The newest streaming service on the block Quibi has performed a quick u-turn with new plans to launch a TV app for its short-form original programming.
The service, which aims to capitalise on our ever-shortening attention spans by capping episode lengths at ten minutes, is designed to be consumed on a smartphone or tablet while viewers are on the go.
However, after pressure from early adopters – believed to be approaching two million – the firm is no longer planning to limit viewers to the small screen experience.
The word comes from CEO Meg Whitman who told Bloomberg “we’ve had a lot of requests for it.”
However, viewers shouldn’t expect the arrival of a smart TV application in the immediate future, with the former boss of HP and eBay cautioning the engineers are still conceptualising the app.
“It’s quite an engineering lift – it’s not easy – but the engineers are trying to think about how to do this on an accelerated time scale,” she said.
Read our Quibi review
Quibi is already off to a pretty hot start with Whitman claiming 1.7 million people had downloaded the app, which launched on April 6.
Given the shows are designed for quick consumption on the go, it may have been a bad time to launch the app. You know, because hardly anyone is on the go right now. However, it doesn’t seem to have had too negative an effect on the numbers thus far.
We’ve already reviewed the £7.99 a month service (which is more expensive than Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus and the basic Netflix tier) and weren’t overly impressed with the offering thus far.
There’s a relatively small library at launch and greatly varying picture quality that maxes out at 1080p. At least one of our major complaints, the lack of a TV app, is being rectified in short order. We’ll let you know when you’ll be able to watch Chrissy’s Court on your smart TV.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
