From the moment it debuted for the iPad last April, the Netflix video-streaming app has been a must-have for nearly all owners of Apple's tablet. Since that launch, the video-rental service Netflix has updated its app to support the iPhone and iPod touch and stream videos over 3G. The service has also added hundreds of new films and television shows to its Watch Instantly library.
Unfortunately, while the content available has made the free Netflix app a requirement on most iOS devices, its execution and design leave something to be desired.
The concept behind the app is fairly simple: those with Netflix accounts in the U.S. (which start at $8 a month) can stream any of the company's movies, television shows, or documentaries available via its Watch Instantly service onto an iOS device. The iPhone and iPad versions differ slightly in their implementation and extra features, but if you're looking to watch a Netflix television show on the fly--this app will allow you to do it.
You can stream films or shows on your device's Wi-Fi or 3G network. Wi-Fi is--without argument--the easiest way to watch a program; I rarely ran into glitches when watching over that connection. In contrast, 3G is decidedly trickier: the videos take a longer time to load, image and sound quality can suffer, and weaker signals can cause the feed to simply cut out or crash the application entirely.
If you encounter a stall, Netflix does provide a recall button within the viewer for moving the feed 30 seconds back so you can theoretically catch up with the stream--but this rarely works. You can also pause and scrub through video, toggle between full and widescreen modes, and exit back to the Netflix browser at any point. The Netflix app also supports Video-Out, so if you happen to have one of Apple's AV cables on hand, you can hook up your iOS device to your television.
Depending on what device you're using, the film browser you see when first entering the app looks drastically different. The iPhone and iPod touch version of the app is designed solely around Watch Instantly titles, without providing a way to manage your Instant or DVD queue, access your settings, or see detailed film information. You can add or delete videos from your Instant queue, but you can't arrange their order without visiting the Netflix Website.
The iPad app, in contrast, aims to translate the Netflix Website directly to the virtual page--with limited success. On one hand, you can do almost everything in the app that you'd be able to do in a browser, such as sign up for an account, access your billing and plan settings, manage either one of your queues, and--of course--watch films. Unfortunately, the navigation feels clunky and unintuitive. On more than one occasion, I found myself accidentally tapping Play when I meant to see more information about the video, or going to a link I meant to scroll past. And, somewhat bizarrely, the iPad version of the app doesn't let you rate films. (You can rate movies using Netflix on your iPhone or iPod touch.)
All in all, the free Netflix app provides a wonderful--and somewhat magical--service, but poor graphical and interface decisions have made the program somewhat frustrating to navigate. The iPhone version is missing queue management, among other features. That said, the app remains the sole way to stream Netflix on your iOS device, and that feature alone makes the download worth it--I'm just hoping the company will improve the rest of the app in time.
Serenity Caldwell is a staff editor at Macworld.
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