Netflix to Debut New Vertical Preview Feature on Mobile Next Month

Thursday March 8, 2018 4:27 AM PST by Tim Hardwick
Netflix is set to introduce a new movie and show preview mode to its iOS app next month (via Variety). Announced on Wednesday at the company's Lab Days press event in California, the upcoming feature will mean Netflix subscribers can watch 30-second previews displayed as vertical video on mobile devices.


The previews will appear as round icons on the home screen below a carousel showcasing the latest Netflix content available. Users tap on the icons to watch the previews and can swipe across them to see more. Netflix will debut up to 75 of its custom-crop previews for both original and licensed content when the feature goes live in April.

A similar preview feature has been part of Netflix's TV interface for a few years now, but this will be the first time the company has used a vertical viewing format within its mobile apps. Some subscribers who signed up to the "Test Participation" feature in their Netflix.com account settings may already see the previews in the iPhone app.

Netflix said approximately 20 percent of all viewing happens on a mobile device, which is why the company has been working on several improvements to its mobile offering, including the recent launch of mobile downloads and codec optimization to enable higher-resolution viewing over as little as 200kbps bandwidth.

Tag: Netflix
27 comments

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Loge
22 months ago
When did people become too lazy to rotate their device? :rolleyes:
Rating: 8 Votes
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jim.arrows
22 months ago
The auto-previews in Netflix apps is the single most maddening feature of any app I use regularly, with no way to disable it... now they're forcing it even further down our throats. I absolutely can't stand trying to browse for something to watch when every time I move from show to show it starts blasting spoilers at me that I don't want to see.
Rating: 5 Votes
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Glmnet1
22 months ago

When did people become too lazy to rotate their device? :rolleyes:

I don't think this update is for the convenience of the users. I think it's about making sure we see the trailers no matter how we hold the device. After all, these trailers are ads and they are there to keep us interested in Netflix and its content.
Rating: 4 Votes
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yngrshr
22 months ago

Who cares? Options is why. I assume the normal horizontal 16:9 preview is there too. Maybe you're standing on a train with one hand full of bags and the other with your phone. Are you awkwardly going to hold your phone landscape with one hand while previewing some new show?


This is exactly what it’s for.

That some are annoyed over this is beyond comical.
Rating: 3 Votes
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topmounter
22 months ago

The auto-previews in Netflix apps is the single most maddening feature of any app I use regularly, with no way to disable it... now they're forcing it even further down our throats. I absolutely can't stand trying to browse for something to watch when every time I move from show to show it starts blasting spoilers at me that I don't want to see.


I wholeheartedly agree. This is so infuriatingly annoying that I no longer browse Netflix on OTT devices. Amazon Prime Video is my go to now.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Bathplug
22 months ago

When did people become too lazy to rotate their device? :rolleyes:


Millennials
Rating: 3 Votes
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imronburgundy
22 months ago

Who asked for this? I’d rather rotate my device to get the full picture. This is a step backwards, like going back to 4:3 (but worse) all over again.

Plus everyone complains when something is filmed vertically. Why would we want to watch previews that way?

Who cares? Options is why. I assume the normal horizontal 16:9 preview is there too. Maybe you're standing on a train with one hand full of bags and the other with your phone. Are you awkwardly going to hold your phone landscape with one hand while previewing some new show?
Rating: 3 Votes
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jim.arrows
22 months ago

I wholeheartedly agree. This is so infuriatingly annoying that I no longer browse Netflix on OTT devices. Amazon Prime Video is my go to now.


Now that you mention it, since Prime Video arrived on Apple TV I've been using it almost exclusively for the same reason... much nicer experience, and I prefer it on atv over fire tv since they do the work of filtering out all the non-prime content on the atv version.
Rating: 2 Votes
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Gasu E.
22 months ago

Because its a "boiling the frog" phenomenon. Once Netflix publishes some numbers on how amazingly popular this format is, directors will go straight to vertical only videos and after a while, landscape videos will become a premium add-on and then will be extinguished. Vertical videos look terrible on TV and Netflix can finally beat cable TV by essentially slow boiling the customer preferred aspect ratio of the screen.


These are Previews. Directors don't give a crap about previews. They are a form of advertising media that has zero to do with how they perceive their craft.
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The auto-previews in Netflix apps is the single most maddening feature of any app I use regularly, with no way to disable it... now they're forcing it even further down our throats. I absolutely can't stand trying to browse for something to watch when every time I move from show to show it starts blasting spoilers at me that I don't want to see.


Yeah, they are pretty annoying. I hate being blasted with aggressive advertising in any case; but the Netflix previews are excessively annoying. The quality of editing and music selection makes it look as though these were created by interns, or worse-- the idea has crossed my mind that it's done at least partially by AI. They are nowhere near as well-put together as regular movie trailers (which are irritating in their own way, but at least tend to look professional).
Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
mtneer
22 months ago

Who cares? Options is why. I assume the normal horizontal 16:9 preview is there too. Maybe you're standing on a train with one hand full of bags and the other with your phone. Are you awkwardly going to hold your phone landscape with one hand while previewing some new show?


Because its a "boiling the frog" phenomenon. Once Netflix publishes some numbers on how amazingly popular this format is, directors will go straight to vertical only videos and after a while, landscape videos will become a premium add-on and then will be extinguished. Vertical videos look terrible on TV and Netflix can finally beat cable TV by essentially slow boiling the customer preferred aspect ratio of the screen.
Rating: 2 Votes
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