Netflix Testing Major Apple TV App Redesign

[jbpiv3]

Attention Netflix: if you’re reading this. Integrate with the Apple TV up next feature.

My wife and I often lose track of our Netflix shows as they’re not easily accessible like our other shows that show up there. Which is good and bad. Good when we are out of shows we discover a series we’ve been wanting to watch on Netflix. Bad because we are often months or years behind on shows on there and have accumulated a lot shows we have yet to start.

 

[jwdsail]

Netflix is testing a redesigned version of its TV app, reports The Verge, marking the first major overhaul to the app in the last decade. The new design is a notable departure from the current look, but it is more modern and puts more information about content front and center.

Customers were reportedly performing "eye gymnastics" looking around to different parts of the home screen in an attempt to find a show or movie to watch, so Netflix wanted to simplify the navigation experience. "We really wanted members to have an easier time figuring out if a title is right for them," Netflix senior director of product Pat Flemming told The Verge.

The static tiles for TV shows and movies are being replaced with tiles that extend when the remote lands on them, making information like the trailer and description more centralized. Right now, when scrolling through content, show or movie information is displayed at the top of the screen. With the updated interface, that information is shown in the middle of the display, and tiles for other shows are pushed to the side.

Hovering over a TV show or movie for an extended period of time will cause a short preview to automatically start playing.

Netflix plans to replace the left side navigation menu with a top bar menu that features search, home, shows, movies, and My Netflix, with the menu accessible by pressing the back button on the remote. The current Categories and New and Popular tabs will be removed, but New and Popular will be replaced with the My Netflix recommendations, and Categories will be available from the search tab.

The new design is being tested with a small group of subscribers to begin with, but it will be expanded to additional Netflix users in the coming months if it proves to be a popular change.

Article Link: Netflix Testing Major Apple TV App Redesign

Maybe they’re describing it poorly..

Maybe I’d rather light myself on fire than use this updated UI…

Huh.

 

[parameter]

Still a useless effort until Netflix adds support for the Apple TV "Up Next" list where it saves what you're watching OUTSIDE of the Netflix app.

Because no, I rarely even remember to open Netflix since I have all of my other shows in my Up Next list in the TV app, super nice and easy to use and I know what to watch.

But Netflix refuses to support it and it sounds like they still are not adding support. Useless update.

 

[shakopeemn]

And it’s just awful, at least in their implementation. Please please please don’t do that.

Yes, with Amazon's UI, all of the movies jump around like Mexican jumping beans! (not good)

 

[ignatius345]

God I hope they don’t ditch the standard tvOS video player

 

[SoldOnApple]

Explains why they are dropping older Apple TV hardware.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

I compared my AppleTV with just plugging my old 2012 Macbook Pro with iina into a big display. Stuck a couple 8tb ssd’s in it, one for movies, one for tv. Works with the lovely metal appletv remote, the classic white apple infrared remote, and the neglected magic mouse from my imac. Autoplays episodes, no ads, no relying on wireless bandwidth for image quality, no censoring or sanitized watered-down films, no stupid, unwanted, irreversible ui changes, no disappearing content, and is unaffected by Apples pissing match with other services. Old Apple > everything.

 

[Rychiar]

Stop wasting your obviously limited resources and make an AVP app

 

[xander49x]

I closed my Netflix account 10 years ago, I smile every time I read an article on Netflix knowing I will never have to experience those horrible company practices, good luck to all of you who have an account.

 

[ApAx]

On all my streaming services, the equivalent “my list” feature has been moved to the very last position of the navigation menu. This used to be the first thing you see. I don’t want auto-playing previews of “featured content” as the main screen and dominant action to bypass every time. The “continue watching” lists frequently fail to acknowledge that i completed that episode and show previously viewed content on several platforms as well.

 

[eonaeon]

The article that is referenced doesn't even mention the Apple TV. Often the Apple TV app lags quite behind the other platforms, so who knows when (or even if) the Apple TV app will be updated.

 

[Dj64Mk7]

Apple ditches the top bar navigation and moves to the netflix style side menu. Netflix sidesteps this clear attempt at creating a somewhat standard UI logic in streaming apps and adopts the exact thing Apple just abandoned.

Clever move, Apple is not going to walk back a UI they just released so there will be no standard UI. Netflix clearly wins this round… not sure it makes any sense, but well played!

I hate the new UI in the TV app. It’s not incredibly clear that to access the navigation menu, you have to press the back button. I had assumed that Apple would make it as simple as being able to press left to get to the menu, but no, I have to press back. But the back button normally takes me to the top of whatever screen I was viewing, and I don’t want to lose my place just to open the side menu. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

 

[redbeard331]

Which is an infuriating experience. This doesn’t help find things, only makes it worse. The main screen with tiles is what needs to improve.

Yea I don’t like it either.

 

[Spoonbender01]

Anyone know if we will FINALLY get full TV app watch list integration? I continually forget I even have Netflix without that, in fact, probably time to cancel if this isn’t going to finally come. A waste of money without it!

 

[RemedyRabbit]

Call me old fashioned but I think it’d be far easier to find things to watch if I could have everything in one big list that I could sort and filter however I see fit.

Suggested content algorithms only serve to hide content from me. It genuinely feels like they’ve made design choices intended to keep you in the menu scrolling tiles for as long as possible.

The search is also useless:

 

[GoosePoops]

Hovering over a TV show or movie for an extended period of time will cause a short preview to automatically start playing.

It is not hyperbole when I say that if this “feature” can’t be disabled I will say goodbye to my Netflix subscription forever.

 

[aries81]

Quite interesting to see the common theme which is popping up in these threads. Whenever mentions the word "Netflix", immediately there's a heap of people jumping up going "I AM GLAD I'VE CANCELLED MY SUBSCRIPTION".

 

[RemedyRabbit]

Quite interesting to see the common theme which is popping up in these threads. Whenever mentions the word "Netflix", immediately there's a heap of people jumping up going "I AM GLAD I'VE CANCELLED MY SUBSCRIPTION".

People really do love to scream threats to unsubscribe from things into the void.

 

[svish]

Interesting to see the changes.

 

[TechnoTiger3000]

I find it perplexing how prevalent the "one size fits all" approach has become in technology nowadays.

While some may appreciate a different thumbnail each day or enjoy the pop-up TikTok experience, personally, I don't find them appealing at all.

Moreover, I firmly believe that algorithm-based recommendations should be made optional by law. I'm pleased to see my EU government taking steps in that direction.

 

[Wobbly Chairs]

The UI for Netflix on Apple TV is terrible. You only get one line of visible tiles with the rest of the screen occupied by a huge photo and title. This makes finding anything that you might want to watch very hard and makes Netflix my least visited app. It doesn’t integrate with the Apple TV app so I forget what I’m watching there.
Amazon Prime is terrible but only because of its expanding tiles. At least you can look at more that one row at a time.
Best app for me is BBC iPlayer. Lots of choice that’s well presented.

 

[Makosuke]

Netflix's astounding ability to find new ways of showing even less information on giant TV screens is only ever overshadowed by its steadfast refusal to give into the reasonable requests of its customers to provide a UX that isn't terrible.

My feeling exactly.

My first thought was that this was a good thing since they couldn’t possibly make it any worse. Then I remembered it’s Netflix we’re talking about, so they can absolutely figure out some way to make it worse, and will definitely implement it when they do.

Also, the dang thing straight-up crashes in the middle of a show with some regularity. Playing video without crashing should not be that hard.

 

[kurtfoster]

Then I’m out. I despise the expanding tile trend, and I don’t like that the trailer starts playing automatically. What I like is a static image with the details about the movie or whatever I’m watching. Just like the old VCR cases. That’s all I want. I don’t want moving pictures to aggravate my ADHD. No thanks.

 

[kurtfoster]

Oh no…. I absolutely hate the expanding tile trend. I find myself quickly navigating through these tiles so they don’t expand. It’s so jarring to have your eyes focused on something and then it quickly changes and pushes the other tiles out of the way.

Thank you!!!!

 

[lostinfrance]

Best app for me is BBC iPlayer. Lots of choice that’s well presented.

Apart from the fact the iPlayer app on ATV has no subtitles and can’t play UHD.