Worry of change is an actual factor. There’s even a reputation for it: metathesiophobia.
Netflix subscribers are apparently a metathesiophobic bunch, as a result of when the streaming service made an overhaul to its app interface with an “upgraded TV expertise” again in Might 2025, the web boards lit up, with one Reddit person condemning the up to date interface as “borderline unusable.”
TechRadar readers, too, joined the chorus of complaints. When my colleague Tom Powers reported on the Netflix UI kerfuffle, his put up drew feedback resembling “the interface is such a catastrophe it really makes me really feel rage.” Additionally: “My spouse has movement illness points and the brand new UI made her dizzy and nauseous.”
I’m an on-and-off Netflix subscriber, and that’s primarily as a result of there’s a wealth of issues to observe on the best streaming services, and I are likely to burn by way of the good things on Netflix pretty shortly. However the image and sound high quality of Netflix originals is superb, with many getting Dolby Imaginative and prescient and Dolby Atmos assist, and as somebody who recurrently assessments the best TVs, I are likely to let my subscription linger so I can use Netflix exhibits as a supply for my critiques.
It had been some time since I had logged on to Netflix. As you may think, once I re-upped my subscription earlier this summer season, I used to be in for an enormous shock.
‘Borderline Unusable’
I don’t exactly find the updated Netflix interface to be borderline unusable. It is annoying, however, and reminds me most of the Amazon Prime Video interface, which is equally user-unfriendly, although not as unhealthy as the brand new Netflix.
Listed here are the principle issues that I dislike concerning the new interface. If you fireplace up the Netflix app in your TV, the homescreen is absolutely dominated by a really useful program primarily based in your latest viewing historical past (see picture at high for an instance). You don’t even get an opportunity to decide on something – a full-motion preview clip routinely begins taking part in, with a loud soundtrack in some instances.
When you recuperate from the trauma of that have (I’m solely half-joking), get your bearings, and scroll down the display to browse the horizontal rows of program classes resembling Proceed Watching, My Record, and so forth., the primary tile in every row blows as much as an enlarged dimension and likewise routinely performs a preview clip for that program.
Movement illness? Dizzy and nauseous? I can’t say I’ve felt any of these issues when navigating the brand new Netflix interface, however there may be now a clumsy and overly kinetic high quality to searching it that I discover unappealing. Extra problematic, the ballooning course of cuts down the variety of tiles in any row from six to 4, successfully decreasing the quantity of data you may entry visually onscreen.
Discover a program that appears fascinating? Deciding on any tile within the Netflix interface shortly fills the display with a full-motion preview, as if to shove your choice in your face.
Additionally, the sooner model of Netflix allow you to simply add a program to your library by clicking a Plus button onscreen. That button is now hidden within the new interface, and you might want to scroll all the way down to entry it. I’m undecided why, however for some motive, I discover this minor change to be essentially the most egregious ingredient of the brand new Netflix.
‘I will cancel my subscription’
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Yes, I will eventually cancel my Netflix subscription, most likely after I finish the new Spike Lee Hurricane Katrina documentary and re-watch 28 Years Later (coming Saturday, September 20), and I won’t miss looking at that updated interface while I’m gone.
In the meantime, I’d recommend the Netflix UI designers take a look at Apple TV+, HBO Max, and particularly The Criterion Channel to get an thought of what a satisfying, informative, and user-friendly app interface appears to be like like.
Within the case of Apple TV+ and The Criterion Channel (see examples above), most display area is dedicated to program tiles when searching, and people tiles are absolutely readable. Extra importantly, they don’t aggressively kick into autoplay of a preview if you hover over them.
The principle HBO Max homescreen does lean into previews, however there may be extra info to soak up when searching, and there’s none of that ballooning, jump-scare auto-play when hovering over a tile. There’s additionally a vertical menu bar on the left aspect of the display that provides you extra searching choices – a helpful characteristic HBO Max shares with Apple TV+.
Netflix has apparently pushed again at subscribers complaining about its up to date interface, characterizing them as a vocal minority. For Netflix, that is “an improved interface that highlights what issues most to you.”
I’ll grant that there are some updates I like, such because the expanded program info for every title, and the improved My Netflix hub. However for essentially the most half, I miss the previous Netflix, and I’m clearly not alone.
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