Ukrainians Created a Tinder for Movie Lovers: A Swipe-Based App to Discover Movies
In an exclusive interview, the founders of Moviso share how their app helps users manage watchlists and why they believe in its cultural mission.
Moviso is a new Ukrainian mobile app for movie enthusiasts that combines the features of a watchlist, a rating system, and a social network. Users can build personal movie collections, track new releases, rate what they’ve watched, and see what their friends are watching.
Within the first 24 hours after launch, Moviso gathered over 300 downloads, 160 registered users, 1,133 ratings, and more than 37,000 "watched" marks. The app quickly rose to 22nd place in the App Store Entertainment category and was selected for the EIT Founders2Founders program. While the Android version is still in development, the team is already preparing new features and monetization models.
We spoke with Moviso co-founders Vitalii Pavlyk (CEO) and Anatolii Levitskyi (CTO) about how it all began, why they chose cinema, and what challenges lie ahead for their team.
A Technological Start: How MyBrainOrder Paved the Way for Moviso
The story of Moviso began with an earlier startup — a productivity app called MyBrainOrder. Anatolii Levitskyi initially built its architecture on his own but soon realized the project’s scale required a team. Development began with learning React Native to create a product for both iOS and Android from the start. At the same time, he had to handle everything else: design, frontend and backend, server configuration, publishing on the App Store and Google Play, even legal details such as trademark registration.
It took two years from the initial idea to the actual launch. For Anatolii, this became an important lesson: if you delay execution too long, by the time you’re ready to act, the plan may already feel blurred.
The war complicated the situation. After losing his full-time job, Levitskyi realized it was time to give the project a chance and fully focus on its release. For half a year, he worked nonstop, supported by his personal savings. MyBrainOrder eventually launched, but it became clear: scaling and moving forward alone was nearly impossible. That’s when the need for like-minded partners and a team became obvious.
"I built MyBrainOrder entirely by myself — from architecture to implementation. But eventually, I understood it was too hard to carry everything alone. Theoretically, you can do it all solo. Practically, it’s a very slow process. One week went into development, another week into design or AppStore Connect setup, or preparing documents like Terms of Use and Privacy Policy", says Anatolii Levitskyi, co-founder and CTO of Moviso.
The turning point came at the Ukrainian tech hackathon DEV Challenge, where the future co-founders first met. They started working together on a task and later decided to test their strength with their own idea.
MVP and First Feedback
The team decided to start with a minimum viable product: "We agreed to build an MVP in six months. First, the basic functionality, then design, then validating the idea — step by step".
Within just three months, they presented a test version to friends and acquaintances. That’s when the first feedback arrived: what worked, what confused users, and which features were missing. The team realized that feedback was critical.
They redesigned the interface, improved user flow, and added new features.
"We didn’t manage to meet the planned six months, but we understood the most important thing — the product is alive", emphasizes Levitskyi.
The Team and the Release
Development progressed thanks to pure enthusiasm — without investments or salaries.
"We worked solely for the idea. No grants, no funding — just belief and the desire to create something useful".
Later, another developer joined to support the mobile side, allowing Anatolii to focus on backend and architecture.
The platform now includes the entire global movie database, integrated via The Movie Database (TMDB).
The most challenging step was launching in the App Store. The team had to go through several rounds of clarifications with Apple support and adjust how they used movie posters. Eventually, Moviso appeared in the App Store a year and a half after development began.
Why Cinema
The team tested different directions, but the topic of movies and TV shows resonated the most. It turned out to be close both to the team and to potential users.
"We all constantly face the same problem: what to watch tonight? So we decided to create a product that actually solves this problem", comments Moviso CEO Vitalii Pavlyk.
How Moviso Works
Moviso offers a swipe-based interface for discovering movies and series, personalized recommendations, and a social component — the ability to follow what friends are watching. The app lets users save movies for later, share lists, and get suggestions based on their viewing history.
"The dating format has really trained users to search for matches quickly. That’s why we used the swipe interface as the core", says Pavlyk.
Despite the presence of big players like Netflix, Moviso focuses on a different type of user interaction: "Netflix gives you content, but it doesn’t provide live interaction with friends or a community. We want movie choice to be not just algorithmic but also a social experience".
"The idea was simple: to make an app for movie lovers where you can quickly find movies. Swiping — like in Tinder, only not with people but with movies. You’re on the subway, scrolling, and already know what to watch tonight", adds Anatolii Levitskyi.
At first, the app worked on the principle "show everything in a row," focusing on popular movies. The hypothesis was: the more users swipe, the better the algorithm understands their tastes. But early field tests showed the opposite — people were less interested in swiping through movies they had already seen and more excited about discovering new ones.
Now the team is working to make the algorithm more personalized: showing not archive content, but mainly trending and fresh releases.
Algorithms, Users, Monetization & Plans
Moviso combines classic recommendation systems with artificial intelligence. Movies are broken down into components — from genre to psychological aspects — to form viewing preference patterns.
"In short, it’s a detailed movie selection process plus AI integration. A person can describe a plot, even vaguely from memory, and the app will find the movie using AI search. It’s a kind of neuro-approach", the team explains.
Currently, Moviso has over 800 downloads from the App Store and about 100 active users weekly. A key feature is its social feed: a general timeline with updates from all users and a separate one — from friends. You can see what they watched, what they plan to watch, the ratings they gave, and the comments they left.
"When you subscribe to a friend, you can choose whether to receive notifications about their activity. Next, we plan to move further into personalization — from genres and favorite directors to finer details that make the choice truly individual. We also want to add group swipes: when two to five people (or even more) don’t know what to watch, they create a room. Everyone gets the same set of movies to swipe through. Once everyone matches on a movie, the app suggests it as a common choice. So it’s not just individual swiping, but a group decision on what to watch together", explains Levitskyi.
The team is also testing monetization models — from premium features to partnerships with streaming platforms, festivals, educational services, and cinemas.
"One option is to integrate a streaming player into Moviso. Users will then be able not just to swipe but also to watch movies directly on the platform", says Pavlyk.
They are also considering Android TV with a feature where you swipe on your phone, press play, and the movie instantly launches on the TV.
"Our mission is to create a comfortable space for movie lovers and help people avoid getting lost in the endless flow of content. We want everyone to have their own movie story, which they can save and share with others. We also see Moviso as a tool that can be useful for the entire industry", adds Vitalii Pavlyk.
Favorite Movies & Directors
Anatolii Levitskyi:
"These are Inception, Interstellar, Exam, Tenet. And I just love Marvel. For me, it’s not so much about top movies that stay with you forever, but rather a way to take a break from daily struggles: great visuals, high-quality graphics, and good humor".
Vitalii Pavlyk:
"The movies I look forward to the most are Quentin Tarantino’s works. Sometimes, when I’m in the mood for something complex and thought-provoking, I watch Yorgos Lanthimos. It’s hard to pick favorites, but one of them is definitely The Gentlemen by Guy Ritchie. I also greatly admire Stanley Kubrick’s films — 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining".