Netflix will allow you to watch vertical previews on mobile next month

According to a piece by Janko Roettgers over at Variety, Netflix's VP of Product Todd Yellin announced yesterday at a press event in Los Gatos, California that previews for TV shows and films will be coming to the company's mobile app. What's more, you won't even need to rotate your phone in order to view them.

Starting next month, Netflix subscribers will be able to view a 30-second preview of any content they're interested in as a vertical video from the app's home screen. That means if you, like me, prefer not to flip your phone to view video content every five seconds, you won't need to in order to get a sneak peek at a new show before you start marathoning it.

According to the screenshots of the new feature shown at the event, previews will appear as little circular icons underneath the home screen's ever-changing large banner that advertises new shows. Roettgers notes that they look a bit like Instagram stories do at the top of your Insta feed. To view them, all you need to do is tap on the icons and the preview will begin. After that, if you want to see more, you can swipe left to scroll through all the previews available. Netflix will apparently make up to 75 previews available at a time.

Netflix has already been offering previews in a slightly different format on its TV UI for awhile now, but this is the first time that the company has added this sort of feature to mobile.

Thoughts?

Are you excited about vertical previews? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Tory Foulk

Tory Foulk is a writer at Mobile Nations. She lives at the intersection of technology and sorcery and enjoys radio, bees, and houses in small towns. When she isn't working on articles, you'll likely find her listening to her favorite podcasts in a carefully curated blanket nest. You can follow her on Twitter at @tsfoulk.