NetFlix for iPad: Quick Review

You will have hopefully read James’ review of the LoveFilm Player application for iPad. LoveFilm has long been the movie lovers rental service of choice but now it seems that having the physical disc delivered is a thing of the past. Netflix is a 100% stream only service that has been around for a while over in Americaland and has now arrived in the UK, to make the competition a little more interesting.

For the purpose of this review I decided to enroll on Netflix’s 1 month trial to give it a thorough testing, I hadn’t tried streaming a film on any platform before so I was quite interested to see what the quality would be like on an average broadband connection. After the 1 month trial it will cost you just £6 P/M which for the quality of video that you will receive is awesome value! Also the app is FREE!! My favourite word!

I have to say that I have been really surprised in a very good way that the quality of streaming is super! I have an average internet connection of 5 mb which is below the UK average but for my area is pretty good, however I wasn’t expecting the high quality that Netflix has offered me. I have to note to you guys that this is a review of not only the iPad version but of the iPhone version too, however they are exactly the same app just smaller on the iPhone, so I will be just using iPad screenshots for the review.

Unlike the LoveFilm Player application the Netflix app is quite basic as you will hopefully be able to see in the screenshots below. The app doesn’t contain enough features in my opinion to be defined as a ‘good app’ simply because it lacks a reviews page and things like the ability to view trailers of films before you stream the full feature, which is slightly disappointing to be honest but the quality of the video makes up for the lack of features a little.

You may have noticed in the above screenshots of the application that it is very basic, well I have to say that it really basic. All that the app does is allow you to search for program’s/films, like them and watch them which is very different from the LoveFilm application indeed, as with that one you are able to look at reviews of films etc whereas on this app there are no reviews at all.
I will mention the fact that although it lacks some of the features that its competition has in its app, it means that Netflix have their priorities in the right place and are concentrating on streaming quality video only as opposed to adding features that aren’t always necessary. Moving on from my previous comment, when you’ve watched something only part the way through, the application allows you to pause it and the app will save that place even when you’ve left the app so that when you log back into the app you can continue to watch your program from where you left off, nice feature indeed!

You would expect that with a basic application that it is very simple to use. You would be correct in thinking this because it is quite simply the easiest user interface I’ve seen in an application for iPad since I bought one! Anyone could use it and fully understand it which is definitely a plus point.

Overall, after having almost a month with the application I would have to say that the service is well worth signing up for if you enjoy to watch tv programmes and films regularly, even if it is just there so that you have the option of streaming a film instead of going to a Blockbuster at night and renting one in person. It just makes life a little easier (provided your broadband connection is decent). A very impressive little application that works superbly on both the iPad and IPhone and most likely on iPod touch too so you can’t lose if you own any of the 3 devices.

Reviewed by: Chris.