Now that Netflix is a nearly universally adopted fixture in the lives of most Americans, the company has pivoted its domestic strategy from attracting U.S. customers to retaining U.S. customers. While a large part of those efforts revolves around its ever-expanding content library, user experience is also a key focus for the streaming giant as well. As such, Netflix is reportedly rolling out updates to its iPhone app that improve the look and feel of the interface.
On Monday, former Netflix product designer Janum Trivedi shared a video on social media of the new version of the app, which he spent much of 2022 working on. He explains that the updated experience features new card transitions that are “fully interruptible/interactive,” new animation for both the launch and profile screens, updated haptics, and a new wallpaper display that adjusts to the colors in each title’s key art.
Additionally, Trivedi demonstrated an impressive new billboard layout that uses lighting and shading to make it appear that title cards are appearing in 3D.
Check out Trivedi’s full video and side-by-side comparisons between the old and new Netflix apps:
This last year, I’ve been leading a UI refresh to make Netflix feel more fluid, delightful, and polished.
— Janum Trivedi (@jmtrivedi) January 16, 2023
Today, all that work shipped!
Huge thanks to @nebson and @b3ll for helping bring this to life ❤️
Details below, but try it out yourself! pic.twitter.com/cZFb7c42Fd
What’s New for the Netflix App Title Cards?
The individual title cards for the service’s series and movies will likely be the first change that users notice when it comes to the new-and-improved Netflix app. Rather than having the top menu overlap with the key art, each individual card is now surrounded by a gradient background that responds to the dominant color in the show’s artwork. The options at the bottom of each card appear to have changed as well, as the new app has seemingly removed the “Info” tab that was on the previous version.
While Trivedi’s video did not demonstrate this, it would stand to reason that the info is now housed somewhere else in the card’s interface. Perhaps by clicking on the card itself, it will spin and reveal the information that had been previously located in that section.
What’s New for the Netflix App Transitions?
One of the most striking updates in the app appears to be how Netflix transitions from one part of the interface to another. Gone are the side or vertical sliding features and instead, the selected tiles appear to move from their nesting spot in the app to take over the full screen. In the old app, when clicking on a title from the menu, the selected information would slide from the bottom of the page into place (as seen with the “Wednesday” card above). In the updated version, it grows from its spot in the menu to a full-screen version.
While this doesn’t really impact the app’s functionality, the updated graphics do seem to confirm Netflix’s commitment to improving all aspects of the user experience.
What’s New for the Netflix App Profile Pages?
Though Trivedi’s hand slightly obscures the video when he is navigating through the profile pages, the look appears to have remained mostly the same — although the updated version doesn’t appear to have the “Notifications” section in the middle of the page above the menu. However, the biggest difference seems to be how the animation has changed when you interact with the profile icons.
Instead of the traditional side-sliding action that occurred when moving between profiles in the old app, now, once the new profile loads, the art bounces from the center of the screen up to its normal resting place in the top right corner of the page.
Despite having launched its streaming product 15 years ago today, Netflix is not resting on its laurels as the world’s largest streaming service. The company continues to outspend every other media company when it comes to its streaming content budget, but with updates to its app like these, it is also clear that the company is committed to continually investing in improving its users’ experience as well.
Netflix
Netflix is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 3,000+ movies, 2,000+ TV Shows, and Netflix Originals like Stranger Things, Squid Game, The Crown, Tiger King, and Bridgerton. They are constantly adding new shows and movies. Some of their Academy Award-winning exclusives include Roma, Marriage Story, Mank, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.