Netflix
As a developer there are very few software solutions delivered across multiple platforms that impress in any way. Some are certainly better than others but in most cases there is absolutely no attempt to "adopt" the host system. Most mimic whatever version came first leaving you with an experience that works great on one environment and maybe looks and works Ok on every other one.
Every environment has it's own pros and cons. Its own quirks and ways of displaying things. In short, every environment has its own look and feel. I've come to appreciate this over time. And I tend to look for apps that make the most of an eco-system. As a result it is INCREDIBLY rare that I use the same Applications for the same purposes across more than one or 2 of my devices. Yes, I use Email, Twitter and Facebook across virtually all of my devices, but I use different clients on every single one. And in the case of Twitter and Facebook this is pertinent because most of the clients I use are in fact available across client.
Twitter for example... on my WP7 device I use Rowi, on my Win8 machine I use the Twitter website and I can't remember what I used on my iPad but it was neither the official Twitter app, nor Rowi.
And one of the very few, if not the only exceptions is Netflix. There are other video streaming solutions out there (Crackle for example, which is free even).
I downloaded the Windows 8 Netflix app today. I run their app on my WP7 device. I've used the web version, the Wii version, the PS3 version and the iPad version. And while very few of them are perfect they get updates which improve them regularly... but more importantly... they are all unique. Some adapt better to their environment than others, but in general they are one of the few companies willing to design their apps to the environment in which they are used. And this I believe has been pivotal to their success. The Windows 8 Modern app looks like a Netflix app while looking like a Windows 8 app. It is fantastic to see them do it yet again. And if you replace Windows 8 with the other platforms, you can basically the say the same thing about all of them.
I have to say, Congrats Netflix. As a developer, I think you have done cross platform right. I'm not sure if, or how much code re-use there was on the backend. But the User Experience portion of any app should be tailored to the environment it is running. And that is what was done here.
Every environment has it's own pros and cons. Its own quirks and ways of displaying things. In short, every environment has its own look and feel. I've come to appreciate this over time. And I tend to look for apps that make the most of an eco-system. As a result it is INCREDIBLY rare that I use the same Applications for the same purposes across more than one or 2 of my devices. Yes, I use Email, Twitter and Facebook across virtually all of my devices, but I use different clients on every single one. And in the case of Twitter and Facebook this is pertinent because most of the clients I use are in fact available across client.
Twitter for example... on my WP7 device I use Rowi, on my Win8 machine I use the Twitter website and I can't remember what I used on my iPad but it was neither the official Twitter app, nor Rowi.
And one of the very few, if not the only exceptions is Netflix. There are other video streaming solutions out there (Crackle for example, which is free even).
I downloaded the Windows 8 Netflix app today. I run their app on my WP7 device. I've used the web version, the Wii version, the PS3 version and the iPad version. And while very few of them are perfect they get updates which improve them regularly... but more importantly... they are all unique. Some adapt better to their environment than others, but in general they are one of the few companies willing to design their apps to the environment in which they are used. And this I believe has been pivotal to their success. The Windows 8 Modern app looks like a Netflix app while looking like a Windows 8 app. It is fantastic to see them do it yet again. And if you replace Windows 8 with the other platforms, you can basically the say the same thing about all of them.
I have to say, Congrats Netflix. As a developer, I think you have done cross platform right. I'm not sure if, or how much code re-use there was on the backend. But the User Experience portion of any app should be tailored to the environment it is running. And that is what was done here.
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