Earlier this year Netflix released their first App for the iOS platform. It was the Netflix App for iPad. The iPad is a great platform for an App of this type and at the same time Netflix also announced that they would be releasing an iPhone version later this summer. Well it's here! I was anxiously awaiting this App not only for the obvious streaming content benefits, but I was also hoping for a great Netflix queue manager. I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed. While the App does let you manage your "Instant Queue" for streaming, it doesn't let you access your DVD queue.Now in all fairness this was never promised and even on the iPad the App brings up your DVD queue in a browser (inside the App). So we've never had native DVD queue management. Nonetheless I was hoping to finally have a Netflix branded App that allowed me complete access and management to all aspects of my account. In the meantime I'm continue use and recommend MovieFlick for Netflix queue management.
Streaming Netflix Videos to your iPhone
As with all video streaming apps you're at the mercy of your available bandwidth. Netflix is no different. On a slower connection you will experience pauses in your video while more video content buffers. On 3G, the video is watchable and GREAT quality, but I did experience a few momentary pauses. On WiFi the experience is much better. With that said, I probably won't be watching too many feature length movies on my iPhone. I'd probably watch a 30 minute TV show here and there while waiting in a line or waiting room. For that, this App is great. Netflix continues to add more and more content for streaming. This makes it easier to continue paying my monthly account fee. I also love the fact that I can start a movie on one device and finish it on another and now that they have support for so many platforms (ie. TiVo, Wii, iOS, etc.)
Downloads would be nice – One of the places that I actually watch the most movies is on planes. While WiFi is coming to more and more flights, streaming video isn't something that people should be doing as the bandwidth would come to a crawl. The ability to download a movie or two before getting on the flight would be nice. Sure I can already do that with iTunes as a rental or purchase, but I'd like to be able to do it via the Netflix account that I'm already paying for. It would be great to be able to download the same selection of streaming content right to the device and watch it offline.
The Bottom Line
The Netflix App does what it claims, but no more. It's FREE, but you need a Netflix account to actually be able to use the App. I'd love to see more account features built-in to this App as well as offline viewing.
You can download it here from the 
Netflix
Netflix allows you to stream movies and TV shows to your iOS device directly from the popular rental service. Works over 3G and WiFi
- Netflix, Inc.
- Get on App Store
- Free
All info was collected on 1st September, 2010 when the app was reviewed.
About Terry White
Terry is the co-author of The Best Selling "The iPhone Book" 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th editions. He has been active in the industry for over 25 years and is the founder and president of MacGroup-Detroit, Inc., Michigan's largest Macintosh Users Group, host of the Adobe Creative Suite Podcast and a technology writer - Terry White Tech Blog.
I completely agree about the DVD queue short fall. That’s just strange. If customers bring it to their attention, I believe they would eventually hear the requests and improve. Let’s hope version 2.0 will have most, if not all of those features. Regardless of where it is now, having the ability to stream on the phone is quite an insentive to re/join.
Enjoy Vegas!
Very disappointed in the lack of the DVD queue. I thought that was their bread and butter! Oh well, back to phone flicks.
I agree totally. I would have liked to have seen the ability to download movies(for a set amount of time) to both my iPhone and my iPad. There are times when I don’t have a wifi connection, and I don’t want to eat up my 2gigs a month with streaming. They need to work on this. Great review Terry!
Uh oh. I’m the unpopular guy. I’m going to disagree.
I’m actually glad that nervous kept the app simple. Why? While it would be nice to have an all in one netflix branded app, there are already many people who took the time and expense to write queue managers. Netflix chose to keep it simple rather than to destroy the businesses of these app developers. Smart:)
Ummmmm dude? Why no mention of the lack of video out? It wasn’t exactly unexpected. When the iPad version came out, tons of people asked for video out, and it was kind of expected that since it was in the iPad version that it would be in the iPhone version. It’s not! Video out is far more important than queue management because you can download free apps to manage your netflix queue, you can’t download an app to get video out from netflix, and sometimes you just want to push video to a TV.
It will be great if Netflix will come with an update that will provide streaming without Internet connection just like with Rhapsody for iPhone you can now listen to music without internet connection. Enjoy while riding the subway. Can they make that happen?