DuckieTV brings TV show tracking and torrent searching to Chrome

Keeping track of TV shows can be quite the daunting task if you like to watch several of them. While it may be easy to keep track of some air dates, you may have troubles remembering exact air times or networks the show airs on.

DuckieTV is a new Chrome extension that you can use to keep track of TV shows you are interested in. The extension is available in two versions with the first replacing the browser's new tab page with a calendar view while the second makes the calendar available after you click on a button that it adds to the browser's interface.

That's the only difference between the two extensions though. It needs to be noted that the extension works in the Opera browser as well.

First thing you do after installation is select the TV shows you want to monitor. A click on "click for series you're watching" displays popular shows to you that you can track.

Instead of browsing popular shows such as Suits, Under The Dome or Falling Skies, it is also possible to search for shows manually. This is often the faster option, especially if you are interested in foreign TV shows (foreign meaning non-English shows) as they are not listed at the top of the popular shows page.

Each show you add is added to the calendar by the extension automatically. A full month is always displayed here with shows listed on the day they are airing.

A click on a show displays additional options for that particular episode. Here you find options to check out the episode details (which may contain spoilers), series details which lists all known seasons and episodes along with download and watched information, and an option to search for a torrent or magnet link of that episode.

You can furthermore mark shows that have aired as watched which highlights the fact in the interface.

The torrent search feature displays torrents for that episode on the screen. It can pull data from the three torrent indexing sites The PirateBay, KickAss Torrents and Torrentz, and displays each available torrent with the number of seeders and leechers next to it.

It is furthermore possible to filter by resolution, so that only torrents matching a resolution such as 1080p or 720p are listed here.

Last but not least, it is possible to change the search query, usually the name of the show followed by season and episode information if the results are not satisfactory.

This can be useful to find a version with subtitles for example or a foreign language version of the show.

The torrent functionality of the extension can be disabled in the options. Here you find several interesting preferences. It is for instance possible to enable the auto-downloading of torrents, set a preferred quality or add mirror sites for the supported torrent indexing services if they are blocked in a location.

It is also possible to link Bittorrent clients to the extension and use its experimental Chromecast support to stream torrents that have been downloaded or are in the process of being downloaded to TVs.

Conclusion

The TV calendar can be quite useful on its own, as it provides you with a simple interface that helps you keep track of your favorite TV shows.

As far as the torrent downloading is concerned, it is clear that this is not legal in all countries. While there are countries where the downloading (but not the streaming) of torrents is legal, there are others were both activities are not permitted by law.