Netflix plans major app redesign, to expand short-form video and podcasts

Netflix is planning a significant redesign of its mobile app as it looks to compete more directly with social platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Instagram for daily user engagement, the company said during its fourth-quarter earnings call on Tuesday.

The streaming giant informed investors that the revamped app, scheduled to launch later in 2026, is designed to better support the expansion of Netflix’s business over the next decade. Co-chief executive Greg Peters said the redesign would serve as a foundation for continuous experimentation, allowing the company to iterate, test and evolve its mobile experience over time.

A central feature of the overhaul will be deeper integration of vertical video feeds, an area Netflix has been experimenting with since May, according to reports. The feed surfaces short, swipeable clips from Netflix films and series in a format similar to TikTok and Instagram Reels, aimed at driving discovery and increasing time spent within the app.

Peters said during the earnings call that the company could introduce more clips tied to new content formats, including video podcasts, signalling that short-form video is becoming a key promotional and engagement tool for Netflix.

Alongside the app redesign, Netflix is accelerating its push into video podcasts, a space long dominated by YouTube. The company debuted its first slate of original video podcasts last week, featuring hosts such as Pete Davidson and Michael Irvin. It has also entered partnerships with established podcast distributors including Spotify and iHeartMedia to bring existing video podcast libraries onto the platform.

Together, the moves point to a broader strategy to make content discovery and habitual usage on Netflix resemble aspects of a social platform experience, particularly on mobile devices. However, the company has sought to frame the changes as experimental rather than an attempt to replicate social media platforms outright. Speaking earlier at the TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 conference, chief technology officer Elizabeth Stone said Netflix was not trying to become TikTok, but was instead focused on improving entertainment discovery through mobile-first features.

During the same earnings call, co-chief executive Ted Sarandos spoke about the shifting competitive landscape facing streaming platforms, stating that services are no longer competing only with each other but with the wider entertainment ecosystem. He said competition for creators, consumer attention, advertising spend and subscription revenue has intensified, with traditional boundaries around television consumption continuing to blur.