your history may survive inside an iPhone backup (TV Time's DioCache.db cache), in your own notes or memory (paste the list to rebuild), or in your streaming services' viewing records.
Which backup do I need for the DioCache.db recovery?Any iPhone backup — iCloud or computer — made while TV Time was still installed on the phone. A backup-browser tool can extract the TV Time app's files; the one you want is DioCache.db.
Do I need 3uTools, iMazing or Python?You need one backup browser — 3uTools (Windows, free) or iMazing (Mac and Windows, free trial) — purely to pull TV Time's folder out of the iPhone backup, because Finder and iTunes will not let you look inside one. You do not need Python, a script, or an AI service: Help Me Binge reads DioCache.db directly in your browser.
Where exactly is DioCache.db inside the backup?Open the backup in your backup browser, go to App Document, and export the folder AppDomain-com.tozelabs.tvshowtime. The file is inside it, at Documents/DioCache.db.
Is my data uploaded anywhere?No. DioCache.db is read in your browser, on your device, using in-page SQLite. Nothing is sent to a server — which is also why you should never upload a raw app-data folder to a chat tool or a public link, as app caches can contain account identifiers and tokens.
Does this bring back episodes, or only show titles?Episodes. The cache records which episodes were marked watched, with their season and episode numbers and the date where it kept one, and all of that is applied as it imports — so you land back on the right episode, not just the right show.
My DioCache.db is empty. Now what?Try an older backup first — one made while you were actively using TV Time usually holds more. Then rebuild from Netflix's viewing activity CSV, or from an IMDb, Trakt, Letterboxd or MyAnimeList export, or paste your show list and mark your place. All three run in the browser and none need a file from your phone.
Will the pasted-list rebuild restore my episode history?It restores your library — every show, matched and added at once — and you then mark where you're up to. Old per-episode watch dates only come back via the iPhone-backup or Netflix-history paths.
Does this cost anything?No. Free, in your browser, no app download, and no signup required to start. An optional free account adds cross-device sync.
Can other trackers recover my data without an export?A few tools can now read TV Time's phone-backup cache, but most replacements still import only the official export ZIP. Help Me Binge is the only tracker offering all three no-export paths together — phone-backup import, paste-a-list rebuild, and streaming-history import — every one read in your browser with no desktop software to install, and two of the three needing no file at all.
I actually do have my export ZIP — what then?Even easier: see our
TV Time import guide — shows, movies, episodes, watchlist, ratings, even your old episode comments come across in one tap.