Netflix update could transform the app and videos will turn the other way up

The Netflix app is getting a major redesign to focus on new kinds of content, the company has said.

Those will include vertical videos, taken from its offering of video podcast, it said during its earnings call.

The new user interface on mobile will “better serve the expansion of our business over the decade to come,” said Greg Peters, Netflix’s co-chief executive.

“We’re going to roll this out later in 2026 and just like our TV UI, it then becomes a starting point, it becomes a platform for us to continue to iterate, test, evolve and improve our offering,” he said.

That will include vertical videos, for new kinds of content, he suggested.

“You can imagine us bringing more clips based on new content types, like video podcasts, which Ted [Sarandos, Netflix’s other co-chief executive] mentioned that we’re adding to the general service. We’ll bring the sort of appropriate components of that into that vertical video feed,” Peters said.

The change appears to be a response to the rise of vertical video, as well as clips from podcasts, on other platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels. Mr Sarandos noted that it was a competitor not only with traditional broadcasters such as the BBC, and major studios such as Warner Bros which it is currently in the process of trying to buy, but also with other platforms such as YouTube.

“We compete for people’s attention across an even wider set of options that include streaming, broadcast, cable, gaming, social media, big tech, video platforms,” he said during the call.

Netflix’s results showed a growth in its subscribers, to 325 million at the end of 2025, up from 302 million at the end of the previous year. But its shares fell in the wake of the results, seemingly because of analyst concerns about the ongoing purchase of Warner Bros.