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Netflix Adds 30-Second Preview Videos to iOS App

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Netflix today added a slew of 30-second video trailers to its iOS app, after limited testing of the feature since early March.

Optimized for mobile, the trailers ape the look of Snapchat and Instagram Stories, appearing as circular icons on the app's main screen and playing back in a vertical format on iPhones. Netflix offered its rationale for the feature in a blog post on its website:

netflix-ios-previews-800x703.jpg
Today, we are excited to introduce mobile previews (launching today on iOS and coming soon to Android) to the mobile experience. Mobile previews present members with a fun, simple, and easy way to learn about all the new content on Netflix -- and find something great to watch even faster.

Years of testing has made it clear that video previews help our members browse less and discover new content more quickly. With the launch of mobile previews, we are bringing a video browse experience to your mobile phone in a fun and mobile-optimized way.
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While watching a trailer, users can tap to play the content being previewed, get more information on it, or add it to their Watch Later list. Tapping the video or swiping across it also skips to another trailer without having to return to the main screen.

The company introduced video previews to its TV and web interface last year, but Netflix says around a fifth of all viewing occurs on mobile devices, which is why previews will be a permanent feature of the app going forward. Currently in the list are 75 custom-crop previews for both original and licensed content, with Netflix expected to add more in future.

Netflix exceeded Wall Street expectations this week by adding 7.4 million new subscribers between January and March, giving it a total of 125 million paying subscribers worldwide - far more than Amazon and Hulu.

The service is now available in 190 countries, and users of the streaming service can expect a crop of new television shows from around the world to debut this year, including a six-part British series called The English Game, a look into the invention of football, written by the creator of Downton Abbey. Netflix says several newly announced movies will also be added in 2018, along with new seasons of existing series, such as Glow.

Article Link: Netflix Adds 30-Second Preview Videos to iOS App
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/04/19/netflix-mobile-trailers-iphone-and-ipad-app/
Oh no... not the auto-playing stuff? I loathe it. Still doesn’t happen on one of my FireTVs (no idea why) and it does my head in on the one it does do it on. It actively discourages me to browse.

I want video to play when I decide, not you Netflix. Even Apple would give an option to disable this.
 
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Guess I'm in the minority here. Really like the autoplay video previews atleast on the big screen. Not sure how good this will be on the iPhone. Also, I do agree there should always be an option to disable these from auto playing for those who dont want it.
 
Dear god in heaven no. This is the worst feature on the PS4 app! It’s so annnnoying.
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willmtaylor said:
Definitely user-hostile to not even include a way to disable it.
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They know people don’t like it so why are they so adamant to include this feature?? I don’t get it it’s weird to keep it in there without an option at least! What I do now is browse with my amplifier muted and it has stopped me from browsing what’s on offer. It’ll get to the point where if I’m not watching enough I’ll stop my subscription if they’re not careful
 
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Blackstick said:
I hate that feature - it’s user hostile with no way to disable it, particularly on the AppleTV app... I shouldn’t have to mute my device to browse.
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I totally agree. My LG smart TV's Netflix app started doing this a while back, and then the Apple TV app. I find it irritating, and it slows down browsing because the app is trying to load, buffer, and play a video while I'm trying to scroll through. I really hope they add an option to disable this soon.
 
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People are complaining that this is autoplay or will eat up data, but I don't see where it says it is autoplay? From the screenshot it looks like you have to tap to view a preview.
 
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linkmaster02 said:
People are complaining that this is autoplay or will eat up data, but I don't see where it says it is autoplay? From the screenshot it looks like you have to tap to view a preview.
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Right, you have to tap on a preview to start viewing. Once you’re in the previews, if you swipe to the next preview, it will start autoplaying after a short delay.
 
Blackstick said:
I hate that feature - it’s user hostile with no way to disable it, particularly on the AppleTV app... I shouldn’t have to mute my device to browse.
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At least on iOS it's click to play. On other devices (my TV, cable box etc.) you get blasted with the audio as you're scrolling through the list, so you turn it down (or off) and back up again when you want to play. Even more annoying with my receiver which has a click when it's receiving a dolby signal, so that clicks on and off and on and off as you're scrolling the content.

It's an ok feature, but they have to allow us to disable it or at the very least mute the autoplay video.
 
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whooleytoo said:
At least on iOS it's click to play. On other devices (my TV, cable box etc.) you get blasted with the audio as you're scrolling through the list, so you turn it down (or off) and back up again when you want to play. Even more annoying with my receiver which has a click when it's receiving a dolby signal, so that clicks on and off and on and off as you're scrolling the content.

It's an ok feature, but they have to allow us to disable it or at the very least mute the autoplay video.
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Exactly and exactly.
 
Xenc said:
So you have to tap to start playing and then swipe to continue? Where’s the problem!
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Once you tap on a preview, it’ll start playing, and other previews will keep autoplaying, one after the other, no swiping is ever required.

Swiping is for terminating the currently playing preview, so you can go to another preview (which autoplays).

To go back to the lists screen, you tap the “X” in the upper right corner. Or you can hit the play button during the preview to watch that video.

I’m not sure there’s any problem on iOS, but apparently there are autoplaying videos on other platforms, from the lists screen.
 
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