Netflix and Apple TV are finally playing nice (update: they’re not)

UPDATE: Netflix has revealed the presence of its content within the Apple TV app was the result of a bug and not a planned rollout. The roll out will be rolled back.

The Verge received confirmation from the streaming giant that the presence within the Continue Watching and Watchlist features were an error. That’s a shame.

Original copy continues below…

Apple has long desired that its Apple TV app would become a home for everything users watch across their streaming apps.

The tvOS app, for instance enables users to continue viewing content where they left off, across various services, provided their streaming accounts are linked with Apple TV.

Watchlists come into one, and there are specific hubs for services like Disney+, Max, Prime Video, and Peacock. However, the proposition has never quite felt complete because Netflix has been standoffish about inclusion.

That ice has now thawed, it seems, with Apple TV 4K users reporting requests for permission to link their Netflix subscriptions with the Apple TV app. We haven’t been able to personally see this integration yet.

So now you might see the next episode of Cobra Kai from Netflix waiting for you alongside the new series of The White Lotus on Max.

It means you’ll be able to find and select content from the Apple TV app without directly opening the Netflix app, although choosing the content will open the app.

Back in 2019 when Apple launched this feature, Netflix was resistant, with CEO Reed Hastings saying: “Apple’s a great company. We want to have people watch our service — or our content on our service. And so we’ve chosen not to integrate into their service, because we prefer to have our customers watch our content in our service.”

Why now?

Five years ago, Apple entering the streaming landscape as a content provider rather than a mere facilitator, Netflix may have envisioned the company becoming a bigger rival for the streaming dollar. Since that point Netflix has only cemented its own dominance and now there’s little to lose from showcasing its content within an all-encompassing Apple TV app. Content still immediately loads within the Netflix app, so the Continue Watching bar will be helpful for both Netflix and its subscribers.

It could also be perceived as Netflix no longer seeing Apple as a threat to its increasingly powerful position as the world’s most popular streaming service.

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