Netflix cripples apple tv app, sacrificing features for apple tv+ push
The Apple TV, long lauded for its superior image quality and bitrate advantages across streaming platforms, is now facing a peculiar setback. Netflix, in a move that has left users reeling, has fundamentally altered its Apple TV app, stripping away a wealth of features in a bid to better integrate with Apple's own streaming service, Apple TV+.
A once-seamless experience now severely limited
For years, the Apple TV's internal image rendering engine provided a distinct advantage. Apps like Netflix, Prime Video, and HBO consistently delivered higher bitrates than on competing devices. Infuse, iTunes Movies – any video-playing application – benefited from this optimized performance. But Netflix’s latest update has shattered this equilibrium, opting to replace its video player with a custom solution designed explicitly for Apple TV.
The initial rollout, masked as a beta test for select users, has now gone mainstream, bringing with it a cascade of lost functionality. The changes, readily apparent through user reports on Reddit and Pocket-lint, are not subtle. What was once a smooth, feature-rich experience is now cumbersome and significantly restricted.
Goodbye granular control: a feature purge
The extent of the changes is alarming. Gone are the effortless lateral clicks for ten-second fast forwarding and rewinding, a gesture-based control deeply ingrained in the Apple TV experience. Automatic subtitle adjustments upon language changes, muting, or rewinding are no longer possible. Even basic customization of subtitle appearance has vanished. Improvements to the video player dialogue, the handy “touch twice to see remaining time” function, detailed video/audio format information—all casualties of this overhaul.
Beyond these, compatibility with Siri voice controls, Picture-in-Picture, CinemaScope 21:9 aspect ratio, the elegant Liquid Glass interface elements, granular control via the iPhone/iPad Remote app, widget integration, Apple Home automation, and even accessibility features like VoiceOver and HDR tone mapping have been eliminated. The list, as Flatpanelshd meticulously detailed, speaks volumes.
The apple tv+ connection: a strategic shift
The driving force behind this drastic redesign? A clear, if unwelcome, attempt to align Netflix’s Apple TV experience more closely with that of Apple TV+. The change necessitates the use of Apple’s video engine—a move that mirrors the experience on Smart TVs and, presumably, streamlines future integration within the Apple TV+ ecosystem. But the cost of this convergence is a severely diminished user experience.
There’s little recourse for existing Netflix subscribers: downgrading to a previous version of the app on Apple TV is simply not an option. Users are left to grapple with a significantly degraded experience, a silent concession being made in the ongoing battle for streaming supremacy. The question isn't whether Netflix will eventually fade further into Apple's walled garden, but how many loyal subscribers will abandon ship before that happens.