If you are a lover of the documentary film genre or are especially interested in it for some reason, you may have already heard of GuideDoc. This is a streaming platform that hosts almost 1,000 documentaries (possibly more depending on when you read this). In this post we analyze everything that this platform of Catalan origin offers.
What is GuideDoc? A little history of the service
It was in 2014 that GuideDoc emerged as a great database for documentary lovers. Information about their production, platforms where to see them and more. Something like an IMDB of the ‘docus’, although over time it evolved to what it is today: the Netflix of documentaries , bridging the gap with the North American giant but without neglecting its extensive catalog and quality of content.
It is founded by Víctor Correal, whom you may possibly meet from the NørdicWire YouTube channel . Despite the fact that the legal headquarters and that of its founder are in Barcelona, the GuideDoc team is spread all over the world, having its main base in India, where developers work every day to improve the user experience.
Currently you can access the platform from its website or from its iOS, iPadOS and even tvOS applications. Also if you have an Android device you can enjoy the service.
GuideDoc Price
The bad news is that GuideDoc is not a free platform, but the good news is that its prices are not high and could actually be a great value for those who enjoy the genre of content on offer. Currently you can contract the service with a monthly subscription of 5 euros . Although it may seem bad to have only one rate, the truth is that it seems more than accessible to all types of users, both heavy users of the platform and those who decide to delete their subscription temporarily because they do not have time to enjoy the content .
Device limits and content quality
We talked about prices in the previous section and we would like to insist on emphasizing that in the end they are somewhat subjective elements, since each one will be the one who judges whether the content they offer deserves that amount or not, in any case it is very at the height of the sector. Without going any further, the aforementioned Netflix starts at 7.99 euros per month and can go up to 15.99 euros depending on the devices that are chosen as the limit and the quality of the content.
The good thing about GuideDoc in this regard is that all content is at its highest quality regardless of whether the monthly or annual subscription has been chosen. As for devices that can be enjoyed, it must be said that it has a limit of 5 per account , which is not bad and also surpasses a good part of the current streaming services in their base rates.
What content can be found?
As we said, in GuideDoc we find 100% documentary content. It is also the only platform that focuses on this genre in its entirety. Yes, it is true that the large streaming services have this genre among their content, but none specializes as much as this one. As a premise, this platform starts from adding a new documentary every day , so it will be really difficult to have paid one hundred percent of the service and have seen each and every one of the documentaries, which we actually see as a very interesting advantage.
Some content is exclusive and cannot be found on other platforms, while others may be more difficult to find. As far as they all coincide, it is that they have been specially selected by their creators, thus passing through a filter of human quality that guarantees that they are not pure fillers. Something that we overlook when talking about the history of this platform is that its founder is passionate about this genre and therefore has a very exquisite filter for the selection of content.
The management team of the platform also works throughout the year to get in touch with a multitude of producers of this genre, also attending festivals in the sector and trying to reach agreements to have the most recognized titles among their ranks. In addition to the fact that we can find all kinds of themes , whether about nature, historical events, biographical documentaries …
What could perhaps put you back is that most of the content is in English , although you can also find content in many other languages, including Spanish, of course. In any case, there should not be anyone with problems to be able to follow the documentaries, since they all have subtitles in several languages.
Detailed interface on each device
GuideDoc has a development team that works almost daily to ensure a good experience for your applications. Therefore all of them are optimized for the latest versions of software for devices such as the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. The same thing happens if you access from a browser on a Mac. And despite the fact that Android is not analyzed by a medium like ours, we have also been able to test it on this system and we can say that the sensations are very similar if not identical.
The first thing that can be found when entering the applications are the covers of the documentaries, being clearly identifiable without having to tell you what they are. However, it is possible to click on each of these photographs to access more information such as its subject, languages in which it is available, a brief synopsis and interesting information regarding its creators. Also the interface during playback is comfortable even from an Apple TV, a device for which we do not always find fully adapted applications.
As a curious detail, it is striking that the icon and logo of this platform is a dog whose body is actually a movie camera as a clear nod to its theme.
Its main drawback could be an advantage soon
If you are registered with one of the large streaming platforms, you will have verified how all of them have artificial intelligence algorithms that order the interface according to your tastes, even suggesting content directly focused on you. Unfortunately we cannot find this in GuideDoc and although we do not believe that it is a compelling reason to put the application aside, the truth is that it is missed.
However, the writing team of this website has been able to contact the GuideDoc team and they have ensured that they are precisely working on a machine learning algorithm that serves for the aforementioned. Therefore, what today may be a lack, could in the future become one more reason to see GuideDoc a great revelation in the audiovisual sector.
Is GuideDoc for you?
On the basis that the documentary genre is considered a “very niche” sector, the truth is that there is a good chance that GuideDoc is not for you. However, if you are in this article and have even come this far, it is because you have a minimum of interest in the genre. If so, it is the least reasonable that you give them the opportunity to try it for at least a month, enough time to at least take a look at the catalog, enjoy many of its contents and assess whether or not it is really worth it.
In any case, we recommend you not lose sight of this platform, as it is still growing and possibly in the future it could convince you completely with its new implementations. The simple fact of knowing that a new documentary is added every day, something already mentioned above, is already more than a compelling reason to have the app downloaded on your main device and take a look at it from time to time.
Bonus: you can find out how this project originated
If you want to go beyond what GuideDoc offers, you should know that there is a podcast in which its creator, Víctor Correal, was telling almost step by step how the business idea arose and how it has evolved to become what it is. today. That podcast is called It’s Not Your Affair and although currently its theme has resulted in interviews with entrepreneurs, the previous episodes in which all this is told are open on the main podcast platforms. An excellent way to feel, also participate in GuideDoc while still enjoying its content.
