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Netflix Isn't Adding Apple TV Integration After All

It says a lot about a company (and their software) when a bug accidentally adds a feature that a lot of customers want.

I despise the Netflix app's interface, and would have long since stopped subscribing if I were paying in the first place, so I guess it shouldn't be much of a surprise when they only way they manage to make the product better is very literally an accident.

Hidive's AppleTV app has demonstrated that it is, technically, possible to make an even worse streaming app than Netflix, but that's kind of like pointing to a dumpster fire as proof that there is technically a worse place to be living than a dumpster that isn't on fire. (Seriously, Hidive is genuinely impressive for its ability to completely fail at literally every single thing you want a streaming anime app to do other than play video. It's like they went through every basic feature and figured out some way to either do it wrong, or custom-build a UI element that breaks what the system already offers.)
 
Makosuke said:
It says a lot about a company (and their software) when a bug accidentally adds a feature that a lot of customers want.

I despise the Netflix app's interface, and would have long since stopped subscribing if I were paying in the first place, so I guess it shouldn't be much of a surprise when they only way they manage to make the product better is very literally an accident.

Hidive's AppleTV app has demonstrated that it is, technically, possible to make an even worse streaming app than Netflix, but that's kind of like pointing to a dumpster fire as proof that there is technically a worse place to be living than a dumpster that isn't on fire. (Seriously, Hidive is genuinely impressive for its ability to completely fail at literally every single thing you want a streaming anime app to do other than play video. It's like they went through every basic feature and figured out some way to either do it wrong, or custom-build a UI element that breaks what the system already offers.)
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Did you see Gurman online comment today

www.macrumors.com

Apple Intelligence Siri Overhaul Could Get Delayed

Apple's smarter version of Siri that incorporates Apple Intelligence features could end up being delayed, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
www.macrumors.com www.macrumors.com

Now what does that say about Apple vs Netflix and bugs. Also why the event is now very important.
 
Radin.Y said:
One thing I REALLY wish Apple TV integration could do is syncing watchlist with the dedicated apps themselves.
The search doesn't function as effectively either, sometimes. Today I asked Siri about a movie, said it couldn't find it. I searched in the Disney+ app, and voilà! there it was!
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If I use Google search in my browser with "$movie_name stream" it will list which service has the movie with one click to watch, why can't apple do this?
 
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@Brett said:
Don’t the incorporate this into Google TV? Netflix quite happy to have all their shows have Apple products but won’t add this in?
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No, they don't. They do for Comcast's EntertainmentOS, but that's the only place, and I expect Comcast/Sky are paying *handsomely* for the privilege.
 
Note
Interestingly, this rollout came a few days after Apple announced that the Apple TV app, including Apple TV+ and the MLS matches, would be available on Android for the first time.
 
AppliedMicro said:
Very reasonable, given how Apple operates a competing service.

Why should Netflix provide such data to their competitors for free?
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Makes you wish that Netflix would at least have their own implementation of “up next” in their Apple TV app which users can use to quickly jump back into a show they were watching halfway. It’s one of the reasons why I am a fan of the Play app on iOS. Curate the videos I want to watch, then launch them from the TV app.


And as a bonus, it’s available for the Vision Pro as well. 😊
 
falainber said:
The miniscule amount of Apple TV+ users does not warrant the efforts. It's Apple that should beg Netflix to show their content in Netflix app.
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Well clearly either someone at Netflix thought it was worth it to display it in the TV app (which doesn’t have anything to do with Apple TV+, by the way) or it’s very easy to implement by accident.

Every other major platform I have used supports this feature. Clearly it’s doable - Netflix is just being petty and making things worse for their customers who use Apple TVs.
 
What the hell is their problem? I really like continue watching. I don’t need to mentally remember what show i'm watching and where. The rest of them show up. Like its really that hard or detrimental? The customers wan it. Easy peasy. I don’t need netflix every month anyways. Gurl, Bye.
 
MacRumors said:


Earlier today, some Netflix users in the United States began seeing Netflix content in the Apple TV app's Continue Watching queue, which prompted speculation that Netflix was rolling out Apple TV integration.

Netflix-Smaller-2.jpg

As it turns out, Netflix content showing up in new places in the Apple TV interface was a bug, and Netflix is not introducing expanded Apple TV functionality. In a statement to The Verge, a Netflix spokesperson confirmed that temporary support for the Continue Watching feature was an error, and it has been rolled back.

Netflix is one of the only major streaming services that has refused to offer integration with the Apple TV app, preferring instead for customers to manage watch lists and browse for content directly in the Netflix app.

Netflix has never supported integration with the built-in content tracking feature in the Apple TV app, so Apple TV users are not able to see Netflix shows and movies in their watchlists. Content from Apple TV+, Hulu, Disney+, Max, Amazon Prime Video, and other services can be tracked with the Apple TV app across Apple devices, but that is not the case for Netflix.

Article Link: Netflix Isn't Adding Apple TV Integration After All
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Netflix has the worst user interface (for Apple TV) and is the highest-priced streamer. My God, they don't even transparently indicate the non-English content. It's very frustrating.
 
Disappointing. Would have been great if Netflix allowed integration. Don't see any loss in allowing this and hopefully one day it will happen.
 
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Only one commenter has mentioned this so far.

This is all about analytics, advertising, tracking, and a/b testing. If their shows are available through AppleTV+, they lose all most of this.

The over-egregious data collection practices of all of these companies will outweigh any benefit to the consumer. If it can benefit the consumer and slurp up even more data, it will be done, but if it’s useful but reduces the amount of analytics, then there’s not a chance in hell it will see the light of day.

Cory Doctorow was 100% right.
 
The AppleTV interface is puzzling to me. I often get lost between AppleTV+, Apple TV movies renting, other streamers... the top interface navigation is not very intuitive IMHO.
 
trefferton said:
Only one commenter has mentioned this so far.

This is all about analytics, advertising, tracking, and a/b testing. If their shows are available through AppleTV+, they lose all most of this.

The over-egregious data collection practices of all of these companies will outweigh any benefit to the consumer. If it can benefit the consumer and slurp up even more data, it will be done, but if it’s useful but reduces the amount of analytics, then there’s not a chance in hell it will see the light of day.

Cory Doctorow was 100% right.
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No they wont.

How do you come to this dramatic conclusion?

The up next is simply metadata and a queue of pointers to episodes available in other apps.

The shows are still viewed in the Netflix app - not elsewhere. Up Next simply takes you to the content. Netflix lose nothing at all.

Everyone else manages it. I dont accept its 'hard' to do - im sure just a simple API thats all.
Lets not forget, this IS working - the 'bug' demonstrated it and goes to show Netflix are deliberately withholding and in fact its harder to withhold than participate.
 
stocklen said:
No they wont.

How do you come to this dramatic conclusion?

The up next is simply metadata and a queue of pointers to episodes available in other apps.

The shows are still viewed in the Netflix app - not elsewhere. Up Next simply takes you to the content. Netflix lose nothing at all.

Everyone else manages it. I dont accept its 'hard' to do - im sure just a simple API thats all.
Lets not forget, this IS working - the 'bug' demonstrated it and goes to show Netflix are deliberately withholding and in fact its harder to withhold than participate.
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It‘s about data, like the user said.

On one hand, Apple does now have access to your streaming catalogues content (they know who licensed a movie or which originals you have) combined with the fact, that they now get 100% of the users viewing behavior on your platform.

That means Apple gets to understand the user better, can offer better recommendations and aggregate viewing data on their platform and gauge performance of your streaming service (compare them to others and potentially give you a better or worse deal for certain things like in-app cuts, which Apple is known for doing with streaming partners like Amazon etc. being the token example years ago).

On the other hand, they (the streaming platform) do now get less data from your individual user. Netflix is one of the biggest data hogs / experiments streaming platform out there. Their whole app is designed to determine what you want to watch and what gets you to watch a movie. Ever noticed how their movie / show tile cover images change at random? It‘s them trying to see what sticks with you ("seems like you didn‘t like to watch movie XY when it had male actor ABC front and center, but you instantly jumped on it when we showed swimsuit model 123 in a suggestive pose … lets shuffle some covers around!"). They also completely lose context on why you decided to watch movie XYZ, since you started it through the TV app. They don‘t know whether you were browsing the documentary section or what you searched for to get there, all that data is void.

Additionally, Apple provides shared metadata to all Apps that participate. If you‘re a big streaming provider, you could literally leak the next big trend of content to your competitors that way so they can provide similar content on their apps.

If you‘re into data mining, and you are generally very secretive about viewership data (Netflix literally started giving vague numbers years ago only), the integration is a bad deal. Especially when you‘re afraid of Apple getting heavily into your business (e.g. one day go the licensed content route or outbest you with original content).
 
TimFL1 said:
It‘s about data, like the user said.

On one hand, Apple does now have access to your streaming catalogues content (they know who licensed a movie or which originals you have) combined with the fact, that they now get 100% of the users viewing behavior on your platform.

That means Apple gets to understand the user better, can offer better recommendations and aggregate viewing data on their platform and gauge performance of your streaming service (compare them to others and potentially give you a better or worse deal for certain things like in-app cuts, which Apple is known for doing with streaming partners like Amazon etc. being the token example years ago).

On the other hand, they (the streaming platform) do now get less data from your individual user. Netflix is one of the biggest data hogs / experiments streaming platform out there. Their whole app is designed to determine what you want to watch and what gets you to watch a movie. Ever noticed how their movie / show tile cover images change at random? It‘s them trying to see what sticks with you ("seems like you didn‘t like to watch movie XY when it had male actor ABC front and center, but you instantly jumped on it when we showed swimsuit model 123 in a suggestive pose … lets shuffle some covers around!"). They also completely lose context on why you decided to watch movie XYZ, since you started it through the TV app. They don‘t know whether you were browsing the documentary section or what you searched for to get there, all that data is void.

Additionally, Apple provides shared metadata to all Apps that participate. If you‘re a big streaming provider, you could literally leak the next big trend of content to your competitors that way so they can provide similar content on their apps.

If you‘re into data mining, and you are generally very secretive about viewership data (Netflix literally started giving vague numbers years ago only), the integration is a bad deal. Especially when you‘re afraid of Apple getting heavily into your business (e.g. one day go the licensed content route or outbest you with original content).
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and yet, in the UK, Netflix has no issues whatsoever 100% integrating with Sky on their Glass and Stream platforms which function exactly the same as Apple's TV app.... (and Sky are a streaming channel in their own right so very much a 'competitor' if you want to see it that way)
And, content is also searchable and bookmark-able on an Amazon Firestick - again your argument doesnt take this in to account either. Amaon of course are a direct competitor to Netflix.

So, why does sharing your catalogue of available content affect them at all?

Netflix's holdout to apple is nothing but petty.


However, big bonus here is that at least yesterday's 'mistake' had bought the subject very much front and centre once again and im sure across social media Netflix customers who have an Apple product (i.e. most of them) will be making their feeling heard.

People often quote the tiny proportion of people who have an AppleTV box - this a ridiculous metric as the real number is 'how many Netflix customers have an iPhone or iPad' as the TV app is there too and is just as useful there as it is on the AppleTV set top box.
 
Realityck said:
Did you see Gurman online comment today

www.macrumors.com

Apple Intelligence Siri Overhaul Could Get Delayed

Apple's smarter version of Siri that incorporates Apple Intelligence features could end up being delayed, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
www.macrumors.com www.macrumors.com

Now what does that say about Apple vs Netflix and bugs. Also why the event is now very important.
Click to expand...
That’s a non sequitur. Apple, according to that report, might delay an upcoming feature somewhat, that is intended to improve a product that isn’t very good. They’re are, in either case, promising to make the product better for customers.

Netflix accidentally added a bug that made their product better, but is promising to fix it and make the product worse for customers again because (I assume) they think they make more money that way.

If those two events were equivalent, Apple would have had a fully functional improvement to Siri, accidentally released it and proved it worked, then said its existence was a bug, removed the improvement, and promised to never make it better.

Also: it’s amusing to me that some rumor-monger will predict a date for a future Apple release that Apple has never publicly set a date for (or even announced, period), then later say that the never-announced target date has been missed and the product is “delayed”, and people actually pay attention.

It’s only delayed if you announce a date then miss it. Which does happen—to Apple and pretty much every other company. But this was some internal target that was never publicly announced, may have been aspirational, or may have been completely fabricated by whoever leaked the info.
 
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I'm not cancelling... but this is another petulant B**ch move by Netflix.

Make your platform easier to use and compete on the main reason most users subscribe to your service... content.
 
Realityck said:
Because the bug is associated with android version being released of Apple TV app
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Even if what you said is true (and it sounds ridiculous - why would releasing an Android App for AppleTV+ change anything with whether or not the Netflix App uses an available API in tvOS?), Netflix wrote the app.

It’s entirely within Netflix’s control whether they support or don’t support the feature. They could intentionally turn it on today! All of their major competitors support the feature, Netflix is the only one that doesn’t.

So, yes it has everything to do with Netflix.
 
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