Netflix is about to look very different on your TV. The streamer said on Wednesday that it will roll out a new UI redesign for its TV app “in the coming weeks and months” globally, starting May 19. AI-powered features are among the other new features coming to the app.
“In the coming weeks and months, our members across the world will get to experience the updated TV homepage for themselves.” Chief Product Officer Eunice Kim said in a press briefing. “When we first started thinking about this project, we wanted to create an experience that was more flexible for our broad entertainment offerings, more intuitive and responsive to our members’ needs, and capable of elevating the most thrilling moments on Netflix.”
Some of the new features include an easier way to find what to watch on the platform, with Netflix adding a huge banner on the home tab, suggesting what you might want to watch, and putting all the information you need to decide what to watch front and center. The streaming app is modifying access rows with different recommendations like “Your Next Watch,” “Today’s Top Picks For You,” or “Only on Netflix” with callouts like “Recently Added,” “Emmy Award Winner,” or “#1 in TV Shows.” The new user interface is also making shortcuts more visible by moving shortcuts to Search, Shows, Movies, Games, and My List from the left-hand side to the top of the page, where “they’re more noticeable and easier to access.”
According to Kim, the redesigned TV homepage is simpler, more intuitive, and better represents the breadth of entertainment on Netflix today. “And it’s better at the most important thing, which is helping our members easily find shows, movies, live events, and games that they’ll love.”
Netflix is also getting new “responsive recommendations” that will be able to “pull in more signals, like what trailers you’re watching or who you’re searching for, so we can do a better job suggesting titles you’ll want to watch in that moment,” Chief Technology Officer Elizabeth Stone revealed on the call with reporters. That is to say, now as you watch, explore, and engage with titles, Netflix will subtly adapt your homepage to show you more titles that are related to your viewing and browsing history.
The mobile experience is also getting some new features as Netflix is “exploring ways to bring Generative AI to our members’ discovery experience,” and the streamer is kicking this off with a search feature on iOS that is a small opt-in beta. Netflix said this will allow members to search for shows and movies using natural, conversational phrases like “I want something funny and upbeat.”
Netflix will soon also start testing a vertical feed like that of TikTok, Instagram reels, and YouTube shorts filled with clips of the platform’s shows and movies, intended to make discovery easy and fun. The streaming site said, users will then be able to tap to watch the whole show or movie immediately, add it to My List, or share with friends.
