You didn’t really think Netflix would miss out on short-form content, did you? The streamer has teased a redesign for its mobile app to introduce short-form vertical video, which will help it compete with Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. It’s anybody’s guess why a content powerhouse that relies primarily on its content is forcing the issue.
Netflix is late to the party here, despite having short-form content on the agenda since at least May 2025. Disney recently struck a major three-year licensing deal with OpenAI (who else?) that allows users to generate its IPs without dodging the company’s lawyers, and stick them inside the Disney+ mobile app.
Doomscrolling Netflix
It’s not exactly clear what the Netflix-made ‘shorts’ will look like, but if we had to guess, it’ll look like every other social media’s idea of content, except with a teensy bit more production at its back. That means clips of its TV series, movies, trailers, and its new video podcasts, starring Pete Davidson and Bill Simmons.
When asked why it hadn’t caught up to the competition, Netflix said that vertical video will become a platform for it to “iterate, test, evolve, and improve our offering,” even if the company isn’t quite sure what will and won’t draw in eyeballs. If a selection of games hasn’t got the response it’s looking for, we doubt vertical video will crack it.
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The update isn’t wholly short-form-focused. The app hopes to do a better job recommending content to viewers, mimicking the TV app’s similar redesign in 2025. This follows a recent change that allows users watching reality TV (Star Search, in this case) to cast their votes live on TV and mobile.
Netflix also took the opportunity in its Q4 2025 results to humble-brag about the $1.5 billion the streamer’s ‘with ads’ tier brought in last year alone. That’s before the company has launched the tier worldwide, with South Africa still awaiting its turn. Netflix expects that figure to double in 2026, likely alluding to the tier’s expansion.
