Vertical video and AI search are coming to Peacock in its biggest mobile update yet — and I’m wincing at the idea of both
- Peacock is giving its mobile app a huge overhaul with new interactive features
- This includes short-form video, a conversational AI search function, and Franchise Hubs
- Peacock says these tools are designed to enhance the user experience, but I'm not convinced
Streaming giants are always finding new ways to upgrade the user experience and adapt to evolving usage patterns, and Peacock is the latest platform to take its mobile app in a new direction with its biggest overhaul yet.
NBCUniversal announced a new era of the Peacock mobile app this week (November 11), showcasing a roster of fresh upgrades it hopes will not only enhance the experience, but increase user engagement and get viewers to spend more time browsing its seemingly endless library of titles.
The streamer says it's already started testing the new tools and will continue into 2027.
"Our ambition is for Peacock to be more than a place to watch," said Jim Denney, Chief Product Officer, Global Streaming & NBCUniversal Media Group.
"With this new mobile experience, we're evolving Peacock into an entertainment platform that gives fans more ways to discover, participate, and strengthen their connection to their favorite stories, teams, and franchises, turning viewing into deeper engagement and lasting fandom and loyalty".
One of Peacock's most notable mobile upgrades is the addition of vertical video - which the platform says is integral to creating an experience that's separate from the one you get on a TV. Netflix jumped on this a while back, so it was only a matter of time before Peacock followed suit.
The new Clips Feed exists as its own section, designed to give you a new means of discovering new titles across entertainment and sports that isn't just simply scrolling the homepage.
Peacock is also launching its new Franchise Hubs as a way to browse more content but with a community or fandom focus. This section of the app packs interactive games, live moments, and relevant episodes and podcasts centered on specific franchises, from Minions, Love Island USA, The Traitors, and more.
As well as short-form video, Peacock is jumping on the AI bandwagon, introducing conversational AI search to give you another way to find new content. With this new function, you can browse titles by name or, if you can't decide what to watch but know what mood or theme you're looking for, it can pull up content based on that information, which you can refine as the conversation progresses.
Helping or hindering discovery?Audience behavior evolves; there's no doubt, so in order for streaming platforms to adapt to these shifts, they have to make some changes.
In the case of Spotify, for example, its Messages feature lifted a pain point with users by allowing them to share music and podcasts with their friends directly in the Spotify app, rather than having to screenshot everything and send it to group chats on other platforms. Those kinds of features are genuinely helpful, but even then, Spotify has also plagued its in-app hubs with short-form video, and I want to see the back end of it.
When Netflix first unveiled its vertical video feeds, I wasn't surprised per se, but I certainly grimaced at the very thought of it. And now that more services are taking advantage of it, it's suddenly becoming the new norm.
But what gets under my skin most is how these vertical feeds are pitched to viewers. The streaming behemoths claim they're useful discovery tools, but at the crux of it, it's just another way to increase your screen time and how long you spend in apps. Doom-scrolling has taken over the social media landscape as it is; I don't need it to get in the way of how I browse movies and shows.