Don’t hate the (video) player, hate the (streaming) game.
Photo: Eric Vilas-Boas/Vulture
You’d be forgiven for getting the impression that Apple and Netflix were at odds somehow upon seeing the reports that Netflix has switched the content-player screen on its Apple TV app back to its own design instead of the native Apple player. The Streamable called it a “downgrade,” and we can’t say we disagree: It removes some quality-of-life functionalities and makes rewinding more cumbersome for Apple tvOS users.
As listed by tech blog FlatPanelsHD, some of the features removed include simplified rewinding and fast-forwarding with side clicks and “scrubbing” along the timeline with circular gestures, customizable subtitle appearances, Apple’s “Enhance Dialogue,” and double-tap to show what time the title ends — among others, including several accessibility controls.
The question is, why would Netflix do this? Sources within the company said it could be a matter of consistency: Netflix redesigned its homepage last year, and notably the tvOS player was one of the last major platform-specific video players it was still supporting. Was the streamer just tired of maintaining the platform-specific functionalities of the Apple TV player? Ad playback on those players could also be a factor. Since Netflix launched its ad-supported plan, streamlining the delivery and performance of such ads across platforms is more critical than ever. Could doing things like loading ads or tracking user behavior be simpler on the company player? Maybe. Or was there some other, more opaque logic behind the change that sent its Apple TV customers to complain on Reddit?
Whatever the reason, it’s not so unusual that the companies’ business and tech goals would bump up against each other. Disney+, among other streamers with ad-supported plans, also deploys its own player on Apple TV. And years after launching on Apple devices, Netflix still doesn’t even let its shows display in the Apple TV’s cross-app searches. For power users, this sort of thing can’t help but read as needling, even petty platform quirks. For Apple and Netflix, it’s business as usual.
