Netflix Is Redesigning Its App For The Worst Reason

Netflix is moving away from competing with cable TV and beginning to rival social media apps. As reported by TechCrunch, Netflix used its fourth-quarter earnings call to reveal it intends to revamp its mobile app later this year to expand on short-form video features. The company is expected to start promoting its new video podcast format.

With that, instead of focusing on how users discover TV shows, movies, and what to watch next, it feels like Netflix is focused on offering an experience like Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts when users navigate through the app.

Netflix redesigns are common. Just a few months ago, the company made its biggest app revamp in years on streaming boxes and smart TVs. In 2023, the service launched a redesigned version of its iPhone and iPad app to make everything feel snappier, improving profile switching and changing how users previewed titles, which made Netflix even better on smartphones compared to other streaming platforms.

While Netflix has been experimenting with vertical video feeds for a while, seemingly pivoting toward a social platform design, the company believes the change will "better serve the expansion of our business over the decade to come," Netflix's CEO Greg Peters said in the earnings call. "You can imagine us bringing more clips based on new content types, like video podcasts."

This change is likely meant to retain users on the app longer. After all, instead of users just binge-watching new episodes of a show, they could also watch snippets of series and TV shows in the main feed. This upcoming change makes even more sense when you think about the new video podcasts feature, as this is a format that other platforms have explored in the past.

If that approach works for Netflix, we could see the app changing even more towards short content and snippets in the future. Over the years, the company has put a lot of effort into how users discover new content based on what they watch, what other users in their region are watching, and even what Netflix wants you to watch. "There's never been more competition for creators, for consumer attention, for advertising and subscription dollars, the competitive lines around TV consumption are already blurring," said Netflix's co-CEO Ted Sarandos. If Netflix's bid for Warner Bros. goes through, even HBO Max content could receive this new treatment on the platform.