Netflix is testing a TikTok-style vertical feed for its iPhone app
Netflix is testing a TikTok-style vertical feed in its iPhone app, but the feature won’t be ready for public consumption for at least a few months, the company noted.
Also, generative AI search is now available as an opt-in beta. Both features will be available to all users of the Netflix iOS app “in the coming weeks and months.”
A TikTok-style vertical feed is being tested at the moment with a small subset of Netflix users. As for AI-powered, mood-based search, it’s now available as an opt-in following a recent test in Australia and New Zealand. Netflix expects to finish rolling out generative AI search for US subscribers in the coming months.
Netflix is testing a vertical feed in the mobile app
The TikTok-ification of popular apps continues, with Netflix being the latest example. The vertical feed, a natural progression of the widescreen viewing format in the age of vertical smartphone video, will be “filled with clips of Netflix shows and movies to make discovery easy and fun,” notes today’s announcement published on the official Netflix blog. When you see something you like, you’ll be able to start watching the whole show or movie, add it to your queue or share it with others.
Such a feature would actually make me wanna use Netflix more often. The vertical video format proved all the rage, and there’s no denying that people prefer quick TikTok-style or YouTube Shorts-style summaries of longer videos.
I’m interested to see how a vertical feed might work for movies and TV shows. I want to see behind-the-scenes and making-of videos, featurettes and similar material instead of movie trailers recut for the vertical format. Actually, Netflix has had vertical video trailers available since 2018. I’m speculating, but couldn’t Netflix use AI to crop shows and movies in real time for the vertical format?
Netflix launches Spotify-style generative AI search in beta
Netflix has been using artificial intelligence and machine learning for twenty years to power its praised recommendations. And soon, generative AI will allow you to find something interesting to stream Netflix based on your mood.
Similar to Spotify’s mood-based search, generative AI search on Netflix relies on descriptive prompts and conversational phrases such as “I want something funny and upbeat” instead of genres, actors’ names and other simple keywords.
Powered by OpenAI technology, this feature is currently an opt-in beta in the United States and is only available to a small number of Netflix users. If you’re included in this test, you’ll be offered to opt in.
Netflix for Apple TV gains a revamped design
Netflix also unveiled today an interface redesign in its Apple TV app and apps on TV platforms, but the full rollout will take a few months to complete.
The refreshed interface has relocated the “Search” and “My List” shortcuts from the lefthand side to the top navigation bar, making the app feel more like a good tvOS citizen. This is the same navigation as in the built-in TV app from Apple.
Show cards now expand to reveal more info when selected. Also, recommendations should now be “more responsive to your moods and interests in the moment.” The refreshed interface looks cleaner than before and improves navigation, which “better reflects the elevated experience you’ve come to expect on Netflix.”
Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2025/05/07/netflix-iphone-vertical-feed-test/
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