Netflix introduces new feature 'Mobile Previews' that provides subscribers with Story-like previews
Photo: Netflix
Last week, Netflix introduced a new feature called Mobile Previews. With the feature, the streaming platform takes a page out of Snapchat and Instagram's books, providing subscribers with Story-like 30 second previews of movies and television shows.
Available for mobile devices through the Netflix app, the previews appear as circular thumbnails on the home screen. When you click on a preview, it generates in vertical format, taking away the need to turn your phone to the side to watch the video. Like Snapchat and Instagram Stories, you can swipe or tap to move from preview to preview. For television shows or movies that you're interested in, you can either hit play or add it to a list to revisit later.
In a blog post, Netflix explained their thoughts behind the new feature:
“Years of testing has made it clear that video previews help our members browse less and discover new content more quickly. With the launch of mobile previews, we are bringing a video browse experience to your mobile phone in a fun and mobile-optimized way.”
Netflix has an extensive library of television shows and movies, so offering previews for what is available is a no-brainer. Instead of providing these previews through traditional trailers that require you to watch them seperately, Mobile Previews makes it nearly effortless. By launching these in what has been known as the Stories format, Netflix not only makes finding what you want to watch easy, convenient, and fun, but it takes advantange of a format that we're all used to from our daily social media use.
Platforms rolling out features that incorporate the Stories format has become a trend over the last few months. Back in February, Google announced AMP Stories, providing publishers with a mobile-friendly format for delivering content through rich, tap-through Stories.
Look for other companies and platforms to follow a similar path in the near future.
SOURCE: Netflix Media Center
