logo
Netflix's Big Interface Revamp Gives More Info, Better Search, A Dash Of TikTok

Netflix's Big Interface Revamp Gives More Info, Better Search, A Dash Of TikTok

Forbes07-05-2025

(Image courtesy of Netflix)
Netflix today announced the biggest overhaul in more than a decade of its consumer interface, adding both a cleaner look and more information about each show, much smarter AI search tools that can understand fuzzy concepts such as a 'vibe,' and a flexible structure that can better showcase the company's burgeoning interest in video games, live events, sports and other new kinds of content.
And just to stay au couran t, new vertical video components for mobile users will make it easier for fans to scroll through trailers and clips, watch the full show or share the material with others. It feels just a bit like the endless, and hugely successful, scroll of micro-video site TikTok, one of Netflix's biggest competitors for audience view time.
'We think it's time to take a giant leap forward,' said Netflix Chief Product Officer Eunice Kim. The new interface is 'simpler, more intuitive, and better represents the breadth of entertainment available' on the company's sprawling site.
'The current TV experience is built for shows and movies,' Kim said. 'This is designed for the future.'
But Kim and Chief Technology Officer Elizabeth Stone said in a tech briefing that it was time for the interface to catch up with Netflix's shifting array of programming, while making search more responsive and smarter. Also key: reducing the 'eye gymnastics' that users must go through when scanning for information about a show. The cleaner look, with additional pertinent information on screen at a glance, should help simplify the decision-making process.
The new interface will be rolling out globally beginning today, Kim said.
Key shortcuts, such as the My Netflix tab, which features reminders and "continue watching" tabs, will now be displayed on the top of the screen, in a more prominent position.
In the past year, the company has moved aggressively into more live events and sports. It drew roughly 65 million viewers worldwide for an exhibition boxing match between influencer Jake Paul and aging former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. That huge influx of viewers for one show strained Netflix's servers, and caused complaints of glitches and service interruptions.
The Paul-Tyson streaming headaches last fall were largely solved several weeks later, when Netflix streamed two NFL regular-season football games without a hitch (or, admittedly, not anywhere near as many peak viewers).
But the company continues to increase its investments in live events, which require different network architectures to handle peak demand. As well, a live event typically comes from a specific location on the globe, but must be able to reach relatively quickly every corner of the planet where Netflix operates. Those demands will only increase.
Early this year, the company began showing WWE's RAW weekly program, with its ardent fan base, and continues to do more live shows such as Everybody's Live with John Mulaney, a revisionist weekly talk show. It also has extended its deal with the NFL, and is known to be looking at other kinds of live events and sports.
To accommodate those shifts into live sports and events, that means the interface needed a better reminder system to let interested viewers know, for instance, when an event is starting or reaching a crucial moment, Kim said.
'We need to let you know when to tune in to live games,' Kim said. 'We need better ways to feature elements on the home page. And (the interface) needs to pull you into the thrill of watching or playing the show at exactly the right time.'
Netflix Chief Product Officer Eunice Kim (l) and Chief Technology Officer Elizabeth Stone (r) during ... More a briefing on the site's new interface. (Screenshot by David Bloom)
The company also needs to adjust to the demands video games, where it has slowly been growing its investments in increasingly sophisticated games that can be resource-intensive and hold a viewer's attention for far longer than many shows.
To further adjust to the demands of live programming, Stone said the company will be adding more peak-demand capabilities to its long-time distribution backbone, called OpenConnect.
Helping audiences navigate seemingly endless program choices and quickly find something they'd like to watch is a challenge facing all the streaming services, especially as libraries grow and competition for viewers gets more difficult. Netflix has generally been considered one of the best in serving its 700 million or so audience members what they want.
The mobile interface is getting new ways to browse content, swiping up through a vertical feed and letting people browse clips and trailers. A new mobile feature called Moments will let viewers save, rewatch and share clips.
'All these features are about getting people to press play and to stay,' Kim said.
The new search functions will move beyond the machine-learning tools the company has used for several years. With those, the algorithm basically says because someone liked one show, here are some other shows that other fans of that show also liked.
The company is exploring ways to use generative AI and responsive search tools to pull in 'more signals, so we can do a better job with titles you might love,' Stone said. 'It will just be magically easier to find something to watch.'
Generative AI tools will be able to use 'natural conversational phrases, like 'I want something upbeat and funny,'' to serve up options with that kind of vibe. Recommendations will be highly personalized, Stone said, giving a comparison between her list of recommended shows and those of Kim as an example of two relatively similarly situated professional women living in the Bay Area might have very different tastes.
'It's not exactly what you'd expect,' Stone said of their differing programming preferences. 'We're both tech nerds living in Silicon Valley.' But if the search engine kept recommending the same set of shows to both, 'eventually we'd be frustrated and go somewhere else.'
For the company's hundreds of millions of international viewers, AI will also generate personalized title information for more languages around the world.
In late April, the company introduced a subtle option for viewers opting to watch a show with subtitles in the original language, so that it will only show the translations of spoken dialogue rather than versions of sound effects, music cues, and other audio information that's part of Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, or SDH. It debuted with the launch of Season 5 of the serial killer series You, and will roll out across all Netflix originals going forward.
Somewhat surprisingly, the new interface won't really show anything different, at least initially, to viewers on its new-ish ad-supported basic tier compared to those on more expensive ad-free offerings, Kim said.
'We hope this makes both members and advertisers excited about Netflix,' Stone said.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

BET Awards: Jamie Foxx Tearfully Thanks God for Giving Him a 'Second Chance' After Health Scare
BET Awards: Jamie Foxx Tearfully Thanks God for Giving Him a 'Second Chance' After Health Scare

Yahoo

time34 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

BET Awards: Jamie Foxx Tearfully Thanks God for Giving Him a 'Second Chance' After Health Scare

Jamie Foxx got emotional while accepting the Ultimate Icon Award at the 2025 BET Awards on Monday night. The actor-comedian-singer struggled to hold back tears during his speech as he thanked God for giving him a 'second chance' following his health emergency in April 2023. He revealed in his Netflix special, Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was…, that he had suffered a brain bleed that led to a stroke. More from The Hollywood Reporter Jonathan Mayers, Concert Promoter and Bonnaroo Co-Founder, Dies at 51 Doechii Calls Out Trump's "Ruthless Attacks" Amid L.A. Protests in BET Speech: "What Type of Government Is That?" Thank You, Sly Stone 'I cannot even begin to express the love that I feel from everybody out there,' Foxx began after accepting the award. 'I gotta be honest, when I saw the In Memoriam, I was like, man, it could have been me. I don't know why I went through what I went through, but I know my second chance, I'm not gonna turn down.' 'I have so much love to give. I told him [God], I said, man, just give me one more crack at this,' Foxx continued as his eyes filled with tears. 'I said, for whatever reason you put this on me, I promise I'm gonna do right. And I'm gonna do right in front of y'all 'cause I know a lot of times when we get on, we forget about where we come from. When I did my special, it was in front of Black people. Black people were the ones that said, man, we got you. Not to say that white people can't pray either. I know that sounds weird, but y'all know what I'm saying. It's like you guys held me down, and I don't want to make this whole speech about that, but you can't go through something like that and not testify.' The Oscar-winning actor also showed his appreciation for his daughters, Corinne and Anelise, for helping him through his tough recovery and making 'sure I was here.' Prior to his Netflix special, Foxx shared few details about an undisclosed medical complication in April 2023 that left him hospitalized. He then disappeared from the spotlight for six months to focus on recovery. Elsewhere during his speech, Foxx also thanked BET 'for this wonderful award.' He added, 'I say this all the time, thank you to Black people and the Black award, because this is what really counts. A lot of people think like the Oscars is the biggest thing, and we got to quit thinking like that. And that's coming from a person who won an Oscar, I was nominated twice, but the Icon Award is the most important award because it comes from us.' The 25th BET Awards, hosted by Kevin Hart, were held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles Monday night. Check out the full winners list and the night's red carpet arrivals here. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Hollywood's Highest-Profile Harris Endorsements: Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen and More

Duolingo CEO Expresses Astonishment That People Were Mad When He Bragged About Replacing Workers With AI
Duolingo CEO Expresses Astonishment That People Were Mad When He Bragged About Replacing Workers With AI

Yahoo

time35 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Duolingo CEO Expresses Astonishment That People Were Mad When He Bragged About Replacing Workers With AI

Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn is having major regrets after widely bragging about replacing human workers with AI. Earlier this year, von Ahn boasted that the language learning app company would "gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle." At the time, the CEO said that "we can't wait until the technology is 100 percent perfect," enthusing that "we'd rather move with urgency and take occasional small hits on quality than move slowly and miss the moment." His enthusiasm for the tech was followed by a massive outpouring of criticism. Furious users on TikTok announced they'd be deleting the app en masse, their multi-year "streak" of daily use be damned. Bafflingly, the simmering anti-AI sentiment apparently caught von Ahn by surprise. "I did not expect the amount of blowback," he admitted in an new interview with the Financial Times, arguing that social media users had mischaracterized the changes as though "Duolingo has no employees, we have fired everyone and everything is being controlled by a massive AI." Of course, if AI were advanced enough to do that, his prior remarks suggest that he absolutely would. Tech companies have embraced AI tech at all costs, driven by massive hype surrounding the tech — and consumers are quickly growing wary and frustrated. The race to replace human workers with tech hasn't sat well with many, establishing an entire anti-AI movement. Consumers have bristled at companies stuffing AI into virtually every aspect of their digital lives. To many, it's a race to the bottom, with AI automation undermining their livelihoods in exchange for dubious advancements in actual technical capabilities. But despite plenty of warning signs, von Ahn, a Silicon Valley mainstay whose net worth is just shy of $2 billion, says he didn't foresee the fallout. Last month, von Ahn went into damage control mode, telling Fortune that "I do not see AI as replacing what our employees do" and walking back his earlier promises of using AI instead of contractors. "I see it as a tool to accelerate what we do, at the same or better level of quality," he added at the time. "And the sooner we learn how to use it, and use it responsibly, the better off we will be in the long run." This week, he told the FT that there will be a "very small number of hourly contractors who are doing repetitive tasks that we no longer need." "Many of these people are probably going to be offered contractor jobs for other stuff," he added in an apparent attempt to extinguish the flames. According to von Ahn, AI isn't going anywhere, blowback or not — an unsurprising stance given his immense vested interest. To the CEO, a "Black Mirror"-style dystopia where users get sucked into spending a "significant amount of time socially talking to AI" is "just inevitable," he told the FT. More on Duolingo: Duolingo Announces Plans to Replace as Many Human Workers as Possible With AI

Chaos As Cruise Ship Window Shatters Raining Glass Onto Busy Pool Deck
Chaos As Cruise Ship Window Shatters Raining Glass Onto Busy Pool Deck

Newsweek

timean hour ago

  • Newsweek

Chaos As Cruise Ship Window Shatters Raining Glass Onto Busy Pool Deck

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Footage capturing the alarming moment a glass panel from a cruise ship restaurant suddenly fell onto a pool deck has captivated viewers on social media. The frightening incident unfolded aboard Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas cruise ship on June 8. The vessel was said to be turning to dock at its first scheduled stop in Port Canaveral, Florida. Tytti Tuliainen, a 40-year-old travel content creator from Finland, shared a view of the glass panel crashing onto the deck, with guests watching from the pool, in a video posted on her YouTube channel @TravelingFinnishGirl. Newsweek has contacted Royal Caribbean by email and @missdiane93 via TikTok for comment. This video has not been independently verified. The YouTuber was having lunch at a restaurant on the ship when she heard the window cracking. Tuliainen told Newsweek: "I was dining in the Coastal Kitchen above the pool deck when it happened." @missdiane93 This happened today on Symphony of the Seas! Great staff member noticed it and cleared the area. ♬ original sound - MissDiane Another view of the scene from the pool deck was captured in a video shared by TikTok user @missdiane93. The clip, which has amassed more than 3.8 million views since it was posted on June 9, shows the glass panel cracking before dropping onto sun loungers by the pool. A man is shown flinching and running away just as the glass drops, with the murmur of alarmed crowds heard in the background. A voice off-camera says: "That would have just hit us." Cruise travel continues to see strong growth in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era. A 2025 report by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) found that cruise passenger numbers are projected to reach 37.7 million in 2025. Eighty-two percent of cruisers are planning to cruise again, while 68 percent of international travelers are considering going on their first cruise. First-time cruisers were reported to be driving the growth, with 31 percent of passengers in the last two years being new to cruise, according to the CLIA. Users on Reddit also shared posts about the incident, including by u/ Smooth_J24 and u/ireadmorethenpost, who shared an image of staff members examining the site of the shattered glass. Tuliainen said: "When the glass shattered unexpectedly, one of the crew members working in the restaurant—Nitin Kumar—ran down to move people away from under the floor-to-ceiling window. Thanks to his quick response, no one was hurt." The cruise website Cruise Fever said Kumar responded to the incident in a Facebook group created for the cruise trip, saying: "Thank you so much everyone for appreciation, you all are my family, what I did I did for family … what I did I learn from this company how to take care of my guests like family, so thank you so much. Enjoy your vacation." Staff members reportedly responded immediately and passengers reported that "the window is already replaced," with repairs done swiftly, according to Cruise Fever. Tuliainen said: "No one knows why the window broke. Only the outside panel shattered, and there was no impact that anyone saw." The cruise was said to have resumed normal operations, going onto the Bahamas with its return to New Jersey scheduled for June 13. Stock image: A Royal Caribbean cruise ship sails at sea. Stock image: A Royal Caribbean cruise ship sails at sea. Getty Do you have a travel-related video or story to share? Let us know via life@ and your story could be featured on Newsweek.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store