Netflix is planning to make the streaming service more interactive and immersive via a number of new second-screen features. The new way to engage with Netflix was announced by the streamer’s CTO Elizabeth Stone during the annual TechCrunch Disrupt conference.
Stone also announced a redesign for Kids profiles and more vertical videos. The interaction is taking different forms, including real-time polls, live party games and a more immersive homepage.
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Real-time voting meets the new ‘Star Search’
(Image credit: Netflix)
Netflix is rebooting the talent competition show “Star Search” next year and is supposed to feature live voting.
“If you’re sitting at home watching ‘Star Search’ on your TV, you’ll be able to either on the TV or your mobile phone actually put in a vote that advances or doesn’t advance some of the contestants on the show,” Stone said to Disrupt.
She added that its a way for viewers to “feel like they’re part of the story, influence the storyline, and feel immersed.”
When “Star Search” returns you’ll see prompts on screen with a limited time to vote. People catching up later will have missed the window to vote.
Eventually, real-time responses will be available for podcasts, presumably to go along with the video podcasts from Spotify launching on the service next year.
Party Games and immersion
Stone also announced that “living room party games” would be launching this year with more to come in 2026. Her example game was Boggle, which she said could be played with friends and family using your phone.
Based on Stone’s description, this feature sounds a lot like the popular party game packs from Jackbox. That series just released its 11th party pack with five new games.
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For the unfamiliar, a host who has the pack puts it on the TV and chooses one of the games, usually based around trivia, Pictionary-esque drawing, Q&As, and guessing. Players use their phones to participate in the games.
Five interactive games are coming to Netflix before the end of 2025:
- LEGO® Party! – Four players compete in minigames
- Boggle Party – It’s Boggle with up to 8 people
- Pictionary: Game Night – Draw and guess much like the old Mattel game
- Tetris Time Warp – Challenge friends for the best score in different versions of Tetris
- Party Crashers: Fool Your Friends – One person at this party secretly has no idea what everyone else is talking about. Figure out whose clues are fishy to unmask the crasher.
A new immersive Netflix homepage
As for the immersive homepage, Stone announced that Netflix will launch new experiences that bring animation and dynamic special effects to your Netflix home page. The first one is Halloween based but a Holiday one is coming in December and a Bridgerton one is in development.
Revamped Kids Profiles
(Image credit: Netflix)
For those with kids, the Kids’ profile might look different as Netflix is rolling out a redesign which Netflix says is meant to simplify the homepage and navigation.
It should look similar to the redesign that Netflix launched in May for normal profiles. It’s a cleaner aesthetic and offers a new navigation bar at the top that adds a “My Netflix” which links to saved, loved and watched lists in one place.
The recommendations are supposed to refresh in real time, which Netflix believes will reduce the amount of time kids spend searching for shows to watch.
Netflix is going vertical-ish
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
Lastly, Stone said the company is looking for ways to introduce more vertical videos for when viewers are looking for “something more snackable.”
She said the company is testing a “vertical video feed on mobile devices.” This feed allows you to scroll through clips from original Netflix shows and movies.
Stone asserted that the company isn’t trying to copy TikTok. “We really want to be focused there, versus trying to be all things at every moment,” Stone said.
One way is integration with the Spotify video podcasts, though Stone didn’t define how that will work or what exact plans Netflix has. We should see experiments and tests throughout 2026.
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