- Netflix on Apple TV no longer uses the tvOS video player
- This results in small but annoying interface changes
- But it also means that some functions are now missing from the app
Netflix has changed the way its app works on Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K streaming devices, and given how popular these devices are with home theater enthusiasts, it’s no surprise that many viewers are unhappy with the results of this particular update.
Instead of using the tvOS operating system’s built-in video player software and display, which ensures a consistent experience regardless of which streaming service you use, Netflix has decided to do things differently. Netflix has now replaced the tvOS player with its own custom player, and that player not only looks different, it also doesn’t work with a lot of playback features that users have been used to for years.
Netflix isn’t the only streamer to do this; Disney+ also uses its own player. But the Netflix player removes some basic features when skipping or playing shows, and the changes aren’t going down well with some viewers. (This isn’t the first time Netflix has stopped integrating with Apple’s technology, either — it’s already skipping the Apple TV app’s Up Next section.)
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What has Netflix done to the Apple TV app?
The Netflix app update has changed some standard features. For example, when you click back or forward on your Apple TV remote, the default behavior is to skip the show back or forward by 10 seconds, and users are used to this.
No more: as viewer iamonreddit explains, “now it pauses and brings up the image picker and you have to click again. Didn’t they do any research or usability testing before releasing this? It’s not smooth at all either.”
According to FlatpanelsHD, there are several other features in the tvOS player that are now not available in the Netflix app, including the handy auto-subtitle that starts when you rewind or turn off the show; the ability to use Enhance Dialog; the info and video/audio format details in the slide-up menu, the ability to double-tap and find out when the show or movie ends, and even integration with the useful ‘Remote’ app on iPhone and iPad.
That might sound like a lot of ado about nothing, but one of the reasons people buy Apple TV is because of its user interface: it’s a nice place to spend time in. And when apps go against that, say to deliver the same experience you’d get on a Fire TV or an Android device, they make the experience on Apple TV worse — maybe not by much, but enough to be another annoyance. And irritants accumulate.
But it might not just be about the interface. Other Redditors shared their negative Netflix experiences. “The new player is pretty bad. And 4K doesn’t look like 4K,” wrote lusid1. Leckie described “consistent quality issues… things will randomly pixelate and I have to force close the app… nothing else has a problem and all other apps work fine.” And aisuperman is “on the verge of unsubscribing an app that has a video player from the 2000s.”
I think redditor b2717 put it very well: “to me, it’s like someone moved all the door handles in my house to the other side, right by the hinges. They may still technically work, but it makes it harder and more annoying to use them. And every time I’m reminded of how unnecessary it all is.”
This also comes hot on the heels of Netflix announcing another price hike in the US, which includes the second price hike on the Premium plan in just 14 months, so people will already have been asking themselves if they want to keep the service.
Reddit user motorik puts their view very simply: “Latest Netflix app update is ‘time to unsubscribe’ bad.”
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