I've been a Netflix subscriber for 25 years, and I can't decide if Clips is the best or worst thing to happen to the mobile app

Date:
Tue, 05 May 2026 16:56:37 +0000

Description:
We go hands-on with Netflix's new Clips feature and find it both underpowered and addictive.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Netflix introduces Clips It's vertical video clips for its own content Control and sharing is marginal but there may be another play here Netflix Clips is a curious thing. It appeared on the streaming service's mobile app on Monday and produces what might be
the platform's first-ever vertically scrolling content feed. I just don't
know why it exists.

Strike that. I do know, but perhaps don't fully understand. Clips is yet another way for Netflix to introduce easily distracted subscribers to fresh content. You see, Netflix's business is only partly creating and delivering pre-packaged and live content to its customers. The other part is supporting its annual estimated $20 billion content creation expenditure . And you do that by holding on to subscribers, and possibly upselling them to higher subscription tiers where they can, for instance, do away with ads. But Clips, which shows up as a boxed "play" icon right next to Home in the Netflix
mobile app, might be about something more, too. Article continues below You may like The 7 best new movies and shows I streamed on Netflix and more in February Netflix made a big change to its Apple TV app, removing a ton of functions How does AI video slop get made? I think I finally found out

First, though, what is Clips and how does it work? Understanding Netflix
Clips (Image credit: Future) As I mentioned, if you have the Netflix mobile app, the new feature should just appear as part of Netflix's relatively spare mobile experience. On my iPhone 17 Pro Max , I discovered it right after logging into my account.

While the Netflix app home screen features options like "Shows," "Movies," "Podcasts," and "Categories" at the top, there are only four menu options at the bottom: "Home," "Clips," the new AI-infused "Search," and "My Netflix," where you find and switch accounts.

Like most vertically scrolling video apps, Clips is an experience that
focuses on portrait-mode video. However, instead of user-generated clips of people dancing, lip-syncing, restoring old furniture, or dumping AI slop, every single video is a Netflix content clip. My feed, such as it is, was an eclectic mix of shows and movies I've seen before (and some I have not). In
my first viewing, I got two-minute clips from Frankenstein, One Piece,
Animal, Something About Mary, Jurassic World: Rebirth, Too Hot to Handle, The Diplomats, The Sea Beast, and more. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals,
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Each clip includes the title, sub-categories, like "Bollywood," Rousing," "Revenge", and a brief description. There are no comments or even likes. There's also no rhyme or reason to the mix that I can discern, but they are often choice moments or behind-the-scenes segments. The One Piece clip, for instance, was a video of the castmates reacting to a scene, and Frankenstein was of the Director Guillermo del Toro talking about Mia Goth's performance, which was interspersed with bits from the movie.

Clips lacks most controls you might find on a proper social media video platform. I frustratingly couldn't pause, reverse, or fast-forward any of the videos. A tap of the screen only mutes the clip (captions appear automatically). There is a big plus sign so you can add any of the content to your Lists, and then the show appears on your List in Netflix's account section.

You can share the clip, but it doesn't do what you think it does. Instead of sharing the vertical video, it basically shares an ad for the show on your preferred social media. What to read next Apple TV will get new 'Genius Browse' recommendation tool in tvOS 26.4 soon YouTube Premium's ad-free experience is great, but its queuing system needs work 7 new movies and TV shows to watch on Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max, and more this weekend (April 17)

Of course, you can also select the circular image of the content to go directly to the main Netflix play window. The first step in a vertical series play (Image credit: Future) Overall, it's a pretty underwhelming experience, except for the fact that vertically scrolling through these clips is a little addictive. It's like video popcorn or Pringles chips ("Can't eat just one."). You're snacking on the best bits of some of these shows and getting that 2-minute worth of feels. There's no commitment, and the videos are basically spoiler-free, but they still somehow connect you with the content. It can be hard to stop flicking and watching

I could imagine that, at some level, Clips is a trial balloon for pure-play vertical video content.

Remember Quibi , the vertical video content destination that was clearly
ahead of its time? Launching a video streaming service, especially one that flew in the face of content consumption norms at the time, was risky and ill-fated. Now, though, vertical video series are all the rage on TikTok .

Surely Netflix, which has a massive subscriber base of at least 325M, sees some opportunity in vertical video content. The telemetry it collects from this Clips feature might be enough to tell it if it could start creating bespoke 2-minute-long dramatic content to hook mobile users in a whole new
way and stop TikTok creators from encroaching on its market space.

That might not happen. Netflix could just keep feeding 2-minute video bits into Clips in the hopes that they hook subscribers on yet another bingeable series or movie, but that does seem shortsighted to me. This toe hold in the vertical space is too valuable to let go. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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