Building the Similar Titles Feature for Reellette
Working on a feature that seems simple on the surface: show similar titles on the detail screen. One of the most requested features, by the way.
The data structure for every single movie or TV series gives me an array of IDs that are related. Easy enough. But here’s where it gets interesting.
I need to fetch title, original title, and poster for each ID without hammering the database. Simple (and perhaps naive) approach? Loop through and query each ID individually. That’s dozens of database calls for a single screen.
Batch the queries. Fetch all the data in one optimized SQL call, deduplicate the results, and return exactly what the UI needs.
It’s not groundbreaking engineering, but it’s the kind of problem-solving that makes the difference between an app that feels fast and one that doesn’t.
When you’re looking at a movie or show in Reellette, you’ll see relevant similar titles instantly. More recommendations for you. No loading spinners. No lag.