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Netflix for iPhone/iPod Touch is finally here

I’ve been waiting for Netflix to release it’s mobile app for quite a while and now that it’s here, I am addicted as I’m sure many others are. I do wonder what this means for AT&T’s network load and how much longer the service will be a free part of my subscription.

If you already have a Netflix account, it’s a matter of installing the app and entering your credentials before you’re on your way to your first movie. If you don’t, free trials are available on their site or through iTunes and then it’s just $8.99/month for a subscription thereafter. Not having cable or a TV Screen at home, Netflix, Hulu Plus and YouTube are my main source for videos and let me tell you that with this addition, I am very well covered. If you do have a TV screen that is not connected to a video source, some AV cables from your iPhone to the screen can make watching movies at home a pleasure.

The app is very simple and does not offer any functionality other than watching and finding movies which I am fine with as there are quite a few other apps that let me reorder/add movies to my queue. One neat feature is the ability to resume the very last video played from your Netlfix account. I hope this can be expanded to the three most recent videos watched, like the website version, as it can get inconvenient when there are multiple users on the same account.

It’s possible to stream the videos on Wifi and 3G. I found the video quality to be extremely high on my iPhone 4 with either connection. However, I have found that the assets for the app itself have not been optimized for the iPhone 4 which takes away from the experience a little. Also, purely from a design stand-point, I’m not sure I would have placed the play button in the center of the video cover. It’s very often that the visuals draws me into a movie and in some cases, the play button covers the face of the lead actor, which I find distracting.

Aside from the nitpicky design issues, the app delivers. Now, in all fairness, the Android version needs to be released.

Take a look at the preview video:

Netflix iPhone App Video from Netflix on Vimeo.

By Gülay Birand
Published: August 29, 2010
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