Yesterday, Netflix updated their iPad app to version 1.1.0 which added iPhone and iPod touch support. netflix.com has been crashing my Mobile Safari on iPhone 4 (possibly just an incompatibly with iOS 4?), so I was eager to have an official native app to manage my DVD queue while mobile.
We also wanted to test the movie streaming, so we ventured out and got an Apple Composite AV Cable (amazon.com). These are my impressions:
- The Netflix on iPad allows you to manage your DVD queue as well as your Instant queue.
- The interface of Netflix on iPhone, while way more native than iPad’s rendering of the actual Netflix website, only gives access to titles available for streaming. Therefore, you can only manage your Instant queue on Netflix for iPhone. (There are other iPhone apps of varying quality that will do actual DVD queue management.)
- Removing a film from your Instant Queue on iPhone is not immediately obvious. You must be on the movie info screen and tap the “In instant Q” button, which then brings up a confirmation prompt asking “Remove from instant Queue?”. Even then, nothing happens — the movie info remains on screen until you go back to the Queue. It’s a minor quibble, but it would feel more iPhoney to have a Swipe-to-Delete action or an “Edit” toggle on the main Instant Queue list screen.
- Play quality on the iPhone screen seems nice enough, but I’ve read reports that it is a huge battery drain.
- Luckily the AV cable includes a USB cable for supplying power to your device thru the dock connector. As a bonus, our Sony Bravia has a USB-style port labeled “DMex/Service” which happens to supply enough power to kick my iPhone 4 into charge mode.
- Not surprisingly, the “DMex/Service” does not have enough power to charge an iPad. You’ll need to use battery power or be close enough to an outlet to use the (included) power adapter.
- Unfortunately, the iPhone 4 bumper case prevents the AV cable from fully connecting due to the larger older-style dock connector. It doesn’t actually matter (yet), because…
- Netflix for iPhone doesn’t support video out via the dock connector (yet, as of v1.1.0). iPad does already — and the dock connector is universal — so we watched this fine Chris Pine vehicle using Netflix for iPad instead.
- Video quality out the iPad via the Composite cable was fine but not great. Being streaming video, I doubt it would make a different, but another option is the Apple Component AV Cable (amazon.com) if your TV supports that input.
The best thing about the AV cable is that it is long. Secondly, the video cable is separate from the R/L audio pair. I can think of many circumstances out in the field where this would be really handy. I also agree with the criticism that the RCA connectors themselves are too smooth on the outside and difficult to disconnect, but I expect they’ll mostly remain attached to the back of our TV so that’s not a deal-breaker. If it is, there are other brands of compatible connectors. Maybe even one that fits thru the iPhone 4 bumper.
In any case, it’s workable. The streaming inventory isn’t too huge on Netflix yet anyway. But other apps like YouTube and iPod support video out, so the cable isn’t going to go to waste. Also, Apple may surprise us at their upcoming Sept. 1 event — maybe these iTV rumors will finally materialize. If not, the boxee box is right around the corner!
