Netflix to redesign its app as it competes with social platforms for daily engagement

As YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram continue to dominate mobile viewing, Netflix is rethinking how its app fits into a social-first video landscape. During its fourth-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, the company announced plans to revamp its mobile app and expand its short-form video feature, which it mentions could help promote the new slate of original video podcasts it unveiled last week.

Set to launch later in 2026, Netflix’s redesigned mobile app is intended to “better serve the expansion of our business over the decade to come,” according to co-CEO Greg Peters. The update will act as a foundation for ongoing experimentation, allowing the company to “iterate, test, evolve, and improve” its offering over time.

At the center of the redesign is deeper integration of vertical video feeds, which the streaming giant has been experimenting with since May. The feed displays short clips from Netflix shows and movies in a format familiar to TikTok and Instagram Reels users. 

“You can imagine us bringing more clips based on new content types, like video podcasts,” Peters remarked during the earnings call, further signaling that Netflix sees swipeable short-form clips as a powerful tool for capturing attention and increasing time spent in the app.

Netflix is also making a significant push into video podcasts — a sector where YouTube has long been the leader. This week, Netflix debuted its first original video podcasts, including shows hosted by high-profile personalities such as Pete Davidson and Michael Irvin. The company has also partnered with major podcast players to bring established video podcast libraries to the platform, including tie-ups with Spotify and iHeartMedia.

Both of these moves signal a broader effort to make content discovery and daily engagement on Netflix feel more like a social platform experience. At the same time, Netflix has been careful to position its strategy as experimentation rather than imitation. Speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 conference, CTO Elizabeth Stone emphasized that the company isn’t trying to become TikTok, but rather to strengthen its entertainment discovery capabilities through mobile-first features.

During the earnings call, co-CEO Ted Sarandos reflected on the wider shift in the streaming industry: services are no longer competing only with one another, but with the entire entertainment industry. 

“There’s never been more competition for creators, for consumer attention, for advertising and subscription dollars, the competitive lines around TV consumption are already blurring,” Sarandos said. “TV is not what we grew up on. TV is now just about everything. The Oscars and the NFL are on YouTube…Apple’s competing for Emmys and Oscars, and Instagram is coming next.”

Sarandos also commented on Netflix’s evolving film strategy, referencing the company’s recent shift in its theatrical release strategy as it prepares to acquire Warner Bros. This signals an openness to hybrid distribution models, as the line between cinema, streaming, and social content continues to blur.

In 2025, Netflix delivered $45.2 billion in revenue, with ad revenue rising to over $1.5 billion. Additionally, Netflix crossed the 325 million paid subscriptions milestone in the fourth quarter.