Faro

Press

Press information

Everything here is free to use. If you need something that is not on this page, just ask.

Fact sheet

Faro — a free iPhone app for choosing what to watch tonight.

Why now

Everyone knows the problem Faro is for: the film lasts ninety minutes and choosing it can take thirty. Most apps in this space help by tracking what you watch or by turning the choice into a swiping game. Faro asks what tonight calls for and works from your own ratings. It was built by one person, who uses it whenever there's a film to choose.

What it does

Open Faro, tap Help me choose and set any filters tonight needs — how long you've got, a genre or era, only what's on the services you already have — or none at all. It returns a small set of films. Save the contenders to a shortlist, then lock one in.

Rating films makes it better. Suggestions are based on the films you've rated and how you felt about them; what's trending plays no part. If your rating history lives on Letterboxd you can bring it across in one step. The export file is read on the phone itself.

It also works for groups. Friends are added by username. Watch Together runs one search across everyone's taste at the same time. Watch Party gives a group a shared list that everyone can add films to and react to: a tool for negotiating the pick openly.

Details worth knowing

  • Filters hold. Set No extra cost or a runtime limit and Faro will not slip a film past it. When nothing fits, it tells you and offers to loosen a single filter if you agree.
  • No padding. Thin evidence means fewer suggestions rather than filler.
  • Four stars, plain meanings. Not for me, Didn't click, Liked, Loved. A tuning step covers what stars can't say: Would rewatch, Better with others, Too long.
  • One page per film. Trailer, clips, cast and where to watch.
  • Not interested is final until you say otherwise. One tap removes a film from your suggestions. It can be undone.
  • Golden Hour and Midnight. Two looks, built to the same contrast standards, following whatever the phone is set to. Either can be chosen outright.
  • Privacy. Faro doesn't sell data or use it for advertising. The Letterboxd import reads the export on the phone; the raw file is not uploaded.
  • Accessibility. Faro launches supporting eight of the nine measures on Apple's accessibility label: VoiceOver, Voice Control, Larger Text, Sufficient Contrast, Differentiate Without Color Alone, Reduced Motion, Dark Interface and Captions. The founder works in neurorehabilitation; providing assistive technology after brain injury is one part of that job, so these standards were not new to him.

The founder

Faro was built end to end by one person. Phil Milburn-McNulty is a consultant neurologist and neurorehabilitation physician. He leads a multidisciplinary team; much of his week is spent taking patients and families through complicated decisions. His research interests (Cochrane evidence reviews, core outcome sets) concern how groups make good decisions with imperfect information. Faro turns the same interest onto a smaller question: how a person, or a whole sofa of them, finds a film for tonight.

Boilerplates

One line

Faro is an iPhone film app with one job: deciding what to watch tonight should take about a minute, not half the evening.

Short (~60 words)

Faro is a free iPhone app for choosing what to watch. Set a filter or two — or none at all — and it suggests a handful of films. Rate what you've seen and the suggestions improve; your ratings are the only thing it reads about you. No ads, no tracking, no feed. Built by one person.

Standard (~110 words)

Faro is a free iPhone app for choosing what to watch tonight. Tap Help me choose, set any filters the evening needs — or none at all — and it returns a handful of films. Suggestions are based on the films you've rated and how you felt about them; what's trending plays no part. Letterboxd users can bring their rating history across in one step, with the file read on the phone. Groups can choose together too: Watch Together searches everyone's taste at once and Watch Party gives the group a shared list. Faro was built end to end by one person. It launches on the App Store on 8 October 2026.

Lines for quoting

These lines may be quoted verbatim.

  • “Stop scrolling. Start watching.”
  • “What are we watching tonight?”
  • “Your taste does the picking.”
  • “Film night lives here.”
  • “One list for the whole group.”
  • “Two tastes in, one film out.”
  • “The more you rate, the better it gets.”
  • “Made by one person, with one aim: less time choosing, more films you'll love.”

Press kit

The bundle holds the eight App Store gallery screenshots in order, two app previews — Midnight and Golden Hour — the Faro wordmark, the share card (1200×630) and this fact sheet as PDF v5.

Download the press kit (ZIP, 26.6 MB) Fact sheet v5 (PDF)

Press materials under embargo until 08:00 UK, Thursday 8 October 2026.

App icon

Download the Faro app icon (PNG, 1024×1024).

The Faro app icon.

Screenshots

All taken from the current build on an iPhone. Group screens use fictional example accounts. These follow the look you have set above; both looks, the captioned 6.9" frames and the app previews are in the press kit.

Faro's home screen: the Faro wordmark, a card offering to create an account or log in, and the three ways in — Help me choose, Watch together and a Watch Party list. Faro's home screen: the Faro wordmark, a card offering to create an account or log in, and the three ways in — Help me choose, Watch together and a Watch Party list.
Home
The Help me choose result: a list of suggested films, each with its poster, year, genres, runtime, director, leading cast and the streaming services it is on. The Help me choose result: a list of suggested films, each with its poster, year, genres, runtime, director, leading cast and the streaming services it is on.
Help me choose
A film page: poster, year, genres and runtime, the IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic scores, a director and cast panel, the synopsis and a Watch trailer button. A film page: poster, year, genres and runtime, the IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic scores, a director and cast panel, the synopsis and a Watch trailer button.
One page per film
A Watch Party list called Friday Film Club: two films under Ready to watch, each with a reaction, a response count and two buttons — We're watching this and We watched this — with the Still deciding section starting below. A Watch Party list called Friday Film Club: two films under Ready to watch, each with a reaction, a response count and two buttons — We're watching this and We watched this — with the Still deciding section starting below.
Watch Party: a shared list
Shortlist for tonight: a No extra cost filter above the saved films, each with its poster, year, genres, runtime, director and leading cast, a Watching tonight button and buttons to keep the film in the watchlist or remove it from the shortlist. Shortlist for tonight: a No extra cost filter above the saved films, each with its poster, year, genres, runtime, director and leading cast, a Watching tonight button and buttons to keep the film in the watchlist or remove it from the shortlist.
Tonight's shortlist

Contact

Email support@tryfaro.app. It reaches Phil directly.